ù Quoting Tom Rightmer from a message to Ryan Bagueros  ù 
TR> Again, I am hearing one side of the story. If you told the WHOLE 
TR> story and it was 100% ACCURATE, there would be lawyers lined up 
TR> begging to take your case, so there is a problem here somewhere. If 
TR> the case was like you presented it, any lawyer would take the case 
TR> without any payment up front and take their fees out of your 
TR> winnings. However, something is wrong with this picture or you would 
Geez, you have such a contorted view of things... ok, well, first of all, 
when 
I got arrested, I didn't want to hire a lawyer because I thought that if I 
plead not guilty they would drop the charges because there was no case at 
all, 
essentially.. when I got arrested initially, I didn't know why, and so I was 
loudly saying, "I'VE BEEN ARRESTED AND I DON'T KNOW WHY" because when I asked 
them over and over, all they would say is, "You're being arrested becase 
you're
a stupid *sshole." So my friend who was with me, but wasn't with me when I 
got 
arrested (the one I was trying to get on a bus) came up and asked the cop, 
"Why
don't you tell this man why he's been arrested?" They told him to mind his 
own 
business or he would be arrested too. He told them it was his right to 
observe,
and so they searched his bag, found some kind of stick or something, and 
arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon. (His case was later dropped and 
he signed a statement saying he wouldn't sue, because whatever they found 
wasn't a weapon, and they probably didn't have a right to search him anyway.)
So, right before I am put into the paddy wagon, there are four cops around me 
telling me to shut up because I *still* didn't know why I was being arrested, 
or on what charges, or anything, I thought I was going to get my *ss kicked. 
So
the arresting officer says to me, "You like watching cops, don't you? Well 
you're going to get a chance to do a lot of copwatching tonight." 
So anyway, I spent the night in jail, I told them I wanted to file a 
complaint 
while I could still remember everyone's badge number and name. They told me 
that I had to wait until I got out (at that time, I didn't know if that would 
be ten hours or three days), so I told the cop I was going to file a 
complaint 
against him too. He told me he didn't care, so that's that. I got bailed out 
and went home. They were supposed to mail me a letter stating when my court 
appearance would be, but for some reason I never got it (I don't blame this 
on 
conspiracy or anything, just court clog or general inefficiency - still 
wrong) 
and there was a warrant out for my arrest. Only because I kept check up on it 
did I find this out. (It was a bench warrant for failure to show up in 
court.) 
Now, in my neighborhood, the cops *illegally* cruise around and run license 
plates of cars parked there, so I was really nervous. I called off work to go 
and clear it up, I forget the court department where you do that, but 
whatever 
the case is when you go down there you have to just hope that the judge is 
there and will hear your case as to why the bench warrant should be removed. 
So
I left work twice in a week-and-a-half's time to go do it. Once the judge 
left 
early for the day and the other time the judge was on vacation. You can only 
use the judge that was originally assigned to you. So I couldn't take it 
anymore or call off work anymore so I hired a lawyer. Luckily, the Copwatch 
here has a good lawyer friend who works not for free but at a discount. So 
for 
$500 he took my case. 
So, now, I've spent the night in jail, and lost about 8 hours in wages, and 
forked out $500 for a lawyer. 
So there was no one lining up to take my case. My lawyer told me that I could 
have the option to sue, if I wanted, but that would mean a possible trial, 
and 
then the inevitable civil trial, and the whole process would take about 2 
years
or more. He said I could expect to get about $1000-2000 for it, certainly not 
making me a rich man. Remember - this wasn't murder or something, just 
disorderly conduct. It still made me mad, though, because the cops were 
taunting us the whole time. One in particular that was good was the cop who 
told me, "It doesn't matter who's right does it, because you're the one in 
the 
handcuffs." Anyway, I had lost enough money and worktime as it was, and 
didn't 
know where I would be in 2 years, so I decided it wasn't worth it to sue.
People feel isolated and alienated from the justice system and they DON'T 
trust
it. That's why there aren't law suits every time a cop breaks the law. And 
plus, who would believe me anyway? The cops would definitely deny saying 
anything about Copwatch, and what would it be? My word against four cops. 
Anyway, I don't care if you believe me or not, because everything here is 
exactly how I experienced it. Period. Don't get me wrong, Columbus Copwatch 
is 
involved in about six or seven law suits against the police department, and 
so 
mine wasn't top priority. 
An interesting and surreal thing that happened that night is when I was in 
the 
van and a cop was there taking the report who was actually kind of nice in a 
way. I was saying, "I didn't do anything I don't know why I'm arrested," he 
said, "that's what everyone in here says." And so I said, "don't you ever 
wonder why that is?" And he said, "No, because I don't care." And I said, 
"That's really nice, blah blah" and so he slams his pen down on that metal 
clipboard and says "Oh, what am I supposed to do? Serve and protect, is that 
it?" kind of laughing at me. And I say, "Yeah, that'd be a good place to 
start.." And my friend who was also arrested said, "That's not what its about 
anymore." And the cop says, "Listen to your friend, that's not what its 
about."
And so I say, "what's it about then?" And the cop says, "You're not going to 
hear it from me..."
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