Nov 21

arrested. and new computer, yay.

Category: Uncategorized

yeah, so i know you’re all curious about the subject line.  i DID finally make the switch to mac, with a shiny new macbook pro and an imac.  saying goodbye to the horror that is the dell computer company.

oh, right, the arrested thing.  i’m mostly blogging about this now to serve as a tool of memory for the events of the evening, so it might not be as reflective as i might like.  but i plan to reject plea bargain offers unless they require me to do very little on my criminal charges, and file a § 1983 claim against the officer, so it’s important that i recall the specific events.

so basically we were throwing a party at this kid chris’s house, and at about 1AM it gets broken up by the cops; i guess we were too loud.  so two officers come by.  i ask officer 1 what the problem is, and she just tells me i have to get out of there.  i asked her why i had to leave and she wouldn’t answer me.  stepping aside, i said “i’m not in anyone’s way right now, not obstructing anyone, but i’d just like to know what the issue is.”  still, she ignored me.

i proceeded to talk to cop 2 and he was actually quite pleasant, and we were beginning to talk through what was happening and why our party was being broken up.  then cop 1 comes back over and orders me to leave the apartment.  i step outside the apartment and wait for everyone to filter out.  when they do, i ask cop 1 one more time what the issues is and once again she refuses to answer.  i then ask for the officers’ name and badge numbers.  joe something, cop 2, gives me his name.  i ask for cop 1’s (her badge number, 057, was on her uniform, but no name tag).  she says nothing.  i ask her three times for her name and nothing. they get into an elevator and i get in with them, once again asking for her name.  joe tells me “you got my name, what more do you want?” and i said i just wanted her to comply with the law and give me her name.

they get out of the elevator a couple floors up, as do i.  i ask her one more time, when she comes over to me and grabs my drink out of my hand and throws it in the trash, saying “you don’t need that anymore!” she then grabs my arms and pins me against the wall.  she goes to get her handcuffs and restrains me by holding me by my neck, choking me.  i had difficulty breathing.  i said “What the hell????” and she told me if i didn’t shut the hell up she was going to stun me. She then threatened to taze me one more time before putting me in cuffs and sending me downstairs.

i was brought downstairs by joe and another cop.  i kept pleading with joe to do the right thing.  i told him that as people we are often confronted with these situations where we know what the right thing is and it’s sometimes hard to do, but that we should take the higher road.  i know me, my life has changed for the better considerably once i made the recent choice to always strive to do the right thing.  even if it sometimes lands me in prison, i guess… so after pleading with joe and telling him repeatedly that he knew i had not done anything wrong and especially nothing to merit this treatment… joe, the formerly nice cop #2, now just kept saying “i gave you my name and you knew her badge number” as if somehow that addressed the issue of whether or not i deserved to be choked, threatened with a tazer, forcibly restrained, and arrested (i now know my charged – resisting arrest, disturbance of the peace, and trespassing…)

downstairs, i was detained in a police car for maybe 30 minutes with my handcuffs tightly behind my back.  i turned over on my stomach to get comfortable. eventually the cop came down and asked me why the fuck i was lying down.  she ordered me to get out, and without talking to me, proceeded to take my things, search me, and send me in the truck.  i ended up in the police station 20 minutes later.

the police station was fine, nothing too notable i guess.  i was in a cell by myself for maybe about 2 hours.  there was some discussion in the cell next to me about bagging up crack and all the babies this woman had with various fathers, i don’t know.  they were really loud and i could only get them to quiet occasionally by kicking the top bunk of my bed until the sound was so loud that they got the hint.  i couldn’t do much or focus really, but it wasn’t so bad.

beth and seth came down to take me out of there.  i’m lucky to have friends as good as them.  they told me later they came down to bail me out and the officers told them that i said i was fine with staying until midmorning when the bail guy came and he would release me for free.  beth was like hell no she did not say that, let me actually talk to her.  so then they came up to me and asked me if i wanted her to post the $5k and she needed cash, or if i wanted to just wait several hours there.  i said hell no i’m not waiting, and beth and seth went to my place and got the $5k.  thankfully beth knows me and knows i did not actually say i would stay there.  but it’s pretty amazing how every step along the way, some cop was lying about something…

i have nothing more to reflect right now.  tomorrow morning is harvard-yale and i hope to be too drunk to think about this, as well as too drunk to be tired after not sleeping tonight.  my court date is next wednesday, which means i will be late to thanksgiving festivities so i can say the famous words “not guilty” in the oh so majestic court of law that is the New Haven County Courthouse.  until next time…

17 comments

17 Comments so far

  1. Mark November 21st, 2009 2:13 pm

    Ummm, why didn’t you just leave? Why follow the police officers and turn a very, very minor incident into you being arrested.

    Sounds like you were arrested for being incredibly irritating and refusing to leave an area where a party was broken up. Just leave. Why make a big deal of it? This ‘doing the right thing’ would have been pretty simple here – do the right thing and leave. As the party was too loud and you were obviously disturbing other people, why not do the right thing and comply with the officer’s request?

    Yes, they made mistakes but damn, you made a massive deal out of a non event.

    Quite frankly, this is ridiculous.

  2. Vanessa November 21st, 2009 8:22 pm

    I don’t know who you are, but it’s attitudes like this that propagate the injustice that continues to rule in our society. If you act within your rights, you’re criticized for not making it easier on the cops to “do their job.”

    To make a small reading comprehension-based gripe, I obviously did leave the party, as I stated. But even if I hadn’t, an officer can’t just tell you to do something without telling you why you must do the thing she orders you to do, if you ask. If an officer shows up and randomly tells you to strip naked, will you comply with no explanation? Obviously not. But if she says multiple sources have confirmed that one of three people in your apartment has a bomb attached to her body, then it makes much more sense in context.

    All that aside, when I do comply, I am within my rights to requests someone’s name and badge number. When i simply ask for a name multiple times without acting out in any way or even raising my voice (I’ve become quite good at calmly requesting what is within my rights to have), to have an officer attack me, pin me, choke me, and threaten to taze me, before ultimately arresting me, is quite ridiculous. You’re absolutely right.

    The “ma[king] a massive deal out of a non event” is obviously missing the forest for the trees. It isn’t about this one time I could have left the scene, or the last time I could have just left without being harassed, or the other time I could have let the police officer be responsible for negative community atmosphere. It’s about the bigger picture of cops abusing their authority to arrest whoever the hell they want and just make up the justification for it later.

    I told my friend Alex I’d probably get arrested within the next year. That was a month ago. I told him today I’d probably get arrested again before I’m done with law school. It isn’t that I’m doing anything illegal – I learn the law and all of its details to ensure that I act within the bounds of the legal code in all of my actions. But to the extent that I am within my rights, I will not sit back and let some rogue power-hungry monsters control the lives of whomever they deem worthy of some trouble with the system.

    A very friendly administrator in the law school today wrote me and called me to offer me help on anything I might need going forward, specifically with regards to legal representation. She said something pretty scary, which was, “we should discuss how charges may affect your bar admission.” I’m pretty at peace with the idea that if somehow, for some reason, I could not become a lawyer because of my choices to act within my rights while not succumbing to authority, then I’ll figure out a way to work around it.

    I’m very conflicted on what the right thing is here – whether to pay a lawyer a bunch of money and make the criminal charges “go away” while taking on the civil suit… or to go pro se like so many people in the world have to do. On one hand, I feel like it is a cop out to use my wealth and status to buy my way out of it; on the other hand, if criminal charges could adversely affect my ability to represent similarly fucked over individuals later, it may not be worth it to take a stand right here. But I can’t constantly compromise what I believe is right, just because the net EV for police misconduct claim would ultimately be higher… can I?

    So, Mark, i don’t know where you found my blog, or what black hole of obedience based on blind trust you came from, but you should probably go back there, and leave your short-sighted comments for the corrupt machine you substantiate every day.

  3. John Smith November 22nd, 2009 5:31 am

    FK the police

  4. Paul November 23rd, 2009 11:57 am

    Thanks for sharing Vanessa. Cops love nothing more than harassing students, though one would think they’d leave Yale Law kids alone.

    In my short life I’ve have had many ridiculous run-ins with the police, everything from NYPD to Homeland Security at the Quebec border. Being completely fed-up with the “criminality” that has encroached every part of life in America is one of the core reasons I now live in Holland.

    Good luck in court and enjoy law school!

  5. Brett Mrozowski November 24th, 2009 5:18 am

    Hey Vanessa, sorry to hear about your situation. I know most cops and people in general abuse their power and your story is no exception. Let us know how court goes and hope everything is going well.

  6. Pancho Stern November 29th, 2009 3:13 pm

    Vanessa not that my opinion matters any but I WOULD fight this. It seems almost like intimidation to the point of blackmail (I’m not an atty)in trying to get you to shut up with that threat about your bar admission. Screw with the “cop out” of using your wealth I wold not hesitate for a moment to use it in you situation. Not only that but I would make know in public the name of the arresting “officer”. You know what you choose but your situation really sucks.
    I guess I’ve gotten harassed one too many times by the cops or Homeland Security & I’ve never even done pot. Funny how people with profile you based on your looks.

  7. Stu December 1st, 2009 5:37 am

    Hey Vanessa, sorry to hear about this, it is absolute BS!! It is so frustrating reading about things like this and must be even more frustrating when it is you that it is happening to.

    I do however think you are in a very unique position, in terms of knowledge and resources, to do something about it in your case and sincerely hope you do/did choose to fight it and let this cop know that she is not all powerful.

    GL and keep us updated!

  8. wolffink December 2nd, 2009 10:03 pm

    Hey Vanessa, I love your thinking/coaching in poker “Unconventional Wisdom” and your videos on PLO. This was not +EV move. Interesting you posted about Henry Gates episode earlier. I remember an African-American, perhaps only half in jest, saying Henry Gates had forgotten what it was like to be Black — when police show up, you’re quiet and you look for the way out. When I was young, I got arrested too, the Texas cop hit me in his police car and at the station while they were bandaging a wound I got on my drunken escapade–one of them spit into it. Okay, I was giving them an extremely hard time (I demanded that they read me my rights and when they asked if I understood them, I asked them “What’s a lawyer??” LOL [they never answered]). But as professionals, they should be used to it and not take it personally. I was arrested with a friend (it was his birthday) and they separated us in the cop car. Put me in the front seat, and him in the backseat. Because I’d given them a hard time (at the station I took the police report and when this short police officer tried to grab it back, I held it above his head and made him jump for it like a game you play with a dog)==they had me in handcuffs and leg shackles. The cop driving turns to his partner in the backseat. But he doesn’t turn all the way around. He’s facing me while his eyes are towards his partner. “Do you want to drive?” he asked. I said “No thanks, you know the town better than I do.” –he looked like he wanted to kill me. I still think it was pretty funny.
    Eventually after thousands of dollars in legal fees and several trips to Dallas, I got the arrest expunged.

  9. rs December 3rd, 2009 5:17 pm

    Vanessa, you should definitely fight this (no question). But you have a very naive way of viewing the police and your rights. You have to understand that police have a lot of discretion when doing their job…especially with the decision to arrest. And you would be very surprised to hear about how minor situations (like yours) can result in criminal charges.

    If you do a GOOGLE search on “demeanor of suspect” you will get a better idea of what I”m talking about. Police are more likely to arrest when suspects are either non-cooperative or disrespectful in some way. And your behavior qualified as non-cooperative.

    Bottom line. When you challenge the authority of a police officer, just understand that it increases your likelihood of being arrested. Even if you understand your rights. Even if you have not committed a crime or done anything wrong. And I’d also ask yourself…what was your tone when talking with the police officer(s)? Was it rude or condescending? Because demeanor of suspect doesn’t just include whether or not you obeyed their specific requests. It also includes your tone. (Note that none of this has anything to do with whether you broke a law.)

    You are obviously upset and I’m sorry that this happened to you. I hope my comments help to put this in perspective in some way so that it doesn’t happen to you (or your friends) again.

    Good luck and I hope everything works out for the best. rs

  10. tigerpiper December 4th, 2009 9:52 pm

    I wouldn’t worry about the bar thing. In law school I remember being scared of one speeding ticket or something, and that would suck if it happened, but one incident like this (with no dishonesty etc.) has nothing to do with the bar process. I had a couple such things (minor in possession etc.)
    I certainly support your rights, and your integrity, but I would choose battles better (just like poker). How many hours, resources, thought will you spend on this? Would it be more effective devoting the same resources to another public service legal question?
    P.S. Love the blog. Blog more often!

  11. DD December 8th, 2009 8:11 pm

    FWIW the 1983 claim will get dismissed like as soon as possible. If you’re trying to make a point that’s cool, but you’re not even close to the threshold required for a claim like that. I doubt you even get there if the cop had actually stun gunned you. The conduct has to be really really bad.

  12. Vanessa December 11th, 2009 7:37 pm

    ya i know you’re right about that – but it’s more about doing it and making the cop deal with being sued… i’m happy to do it since i need practice with litigation skills anyway.

  13. Anonymous January 3rd, 2010 12:59 pm

    @Vanessa:

    As someone who has experienced a great deal of injustice at the hands of abusive and unjust authority (namely, the LAPD) I find your plight sympathetic. I lacked the education—and more importantly, the courage—to assert myself as you have and it weighs heavily on my conscience. I wish I had done a better job of standing up for myself but it’s especially tough in LA where the police literally get away with murder. Yes, literally, for misguided would-be-defenders-of-the state-enforcers; the Rodney King beatings are only the well publicized tip of a very large iceberg. The real pity is that I had no idea what the full extent of my rights were for a long time, and I consider this a huge mistake.

    Every single person reading this blog really owes it to themselves to check out this video on surviving police encounters.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

    Hang in there, Vanessa. You’re hard to beat when you’re right. If it means anything at all coming from a total stranger, I admire your courage. You are a very brave young woman and now a personal hero to me.

    @rs: I know you mean well and your advice is fairly sound. All I want to say is this—let’s not excuse any blame from the cunty pig who wouldn’t so much as surrender her name and further, got a sick thrill out of choking and threatening to taze an unarmed citizen. What does it boil down to? Validation of her own power and authority. The childish shunning in particular is simply egregious; the idea being “I’m not even going to acknowledge you because you are just an insect to a big bad cop like me.”

    God, die in a grease fire Officer Cunty McPig.

  14. snyder321 March 6th, 2010 12:21 pm

    Yes , the cop was wrong. But you picked the fight.You couldn’t have said “arrest me ” any louder. Then when she didn’t arrest you ,so you scream “arrest me” louder.

    You handled it badly, as did she.The whole thing sounds very High School to me. The “grease fire” comment is very grade school.
    Hope they throw the whole thing out for you. Hope it doesn’t effect your degree.

    Oh yeah , Love your blog

  15. Tina April 14th, 2010 9:22 am

    snyder, you are a sad, pathetic creature, as are all police brutality apologists.

    nobody screamed “arrest me please!” are you on drugs? how on earth does a sane, rational person interpret the chain of events this way?

  16. john August 2nd, 2010 1:04 am

    so what ended up happening? have u found the lady cop?

  17. Vanessa August 3rd, 2010 10:45 pm

    Nah, as many people mentioned was probably the right thing to do, I’ve focused my efforts elsewhere in the field… working full time this summer doing police misconduct litigation. Individual lawsuits just aren’t very fruitful, and personal revenge probably isn’t enough of a reason to waste my time.

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