06-27-2011, 04:48 PM
as i expected:
The District Attorney’s Office today agreed to dismissal of the criminal charge against Emily Good, who was arrested in May while videotaping police making a traffic stop.
The video of Good’s arrest has gone viral, attracting nationwide news coverage, including a live interview with Good on CNN. Though the criminal charge against Good was a lone misdemeanor count, her arrest became the centerpiece of a community debate over the police response.
Good supporters maintain that the Rochester officer was peeved at Good’s videotaping and arrested her without legal cause. Others claimed the police response was justified, the proper answer to a meddling woman who could have put the officers’ and others’ lives as risk.
For prosecutors, however, the question was much more narrow: Did Good illegally impede police as defined by the state’s criminal laws?
In court papers, Good’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stephanie Stare, had requested that the charge be dismissed for lack of evidence.
Stare noted that, under the law, Good would have needed to use intimidation, force or “interference” to disrupt the police traffic stop. Good was 10 to 15 feet from the police and doing nothing to interfere with them, Stare argued in court papers.
Wearing a “Racism Hurts Everyone” button, Good said after court that she hopes her arrest will spur a talk on racial profiling by police. She was filming the traffic stop of a young black man, identified in police reports as a “known” gang member, because she thought the stop could be an example of profiling, she said.
She said she has heard from others in the community — and even across the country — who have stories of police treatment far worse than hers.
“I really believe that this stuff happens every single day,” Good said.
Good said the video was the trigger for the major media attention. The TV show Inside Edition also had a reporter in court today.
“When I released the video, it blew up,” she said.
First Assistant District Attorney Sandra Doorley said after court today that the office agreed to the dismissal of the charge because Good’s actions did not meet the needed elements of the crime.
The District Attorney’s Office today agreed to dismissal of the criminal charge against Emily Good, who was arrested in May while videotaping police making a traffic stop.
The video of Good’s arrest has gone viral, attracting nationwide news coverage, including a live interview with Good on CNN. Though the criminal charge against Good was a lone misdemeanor count, her arrest became the centerpiece of a community debate over the police response.
Good supporters maintain that the Rochester officer was peeved at Good’s videotaping and arrested her without legal cause. Others claimed the police response was justified, the proper answer to a meddling woman who could have put the officers’ and others’ lives as risk.
For prosecutors, however, the question was much more narrow: Did Good illegally impede police as defined by the state’s criminal laws?
In court papers, Good’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stephanie Stare, had requested that the charge be dismissed for lack of evidence.
Stare noted that, under the law, Good would have needed to use intimidation, force or “interference” to disrupt the police traffic stop. Good was 10 to 15 feet from the police and doing nothing to interfere with them, Stare argued in court papers.
Wearing a “Racism Hurts Everyone” button, Good said after court that she hopes her arrest will spur a talk on racial profiling by police. She was filming the traffic stop of a young black man, identified in police reports as a “known” gang member, because she thought the stop could be an example of profiling, she said.
She said she has heard from others in the community — and even across the country — who have stories of police treatment far worse than hers.
“I really believe that this stuff happens every single day,” Good said.
Good said the video was the trigger for the major media attention. The TV show Inside Edition also had a reporter in court today.
“When I released the video, it blew up,” she said.
First Assistant District Attorney Sandra Doorley said after court today that the office agreed to the dismissal of the charge because Good’s actions did not meet the needed elements of the crime.