Copwatcher Founder Convicted For Resisting Arrest In Missing Camera Case

John Kurtz, the Orlando Copwatch founder who was facing six years in prison for battery on a law enforcement officer, was acquitted of that felony charge last week.
But he was convicted of resisting arrest without violence – even though the officer testified he was not resisting – proving once again that Florida has an unethical and unconstitutional habit of dishing out resisting arrest convictions without underlying charges to justify the arrest in the first place.
And I’m still not clear on what the judge stated about Kurtz’s missing video camera, the one that was confiscated from him, never to be seen again, which would have proved he never physically pushed the cop. Nobody who attended the trial has been able to explain that to me (and yes, I’ve been asking).
In fact, it was surveillance footage from a security street camera shown in court that showed jurors Kurtz did not attack Orlando Police Officer Adam Gruler.
But despite all that, Judge Alan Apte still sentenced Kurtz to 30 days in jail along with one year probation, indicating that he didn’t seem to keen on upholding any shred of legal objectiveness in the courtroom.

According to Orlando Copwatch:
Kurtz sights that the prosecution during closing arguments and judge during sentencing, say that when Kurtz approached the scene with his camera and told the officers “calm down, I am filming you” that act by itself was interfering , obstructing or opposing a police officer, and thus, the form of resisting arrest without violence. Kurtz insists that this form of free speech is absolutely protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as well as Article I, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. This is specifically upheld by the US Supreme Court in case Houston vs. Hill, 1987, and Florida Supreme Court Case, Florida vs. Saunders, 1976, as well as other case law. These rulings have never been overturned.
Kurtz’s trial is an extreme version of my trial stemming from my first arrest for photographing cops in Miami.
I was acquitted of disorderly conduct and refusing a lawful order but I was also convicted for resisting arrest without violence.
Judge Jose Fernandez, a former police union attorney, sentenced me to a year probation as well as anger management classes. He had also allowed improper evidence into the trial despite my attorney's objections.
Just to put these sentences into perspective, a Chicago judge sentenced a cop to two years probation and no jail time for beating up a female bartender and a male patron in a bar, both incidents which were caught on video. There are many more examples of cops receiving lighter sentences after being convicted for violent crimes.
Kurtz’s probation will require him to stay 100 feet away from all police officers, which means he won’t be able to participate in Copwatch for that period.
I served my entire probation, during which I was arrested a second time for taking photos of cops, which could have landed me in jail for a year on a probation violation.
But I eventually reversed the resisting arrest conviction in an appeal I prepared myself because I was unable to afford the $10,000 for an appeal lawyer (at the time, I didn't have nearly the readership I have now, so a donation drive would have been futile and I was already in debt for having fought the case to begin with).

In my appeal, I proved Judge Fernandez allowed improper evidence to be introduced when he allowed the prosecutor to use my blog against me and paint me as a cop-hater, which is how I got myself arrested (I didn’t launch it until after my arrest so it had no relevance on the arrest).
So that nullified the probation violation.
I also proved that Fernandez violated my Constitutional rights by issuing me a harsher sentence than sought by the state on the basis that he was upset that I had maintained my innocence throughout the trial.
Kurtz states on Orlando Copwatch that Judge Apte seemed to take a disliking to him, which was one reason he handed him a harsh sentence.
“Dozens if not hundreds of people go through the Orange County Courthouse everyday with charges of and similar to resisting arrest without violence, these people get nothing more than ‘a slap on the wrist’” Kurtz said.
“In the multiple plea deals I was offered, jail time was never mentioned, in fact my last plea offer didn’t even include probabtion and this is when I was charged with a felony, as well as resisting arrest without violence. Now that I have been found not guilty of a felony and all I have is this little misdemeanor, which is the first charge of my life, Judge Apte stuck me in jail for 30 days and a year probation. Judge Apte made it clear that he was annoyed that I wasted the courts time by excercising my right to trial instead of accepting the plea offers and he wants to punish me for it. It is that simple”.

After I had won my appeal, the cop who arrested me in the second incident, Miami Beach Police Officer David Socarra (pictured above), never showed up to court on two seperate trial dates, which lead to that single charge of resisting arrest without violence to be dismissed.
Kurtz is also planning to appeal his resisting arrest conviction and should have a good chance of winning.
He is asking for donations to hire a lawyer, which he estimates will cost between $10,000 to $15,000.
I recommend Kurtz read through this article where he will find my appeal brief, the state's answer brief and my reply brief, which might help him and/or his attorneys in preparing a successful appeal.
Click here for more information on his case and/or to donate.
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Comments
I hope he wins. Seems like a weak case they have against him.
There appears to be absolutely NO repercussions for the decisions of these lower court judges. In today's Judicial system if you're at trial within a county or circuit court you will need to appeal, as the judges are absolute idiots.
If a criminal complaint is filed against you and a police department is the "victim". You will automatically lose even with witnesses and in some cases evidence FOR you. (don't forget the burden of proof in a criminal complaint)
If you sue a police department in a circuit court, expect the judge to automatically approve 10+ motions to continue before ever getting to a hearing, or having the department respond to discovery. Of course after you sue the PD will now somehow justify denying FOIA requests. Ultimately the judge will rule for the police department as standard operating procedure. Your win will only follow a timely appeal and $15,000+.
Your actual civil redress, or in some cases criminal innocence, is decided at the appellate level ONLY.
1.) You're punished for going to YOUR OWN trial and "wasting" the courts time. Violation of the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments.
2.) You're punished for uttering non-threatening speech from a distance while holding a video camera. Violation of the 1st amendment.
3.) Judgement has been automatic for PDs, including obscene amounts of continuation orders. Violation of the 1st, 6th, and 7th amendments.
3.) Judges that have a previous relationship with PDs or have a history of subjective opinions on a topic refuse to recuse themselves. Violation of various Florida Bar rules and procedures and the 6th amendment.
And these Judges have absolute immunity.
That's quite a tally. Now we'll have to reschedule your hearing because the honorable Fernandez and Apte having a round of golf to attend.
nigmalg--I don't believe these judgess are idiots at all.
They are simply willing participants in a thoroughly rotten and corrupt system. We all know how that happens. The police, prosecutors, and judges seem to make it up as they go these days.
I'm sure the judge will read this at some point. At some point doing things like this is going to catch up with him.
God help the slave if his owners get mad at him! Are you serious? Where is your spine? Where is your humanity? Do you know of Niemöllers poem?
I got a Probation Violation in Ocala, where
the superbitch PO botched the paperwork. Didn't seem
to matter to the guy in the black dress that the records showed the probation goons had pocketed my money order.
They're not really "Judges," more like Rogue Cop/Corrupt System enablers.
I once daydreamed about renting similar cars of subjects of activist or targets for political shaming, finding a speed camera and see how many times you can go by until boredom set in. Wearing a printout of him or her would be unethical and illegal as would printing a high quality image that may look like the subjects vehicle's registration license identification.
I do not condone such activities.
I think I'll make "System Enablers" my word/phrase for the next 2 days. My previous word was "Annihilate". Thanks Tijuana Joe :D
I hope Kurtz does well.
"Kurtz’s probation will require him to stay 100 feet away from all police officers"
So anytime a cop walks up to him, he's in violation of the terms of his probation. Or he can get nailed for fleeing if he tries to maintain his distance. Clever.
From Thomas Jefferson we learned:
"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
It appears the people of Florida need to make their "judges" fear the people and not allow them to continue to act like "Judge Dredd".
We would be better off if many of the tyrants in black dresses assumed room temperature.
This is the stuff of revolution.
"Kurtz’s probation will require him to stay 100 feet away from all police officers"
I'm sure a lot of people would LOVE to stay 100 feet away from police at all times, too bad the cops won't cooperate.
so now that Kurtz is required to stay 100 feet away from all police officers, this seems like an even better reason to always have a camera rolling, so that it can be used as evidence if/when a cop approaches him.
oh, wait...
When viewed in the harsh light of "how things are," one must realize that the purpose of judges has nothing to do with citizen justice, nor has it ever. ALL public officials exist for the express purpose of upholding and perpetuating state interests. Sometimes citizens get in the path of this juggernaut and get ground up in it as hamburger in a meat grinder. Then they get rolled up, patted into burgers, fried, barbequed, and eaten by a hungry system, in which judges only take a few bites and pass the burger down the line where the next mouth is waiting to be fed. Welcome to reality! Some of us have been here all our lives.
The U.S. citizenry is just now (probably due to the Internet) beginning to wake up to the reality that public schools and public media (MSM) exist for the purpose of "prepping" the citizenry (for consumption) through brainwashing techniques regarding the falsehood that courts, police, government and law exist by and for the people. This is why everybody seems to be so astounded that things are not the way they think things should be. There is a big difference between the brainwashing version of reality and what is actually happening in the streets. This always has and always will be the case as long as there is government and people.
Contrary to the brainwashing that is effected in public schools and in the MSM, Government has NEVER EVER existed by and for the citizenry (The People), but solely for the perpetuation of government interests, whatever they may be perceived to be at the moment by the present occupation (call them hungry, greedy bastards if you'd like.) I can't pass on whether this is good or bad, as there is not enough space on my hard drive (200 gigs) nor would anybody take time to read it, as it would constitute a tome several times the size of War and Peace.
But the individual can coexist with the monster and even defeat it on various fronts just by maintaining one's presence of wits, as the thing is not God, after all, nor is it really very smart, it is just powerful. I could teach a course in how to do this, but I am retired from the fray and living in my own little world now.
Well, at least once in a while you get
a judge like the one in the Graber case who comes down hard stupid attempts to prosecute a photographer.
----
Another Long Beach CA papers-please incident?
What is it about big oil and anti-photography cops?????
"For at least the second time in a month, police in Long Beach have detained a resident for the mere fact of taking pictures that are perfectly legal to take.
At a little before 10 a.m. on June 30, Sander Roscoe Wolff says he was on the south side of Artesia Boulevard taking photographs of the Edgington Oil Company when Officer Asif Kahn rolled up in a Long Beach Police Department patrol unit. "
http://www.lbpost.com/news/greggory/11971
I hope that judge kills himself.
I would hope for a lot worse for this judge....use your imagination.
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