Student photographer still fighting for his rights in cop cow-chasing incident

May 7, 2010 @ 1:28AM

Student photographer still fighting for his rights in cop cow-chasing incident

By Carlos Miller -...

Although the student photographer who was handcuffed for photographing loose cows at Ohio State University has received absolutely no support from his school, he has been receiving support from journalism organizations throughout the country, including the Society of Professional Journalists, the main group that came to my defense after my first arrest.

And it was only because of this overwhelming support that police ended up dropping the criminal trespassing charge against him.

Obviously, they were hoping to teach him a lesson, which is never to document the ineptitude of your local police force, especially when they are running around like fools chasing loose cows for two hours.

The incident occurred two weeks ago, but Alex Kotran was still facing criminal charges up until this week.

Prior to that, he was told by OSU and The Lantern, student newspaper he was shooting for, that he would not receive any legal assistance from them.

The situation got so political that even after The Lantern Publications Committee passed a resolution to commend Kotran for his behavior during the April 21 incident, they revoked that commendation a few days later.

What a back-stabbing bunch of hypocrites.

But then the backlash began when the story started getting national exposure.

Mike Harden of the Columbus Dispatch stated the following:

Shame on Officer Linton for turning a molehill into Mount Fujiyama.

Shame on Police Chief Paul Denton for not telling Linton, “Put your gun away, Barney. This is Mayberry, not Miami Vice.”

Shame on T he Lantern Publications Committee for, instead of joining in a unanimous cry of outrage, sounding like a bunch of whimpering eunuchs.

Shame on a university whose inaction suggested that it cared so little about the First Amendment that it would not even rise to protect a photographer to whom it paid nothing for the gathering of its news.

When learning that OSU turned it backs on Kotran, SPJ and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offered their help.

Here is a copy of SPJ’s letter it sent Wednesday to the OSU police department. The Society of Professional Journalists also encouraged him to apply for a grant from its Legal Defense Fund, which I received twice during my initial legal battle.

Unfortunately, all that money went to an attorney who ended up withdrawing from my case when he learned that I wasn’t about to accept a plea deal. That’s when the credit cards began getting maxed out. Luckily, I found an attorney who was not afraid to go to trial, Arnold Trevilla. I recommend him for any criminal defense work.

Even though Kotran is not facing criminal charges anymore, he still needs a lawyer because the incident will be reviewed by the Office of Student Life’s Judiciary Committee and OSU police still want to intimidate talk to him.

And hopefully he can retain a lawyer to file a civil suit against the cow-chasing cops.

Comments

Anonymous

2 years ago

It appears that OSU is trying hard to punish the student in a manner that won’t end with them getting dressed down by a federal judge in open court.

If OSU is paying a dime of this kind of legal advice they’re getting ripped off.

Anonymous

2 years ago

when do the cops get fired! I will say this, the day will come when this country will completely come to a halt and any cop in a uniform is fair game! People will not trust and believe me do not trust cops now. They are a bunch of arrogant humans that someone above them told them to behave the way they are. Shame shame shame!

Anonymous

2 years ago

Cops still want to talk to him? Tell them to get bent. Don’t EVER talk to the police. He needs to lawyer up and sue the hell out of them for malicious prosecution.

Anonymous

2 years ago

It can never be repeated enough, never talk to cops.

Anonymous

2 years ago

“Mike Harden of the Columbus Dispatch stated the following:
Shame on Officer Linton for turning a molehill into Mount Fujiyama.”

Mount Fujiyama? That journalist obviously does not know his geography or history. Fujiyama and Fuji-san = Mount Fuji. Mount Fujiyama is redundant.

Anonymous

2 years ago

Hey I remember college. When the campus cops fail in the courts, they resort to the backup plan. That would be the Dean of Students or their equivalent on campus. This poor guy will likely be on probation and it could endanger his continued enrollment or graduation. If he is receiving any scholarship money that is gone now. Most likely when he completes his coursework the dean will just flat out deny him a diploma.

Universities are hotbeds of hypocrisy, treachery, and injustice. The real problem is they no longer encourage individual thinking, creativity, and ingenuity. Instead, they only expect students to memorize and regurgitate on their tests and essays. That is why America is falling behind the rest of the world in nearly everything.

Anonymous

2 years ago

To hell with a needing a lawyer to sue!…DIY

There is quite the movement across the net & in hotel seminars educating us to what we need to do for pro per action…DIY!

wssic.com…find the guys name & google for vids; ask friends for other educators & googgle for vids!

Anonymous

2 years ago

Only the cops have anything to gain from this Journalist going to talk with them. They will spin it that the journalist deep down understood that what he did was wrong. Insist that the cops must come to you at (whatever constitutes the journalism dept/classroom at) the university. And then do an article in the Lantern that the cops attended your lecture about how the police, fire, paramedic and press all have an equal duty to respond to and require a sovereign access to any event no matter how trifling it may appear to be. The function of the press is just as vital to a democracy as avoiding cow-pies.

Anonymous

2 years ago

And yet, most foreigners what to send their kids to American universities….