Update: Court Rules on Video Depositions and Youtube

This is a case where plain-clothed police officers snuck into my client’s house through a window, searched his house without a warrant or other legal justification, found nothing and left. But they got caught on hidden surveillance cameras. 

Long story short, there was no justification for their actions. No search warrant, no exigent circumstances and certainly no consent. Those are the only three justifications under the Fourth Amendment. As it turned out, the only purported reason they were there was to serve a civil summons, as the landlord had begun eviction proceedings due to late rent payments. That provided no justification to enter or search the home. The matter had not gone to court yet. There was no eviction order. The officers were investigated and disciplined. The only excuse given was that they didn’t read the paperwork, and thought there was an eviction order, and figured that since they’re a drug task force, they’d search for drugs while they were at it. We filed a federal Section 1983 suit for Fourth Amendment violations and are currently set for trial early next year.

The last update was about the video depositions in the case. I took the video depositions of the officers from the video. They all pled the Fifth Amendment. Supposedly the FBI is investigating them. It’s pretty clear now after having exchanged discovery and taken almost all the depositions, that this is the story of a drug task force unit designed to use so-called “knock and talk” investigations in lieu of the more-conventional and old-fashioned search warrant procedures.

The video depositions were pretty dramatic. The lawyers for the officers filed a motion for a protective order with the federal court, asking the Court to prohibit me from uploading the video deposition footage to Youtube. They claimed that exposing the sworn testimony of the police officers to the public endangered officer safety and prejudiced the in the eyes of potential future jurors. 

A few days ago, the Court ruled, granting them a protective order during the pendency of the case. Then, when the case is over, I have to request the Court to vacate the protective order. But as the Court noted, a few things could happen in the meantime that could moot the issue, such as a settlement agreement, or the video depositions becoming public record, which they ultimately will in the very near future. Here’s the order:

The Court stated: 

“[T]he Court currently is not in a position to determine whether the protective order should terminate upon adjudication of the case, as that determination depends upon factors not yet known. The issue may become moot, as it is possible that the parties will agree not to publish the videotaped depositions as part of a compromise and settlement. The depositions may also become part of the public record, creating a presumption of public access which would significantly alter the Court’s analysis of the protective order .”

The Court further held that the protective order was not an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech. The Court noted that: 

“The Supreme Court explicitly stated that a protective order supported by good cause and limited to pretrial civil discovery, without restricting dissemination of information found in other sources, does not offend the First Amendment.”

The Court also denied the defendants’ request for attorney fees, finding that my actions were “substantially justified.” 

As I warned them from the very beginning, trying to suppress this is only going to draw more attention to it. Even if I personally am restricting from uploading the footage to my Youtube channel, what about third parties? Restricting me from using the footage is only going to cause third parties to obtain everything that becomes public record and use it. The coverup is always worse than the original crime. The coverup itself becomes the story. 

Officer Meltdown During Open Carry I.D. Refusal in WV | What Happened in Court

On February 21, 2018, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Deputy B.E. Donahoe responded to a complaint relayed from the emergency dispatch center that someone had reported that there was an individual walking down the side of a public road while in possession of a firearm.  The individual was the plaintiff, Michael Walker, who being a victim of epileptic seizures, does not have a driver’s license.  He was headed coyote hunting, and had a rifle strapped over his back, along with a backpack.  Deputy Donahoe brutally insulted Mr. Walker, who was being polite, but insisting that he had committed no crime, and therefore should not be stopped and forced to hand over his ID. Donahoe repeatedly called him a “c_cksucker” while forcibly detaining him and running a criminal background check on him and questioning him as to why he would need an AR-15. The incident was fully captured on video by Mr. Walker.

At the time Deputy Donahoe responded to the scene, he possessed no prior knowledge of Mr. Walker.  All he knew about Mr. Walker is what he observed when he arrived at the scene, which was observing him walking down the side of the road.  He didn’t recall who had called 911, or specifically what the complainant had stated, other than that there was a guy walking down the side of the road with a firearm. Upon arriving at the scene, he observed Mr. Walker walking down the side of the road with a rifle “strapped across his back,” with the muzzle of the gun pointed towards the sky.

Upon arriving at the scene, Mr. Donahoe did not observe Walker committing any criminal activity. Nor was he informed by any other source that any crime had been committed by any individual. Walker was just walking. Donahoe had no indication that Mr. Walker was a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. Donahoe testified that he did not observe Mr. Walker doing anything unsafe with the rifle strapped on his back; nor did he observe the rifle in Mr. Walker’s hands; nor did he observe Mr. Walker acting threatening in any way.  His only reason for stopping Mr. Walker was to find out if he was a prohibited person.

As portrayed by video footage taken by Mr. Walker with his phone, the interaction was not consensual. Donahoe gave Mr. Walker “no choice” in the matter. He told him during the stop that he was not free to leave until he was done with his investigation. Donahoe explained that the only investigation he was undertaking at the time, to which Mr. Walker was forced to submit, was to run Mr. Walker’s criminal history report, in order to determine whether he “was a person that could possess a firearm.” Admittedly, he had no information indicating that Mr. Walker may have been a prohibited person.

The case is over. We lost. Compare the video footage of the encounter with the legal aftermath, from the trial court level, through appeal to the Fourth Circuit, oral arguments, and ending with a deeply flawed published Fourth Circuit opinion. This case demonstrates what I refer to as a Bermuda Triangle of civil rights law….

Here we are following the hearing at the U.S. District Court in Huntington, West Virginia.

The U.S. District Court granted summary judgment for the officer, dismissing the lawsuit filed by Michael Walker. The order essentially created a carve-out for AR-15 style rifles from the usual reasonable suspicion analysis:

Here, Walker’s possession of an AR-15-style rifle under these circumstances was unusual and alarming. Whereas possessing an AR-15 at a shooting range or on one’s own property would not raise an eyebrow, there was no obvious reason for the rifle’s possession here.

Unlike a holstered handgun, like that at issue in U.S. v. Black, AR-15s are not commonly carried for self-defense. 707 F.3d at 535. Nor are they traditionally used for hunting. Seeing Walker at 6:00 p.m. in February in an urban area would further diminish an inference that Walker possessed the rifle for hunting because the sun would soon set and hunting after dark is generally prohibited.

The rifle being uncased, ready to fire at a moment’s notice, and Walker’s camouflage pants also contributed to an unusual presentation of the firearmSee Embody, 695 F.3d at 581 (finding an openly carrying man’s military-style camouflage clothing contributed to reasonable suspicion); Deffert, 111 F. Supp. 3d at 809, 810 (holding the same).

The sight was unusual and startling enough to prompt a concerned citizen to dial 9-1-1 and for Donahoe, based on his practical experience, to investigate Walker’s destination. See Deffert, 111 F. Supp. 3d at 809 (holding an officer responding to a 9-1- 1 call about a man carrying a firearm, as opposed to randomly stopping the man, supports finding reasonable suspicion); Smiscik, 49 F. Supp. 3d at 499 (holding the same).

Together, these facts would form a particularized and objective basis for an investigatory stop.

Here is the full District Court Order that was appealed to the Fourth Circuit:

This was our opening brief to the Fourth Circuit:

Listen to oral arguments from this case at the Fourth Circuit:

Here’s me actually arguing to the Fourth Circuit panel, via my computer, in the bizarro world that was 2021 America:

Here’s the Fourth Circuit Opinion that ensued:

Here is our petition for rehearing en banc, which was denied:

Day 2 of Depositions in the Creepy Cops Search Cases

Here’s a quick update on yesterday’s depositions in Creepy Cops Search cases:

Creepy Cops Search Footage: https://youtu.be/xkb7qXFh4qA

Day 1 Depositions: https://youtu.be/G1YZsyDuA14

Video about them flexing on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/4DoUCL-LIEg

“Creepy Search Cops” Ask Federal Court to Restrict My YouTube Channel

I know that many people are following my progress in the Creepy Cops Search Case out of Putnam County, West Virginia, where drug task force police officers were caught on camera illegally searching my client’s house. That apparently includes those officers and their lawyers in the pending federal civil rights lawsuit. This is the most recent update about the case:

On Friday, the defendant officers’ lawyers filed a motion completely centered on my Youtube channel, requesting an order prohibiting me from ever publishing video deposition testimony of those police officers. Basically they’re requesting court approval for a coverup. Now, important First Amendment issues are implicated. Police already have qualified immunity. The one remedy given to us by Congress it to sue them. Now they want to turn that process into something akin to Family Court or abuse and neglect proceedings, where government gets to operate in secrecy and without accountability and exposure. Here’s the motion they filed:

Here are their attached exhibits:

The video depositions in the Creepy Cops Search Case haven’t even been taken yet. They’re actually scheduled to be taken in a few days. I already agreed to postpone them several times already at their request, because they were concerned that the FBI was investigating them. So I gave them time to evaluate their situation and hire or consult criminal defense attorneys before they testified. Now, they want to testify essentially in secret. Why? Because posting their video testimony allegedly puts them in danger. They went through the prior videos I published on this situation and cherry picked the craziest ones they could find, and presented them to the Court as the basis for why I should be forever silenced from exposing their misconduct. 

At the end of every video I tell you that freedom is scary. Why? Why is it scary? Fear is the tool that tyrants use to subject us and take away our freedoms. Over and over again. From the beginning of recorded history to the present. Of course police officers in America, if given the choice, would choose to operate in secrecy. They don’t want to be recorded. They don’t want to give you their names – they just want yours. 

Update on My Creepy Cops Search Case of Putnam County WV

I get asked all the time for an update on the Creepy Cops Search case out of Putnam County, West Virginia, where plain-clothes police officers from the sheriff’s department’s “Special Enforcement Unit” were caught on hidden camera literally breaking into my client’s home, sneaking in through the window, searching the inside of the house for non-existent drugs. To see footage of police officers secretly inside someone’s home, where there’s no criminal investigation, or even charges, and where there’s no legal justification, is scary.

This was actually my first Youtube video, uploaded January 15, 2020. The footage shows the drug task force officers searching Dustin Elswick’s house, including examining the ashes of his deceased friend, brilliantly believing them to be drugs. They also ran those ashes through field drug test kits, disabled an exterior surveillance camera, pulled Dustin’s guns out of storage for photographs, and generally ransacked and searched the place.

Until I uploaded the video two and a half years ago, they had no idea they had been caught on video. I first provided the video to federal prosecutors, who in turn provided the video to the FBI for investigation. I didn’t know this at the time, but the FBI agent tasked with the investigation didn’t investigate, but rather just tipped off the officers that I had a video showing them in Dustin’s house. I only found this out much later, after a lawsuit was filed and discovery was exchanged.

A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed on August 20, 2021 against the individual officers, as well as against the county for creating and allowing this drug task force to operate in the first place. The federal court denied Putnam County’s motion to dismiss the pattern and practice (Monell) claim, issuing a memorandum opinion explaining the basis for liability.

Right now the case is set for jury trial in federal court in Huntington, West Virginia on February 22, 2023. There were also two companion case lawsuits filed, on behalf of other plaintiffs, the Johnson family, as well as Mason Dillon, which are also currently pending and set for trial. However, this is the only one that was caught on video. The Dillon case is set for trial on January 18, 2023. The Johnson case is set for trial on January 31, 2023. As of right now they have not been consolidated with the Elswick case.

Discovery has been exchanged, so we now know a lot more. However, depositions have not yet occurred, having been delayed several times due to the defendants’ concerns over a renewed FBI investigation, following the disclosure that the initial FBI investigation was more of a locker room pat on the butt, than an investigation. I suspect that the current FBI investigation could be actually an investigation of the initial FBI investigation, but I have no idea as of right now. What I do know is that we are finally set for depositions of the officers to take place at the end of this month. It will be interesting to find out whether the officers will plead the Fifth Amendment. I honestly hope that they don’t. But either way, I already have their statements from the still-confidential internal investigation. So if they don’t want to answer questions, there are mechanisms in place for me to utilize their prior statements.

What I can tell you is that there is no good explanation here. There are some excuses and some finger-pointing. But there is no great defense here. I believe that it will be determined that some of the officers are more culpable than others. Which is why I hope that at least those officers will be willing to tell the story. It’s an interesting tale that resulted in the end of the Special Enforcement Unit, but not the end of the officers’ employment. Though there’s more to the story that isn’t out yet.

Remember, your home is your castle, and is the most protected place there is under the Fourth Amendment. Any search or seizure by the government that takes place in the home is automatically unconstitutional, by default, unless the government can prove otherwise, in the form of a valid warrant, or valid exception to the warrant requirement. There are only two exceptions recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court: consent and exigent circumstances. Consent must be voluntary. Exigent circumstances require something akin to an emergency situation.

Also, when it comes to consent, as I’ve explained previously, a landlord cannot authorize the government to search the residence of a tenant, as per the Supreme Court in the 1961 case of Chapman v. United States. This also extends to apartments, rented rooms within a house, and hotel rooms so that a landlord may not give the police consent to a warrantless search of a rented apartment or room.

These cases tend to speed up towards the very end, which is where we are now. So there will likely be a big update, or updates, very soon. We have a mediation scheduled in August, which is an opportunity for both sides to discuss potential settlement resolutions. In this case, which is a civil rights lawsuit, the potential remedy available to a plaintiff is money. So that’s where money will be discussed, for the most part. If that falls through, we’ll sort it all out at trial.

Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Against Putnam County for Illegal Task Force Searches to Proceed

This morning a federal judge denied the motion to dismiss filed by Putnam County, who had asked the Court to dismiss the first of several lawsuits filed against Putnam County for a pattern and practice of illegal searches by their “Special Enforcement Unit,” who were caught on video searching the inside of my client Dustin Elswick’s home, which you may have seen on Youtube.

Usually in federal civil rights lawsuit, you are required to sue the individual government employee or officer who engaged in the violation. However, under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978), counties and cities (i.e., political subdivisions) may be sued directly when they have adopted some policy or practice which authorizes a constitutional violation against citizens by police officers. These are known as “Monell Claims” and they are very difficult to prove, generally. So they are pretty routinely dismissed. I’m happy this one wasn’t. Presumably the other two cases just like it will also be allowed to proceed…..

The Complaint’s other allegations include that PCC purposely established and operated the the SEU and knew of and condoned the SEU officers repeated constitutional violations. Id. ¶ 51. This alleges that the PCC was the “moving force” behind the constitutional violations where it deliberately created a unit of officers who did not comply with procedural safeguards and engaged in constitutional violations. See Bd. of Ctny. Comm’rs of Bryan Cnty. v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 404 (quoting Monell, 436 U.S. at 694).

Here’s the Court’s memorandum order and opinion allowing the case to proceed:

Federal Lawsuit Filed in the Creepy Cops Caught on Video Case

The lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Dustin Elswick, against Putnam County, West Virginia, along with four police officers involved in the infamous “Special Enforcement Unit.” These are the cops who were caught on hidden camera searching the inside of Dustin’s home. Although they cut the wire on an outside surveillance camera, they were apparently unaware of the cameras inside the home.

This is a federal “Section 1983” lawsuit alleging the violation of federal constitutional rights; namely, the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. A warrantless search of your home is automatically unconstitutional in the absence of one of two exceptions: consent, or exigent circumstances (emergency), neither of which apply here. Two prior federal lawsuits have already been filed against the SEU thus far for similar allegations in the Johnson case, as well as the Dillon case. The remedy is an award of money damages, along with reasonable attorney fees and expenses.

There was an internal investigation, as the news reported, but we never received information about the outcome. That sheriff has since been replaced.

Here’s the Complaint:

Here’s the original video:

Here’s the update video: