In Clarksburg, West Virginia, a woman called police for a welfare check after seeing a man in apparent distress on the sidewalk. Shortly afterwards numerous police officers surrounded the man, and decided to detain him. When the man didn’t want to be handcuffed, officers “assisted him to the ground.” Then Officer Elijah Helsley of the Clarksburg Police Department repeatedly punched the man in the face, among other things. The woman who had previously called police was shocked at what she was witnessing, and began filming with her phone. She shared the video on Facebook, after which it ended up on the local news, as well as the subject of a song.
Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Lance Kuretza was indicted by the Feds as a result of this never-before-seen bodycam footage showing him suddenly confronting and arresting an innocent man, who was sleeping in a hotel room. I tried to get the footage over two years ago. Since then, he was acquitted by a federal jury in his criminal prosecution. Now he’s back to work as a deputy. But should he have a badge in light of this footage, showing what really happened that night?
The hatemail that jogged my memory about the incident:
Viral Twitter post about the indictment that first got people talking about it:
The US Attorney’s statement about the incident, from a radio show appearance (IIRC):
Here’s the press release by the DOJ about the indictment of Deputy Kuretza:
Photo taken by the police during arrest processing:
Monongalia County Sheriff’s Quote (recently retired now) about the trial result, commenting that he was “glad” the jurors came to the same conclusion he/his department had:
A media report about the trial, revealing shocking testimony from an EMT an unnamed deputy lied to her about the cause of Mr. Graciano’s injuries:
EMS was eventually called to the department and the jury heard from one of the emergency medical technicians (EMT) who responded to the call.
Camden Boggs, who worked as an EMT with Star City at the time, said a deputy in a black shirt told him Graziano “was drunk downtown starting fights and got beat up.” He could not say whether that deputy was Kuretza.
Boggs said a fight made sense because he initially saw blunt force trauma and at minimum a fracture to the nose or eye and at maximum a traumatic brain injury. He testified that Graziano’s right eye was so swollen, EMTs could not pry it open to evaluate his pupils for brain injuries.
Initially, Boggs said Graziano wanted to go to the hospital, but after being told by an unidentified deputy that by not going to the hospital he could see the magistrate sooner and go home sooner, Graziano then refused to go with the EMTs.
Fourth Circuit caselaw I referred to in the video regarding the 4th Amendment rights of hotel tenants is here. This is based on the US Supreme Court opinion from Stoner v. California.
The RAW footage, showing that not only did I not edit in a misleading way, I substantially censored the footage in order to comply with Youtube’s guidelines. The raw footage is much worse. Here is the full, unedited, footage from Lance Kuretza’s bodycam from January 18, 2018:
The full, unedited, uncensored, footage from Isaac Coe’s bodycam from January 18, 2018:
The full, unedited, uncensored, footage from Lance Kuretza’s bodycam during the arrest processing portion of January 20, 2018:
The full, unedited, uncensored, footage from Sgt. J.D. Alexander’s bodycam from January 20, 2018:
Here’s the full complaint from the civil lawsuit that was settled for $175,000:
Here’s a clip of Deputy Ethan Mongold encouraging Deputy Kuretza to give Mr. Graciano “the solution.”
Here’s the portion of the trial transcript (from above) that features Deputy Ethan Mongold testifying under oath to the jury that he admits that is indeed his voice that can be heard encouraging Kuretza to “give him the solution,” but unfortunately doesn’t remember saying it, and doesn’t remember why he would have said it – and also doesn’t know what “the solution” was.
You’ve probably seen the “arrest for laughing” case that has gone repeatedly viral over the past few years. I’m actually the attorney on that case. Just yesterday the Court ruled on the officer’s motion to dismiss and request for qualified immunity. The officer claimed that flashing headlights to warn oncoming motorists was not protected free speech, and that he was justified in handcuffing, frisking and detaining the driver after he laughed at him. What did the Court rule?
Many of my viewers from around the country sent me this viral Facebook post by the wife of an elderly, disabled military veteran (with severe type 2 diabetes) about three police officers abusing him in front of their home in St. Mary’s West Virginia. After she reached out to me, yesterday I drove 3 and a half hours up to the location of the incident to investigate the scene myself. Frankly, I’m shocked by what’s happening up there, and they can’t be allowed to get away with it.
Two years ago, Darius Lester, a young black man in rural West Virginia, was shot by a West Virginia State Police SWAT team while still in his bed during a botched pre-dawn raid while executing a search warrant at his uncle’s home. Despite the passage of two years, the state police still have not released the findings of their investigation into the shooting. The reason? They were most likely waiting the two years the victim had in which to sue them.
DJ was driving to the store to get feed for his numerous farm animals. He was driving his crappy little “farm car” that did not have a valid inspection sticker. He was pulled over for that reason by the Martinsburg (WV) Police Department. Instead of being issued a warning or citation for the inspection issue, within seconds he ended up being arrested. Despite having committed no crime, other than the inspection sticker violation, he ended up being taken to jail in handcuffs and charged for being a drug dealer. All charges were subsequently dropped. A lawsuit was filed.
On the evening of February 12, 2023, Edmond Exline was walking alongside Interstate 81 outside of Martinsburg, West Virginia. A West Virginia State Trooper approached Edmond and immediately pulled his firearm and pointed it at Edmond. He then switched to a taser and pushed Edmond into the highway and chased him against a concrete barrier. The trooper then repeatedly tased Edmond and called for backup. Two additional West Virginia State Troopers arrived on the scene and immediately began to physically attack Edmond. On of the troopers struck Edmond in the head with his flashlight before repeatedly striking Edmond in the face and tasing him. Another trooper slammed Edmond’s face into the concrete repeatedly and struck Edmond in the face multiple times. Edmond was also kneed multiple times.
Throughout the attacks by these West Virginia State Troopers, Edmond stated, “I didn’t do nothing.” … “You’re hurting me.” … “I need to breathe.” … “Let me up. I need to breathe.” … “I didn’t do nothing.” … “You’re trying to kill me.” After physically attacking Edmond the troopers attempted to stand Edmond up while he was handcuffed and realized he was unresponsive. Edmond Exline was taken to the Berkeley Medical Center and pronounced dead at approximately 10:31 p.m. During the time the troopers physically attacked Edmond Exline, he was unarmed, was not committing any crimes, and was not under the influence of any alcohol or narcotics.
The July 2024 statement from the West Virginia State Police:
Bridgeport, West Virginia Trooper A.J. Trupo, who was caught on a secret audio recording two years ago verbally abusing a female businesswoman, has once again been recording abusing people. A family was on a roadtrip, visiting family in West Virginia for the Christmas vacation. As they drove through Shinnston, West Virginia, they stopped to get the kids food in the McDonald’s drive through.
As they pulled back onto the road to continue driving, the dad observed a car speeding towards them. He motioned for the car to slow down. It happened to be a West Virginia State Police cruiser. It didn’t have emergency lights activated, but rather was just speeding illegally. Apparently upset about being signaled about his speed, the trooper turned around and stopped the family.
Paul O’Brien, who lives in Grafton, West Virginia, observed a Taylor County Sheriff’s Deputy running a speed trap across the road from his residence. He posted on Facebook about it, joking that he WISHED he had an M-80 (firecracker) so that he could set it off and cause the deputy to have a heart attack. In the same post, he criticized the department for the deaths of three individuals over the years. Deputy Cody Mayle of the TCSD then paid Paul a visit at his home. He had no warrant, but rather just wanted to “talk.”
When Paul decided he didn’t want to talk with Deputy Mayle, Deputy Mayle suddenly grabbed him and arrested him. Paul spent two nights in jail. Around three months later, the frivolous charge of “obstruction” was dropped, since it was admittedly frivolous, according to the prosecutor. Paul submitted a complaint to the department, but heard nothing back.
This is Deputy Cody Mayle, who is seen on bodycam laughing as soon as Paul was thrown in the holding cell:
My last West Virginia based video coincidentally, was from Barbour County, which is only the next county over, and that deputy also has the same last name – Mayle. Here’s a link to that video. I’ll have more information soon about that situation…
