this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
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346
'Stunning error': Records show LA protest charges collapsed because of agents' lies (www.rawstory.com)
submitted 6 days ago by Redditsux@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world
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[–] meyotch@slrpnk.net 95 points 6 days ago (3 children)

This seems to be really common in police work too. Always challenge a charge.

I got intentionally arrested years ago over a local environmental issue in a protest. Could have pled to a minor misdemeanor and $750 fine.

Instead slipped a local attorney a $500 retainer. The police lost the video footage of the protest due to a file transfer issue, so he got it to a civil ‘jaywalking’ charge because we occupied a crosswalk.

It was a $47 fine and my attorney just paid it on my behalf and gave me a ‘coupon’ for the remainder of his time from the retainer. It apparently took him about 30 minutes of billable time to resolve.

You can essentially count on errors in police reporting

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 20 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Very critical. Scream it from every rooftop.

If you get arrested and given a fine over a couple hundred dollars, always find a lawyer. Police will often throw in bullshit issues to get something to stick in court.

It's a shame that lawyers get made fun of, when most lawyers I know hate police and only want to right wrongs.

[–] meyotch@slrpnk.net 9 points 5 days ago

Especially small town lawyers as in my case. They are the principled and passionate ones, more often. And they have offices near the courthouse and know Doris who schedules the hearings and chooses which judge to assign.

I did end up using some of the coupon for his remaining time. I was sloppy and left my torrents running when I joined campus WiFi. He helped me craft a super fun letter that ended the issue. I still have the paper letter condeming me to Hell for downloading Hot Fuzz.

[–] TrojanRoomCoffeePot@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

I first overheard people talking about this as a kid regarding speeding tickets of all things. Given the gravity of their effect on your license demerits and resulting escalating increases in insurance rates, I was given the impression that it's essential to show up to court and at least take a swing at contesting fines/charges. In keeping with the baseball analogy, it's sometimes enough just to bunt, i.e. show up and hold the bat, as officers are frequently scheduled on duty when whatever applicable hearing is held. Apparently it's enough simply to show up, given that they've fucked off to do something 'more important' instead of arranging the morning/afternoon away with their CO's ahead of time. For more serious charges, the lesson applies doubly, the pricks will go out of their way to derail your entire life for spite. Always fight it, always, always, always. The stakes are just too high to plead out.

To add insult to injury, they frequently deliberately waste the court's time as a tactic to overtax the defendant's financial resources. Making shit up serves to apply additional restrictions, bail, and possibly house arrest, assuming that the person targeted isn't broke and has their life ruined by sitting in lockup until the first hearing (fewer and fewer people have the resources to accommodate housing expenses, let alone all of their other personal/financial obligations in the meantime, and wind up unemployed & homeless). Fabricating spurious charges has been a weapon used by police and the courts for aeons, if the pigs in L.A. weren't still pulling this shit, I'd be shocked.

[–] meco03211@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Hell it doesn't even need to be a mistake. I've "fought" a few tickets where they had me dead to rights. The prosecutor just wants that shit over quick. They went with even lower charges and no points on my license.

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 7 points 5 days ago

I had a few parking tickets.

First time, it was completely dismissed because the ticket wasn't accurate date/time. Officer didn't show up to challenge it.

Second time, it was completely dismissed because I did not break any laws and the photo didn't explain anything.

Third time, I had to pay a fine, which was lowered significantly because I realized my issue, admitted fault and promised to do better.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 68 points 5 days ago (1 children)

“Lying” isn’t really an “error”. It was fully intentional, and they thought they could get away with it.

[–] chortle_tortle@mander.xyz 10 points 5 days ago

Well it has to be an error, or they might have to be held accountable. So instead they do what the DA calls an "oopsy doopsy"

[–] Auntievenim@lemmy.world 50 points 6 days ago

Yeah mate, lets just acknowledge the fraud and abuse and simply announce it instead of doing anything to those federal agents who produced false evidence and commited perjury for a criminal investigation. Where are the trials for these officers making these illegally falsified arrests?

[–] ooterness@lemmy.world 35 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Perjury like that is not an "error", it's a crime.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 11 points 5 days ago

And they should be charged with perjury.

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

They're just following that wisdom "you miss every shot you don't take" and lying was their best shot at gaining authoritarian ground.

[–] ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 days ago

Classic