Founding Member of The N.I. Files Complaint With Local Sheriff
Monday, April 19th, 2010 4:17PM by Jason St. Denis Brown
On the night of Sunday, April 18th, 2010 in between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM, I believe I was stopped, identified, and searched without reasonable suspicion or probable cause while out for a walk in the neighbourhood that I've lived in for the last 10 years.
Below is the complaint I attached and filed with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department:
"This is in regard to an incident that happened on Sunday, April 18th 2010.
I am writing this statement as soon as possible after it happened.
On the mentioned day, in between 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm, the exact time I am not sure of because I did not have access to a timekeeping device until I got back home. It is 9:38 PM at the time of this writing. It takes me around 10-15 minutes to walk back home from where I was.
I was stopped on the road right next to Grandpa's Pharmacy and G&O Body Shop by an El Dorado County Sheriff who identified himself as Coburn. Traffic seemed average and it was a clear night except for it being a bit chilly outside.
I saw him drive past me at first, but then I heard him do a u-turn behind me, then drove past again, then executed another u-turn right in the middle of traffic and then pulled his car to the side and right in front of me.
He exited the vehicle and asked me to take my hands out of my pockets. He said that they had gotten a call about a suspicious person looking into car windows. I would like to note that there are no cars parked along the road I was stopped at.
He asked me where I live and I said that I live off of Mallard, which is a street not even a quarter mile from where I was stopped. He tried to ask more personal questions like what I was doing and going, to which I said "I have no comment." He then asked me to produce ID, and after he asked that I asked him if I was being detained, to which he replied "Yes."
After finding out I was being detained without reasonable suspicion, I showed him my ID. He took it and then stated that he was going to do a "pat down" search for weapons. I SPECIFICALLY stated that I would allow a "pat down" of the OUTSIDE of my person for WEAPONS.
We were right on the side of the road, and I had asked Coburn if we could at least move into the parking lot if he was going to do a "pat down". He said no because I was being detained. He told me to turn around, interlace my fingers, put my hands behind my head and spread my legs. I complied. I tried to explain to him that the situation was embarassing and that I was trying to maintain a certain good public profile, but he didn't care and began his search right there on the road.
As he got down to my right pocket, he took the small folding knife I had clipped to my pocket, which was visible from the outside, and then started grabbing at my pocket which seemed like he was feeling my keys. He then started reaching inside my pocket, at that moment I immedietly said "Woah! Woah! Woah! I said you could "pat down" the OUTSIDE of my pockets, not inside." He then said that since I had a knife he has every right to search in my pockets. I had three [plastic tipped] darts that are used for the game of darts in my upper left pocket that he took out of after asking what they were. I had another small pocket knife clipped in my left pocket which he took out as well. None of these items are illegal, because they were returned to me.
He went on to explain, while looking at his watch, that it was night time, and as he said that, I noticed that he was about to say the time, but then realized that it wasn't actually that late at night (between 9 pm and 9:30 PM).
He tried to ask more questions like what I did for work and where I lived to which I replied that I have no comment. Another El Dorado County Sherriff had pulled up and Coburn gave my ID to the other officer to run. Coburn told the other Sherriff to also check the DA list.
I tried to explain that I knew my rights and he had done a search of my person that I did not consent to. As far as I know, there are no stop and identify laws in California, and he did not have reasonable suspicion for detaining me. A clothing choice and a choice of when and where I go for walks is not reasonable suspicion for anything. I was just walking down the road in my own neighborhood. He said they "got a call of a suspicious person looking into cars". He never said I fit the description of anything. After bringing up his lack of reasonable suspicion, he offered no defence other than "I'm a cop, you're not. Don't tell me how to do my job, and I won't tell you how to do yours."