Illinois Appellate Court Eliminates Critical Video Evidence from a trial record

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dropthecharges.net
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Now You Can Watch It Yourself

The Illinois Appellate Court eliminated critical video evidence from the record of an important trial. Although this video was shown three times during the trial as “People’s Exhibit #1,” it was incorrectly classified by Appellate Court Judge Aurelia Pucinski as “new evidence.” On that basis, she refused to view or consider it when she rejected the defense appeal. So the judge never saw the video that proved major elements of the case against the Defendant were false.

ILLINOIS TRESPASS LAW AT STAKE

A major legal issue is at stake in this case. The elements of trespassing in Illinois will dramatically change if the trial verdict stands.

Under current Illinois trespass law and previous case precedent, you must be

1) notified that you are trespassing, and 2) given time to leave before you can be legally arrested for trespassing.

That process will radically change if the Illinois Supreme Court does not overturn this case’s verdict.

You will no longer need clear notification that you are trespassing or an opportunity to leave the premises. Instead you can be arrested for simply taking pictures or, as the Assistant State’s Attorney also stated, for “eating sandwiches.”

NEW DEFINITION OF TRESPASS IN ILLINOIS:

TAKE THAT PICTURE – EAT THAT SANDWICH - AND

YOU’RE TRESPASSING!

During the trial of this case, the prosecutors repeatedly said taking pictures is the same thing as trespassing. The defense attorney objected each time, but the trial judge, who was just rated “Not Recommended” or “Not Qualified” by 6 bar associations, overruled the objections.

The Assistant State’s Attorney gave a bizarre example of someone eating a sandwich to try and make her point. She said all you have to do is simply tell that person “Sir, you can’t eat your sandwich in here; if you do it again, you’re going to be asked to leave.” Then she added, “The moment he takes that sandwich back out, he becomes a trespasser.” This new definition of trespass is not supported by the current law or previous court decisions.

In this case, which will be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, Gregory Koger was videotaping a public event at the same place where he had filmed the previous day. He was told to stop filming, but Koger was not told that he was trespassing, and he was certainly not given time to leave the premises before he was arrested.

VIDEO PROVES WITNESSES MADE FALSE STATEMENTS

The video Koger took at the event proves that the main prosecution witnesses made false statements to the police. One witness told the police that he instructed Koger to leave 3 times while Koger was filming, and a police officer claimed that he witnessed those warnings. But the video proves that those warnings never took place. It also proves that other allegations against Koger were not accurate.

The day before the trial, when the prosecutor saw the video for the first time, those false allegations had to be rewritten to "adapt" to the evidence in this video. Viewers of the video can easily see that Koger was never told he was trespassing or told to leave during the time he was videotaping. The legal requirements for a trespass arrest were not met.

You can view this short, revealing video at http://bit.ly/EHSCNov12009.

“VIDEOTAPING BECOMES A CRIMINAL OFFENSE”

“If the police can arrest someone for trespass without notice and without giving the person ample opportunity to leave, it opens the door to criminalizing all manner of benign behavior. In this case, videotaping becomes a criminal offense,” says Attorney Jed Stone who represents Koger.

Stone says that if the verdict against Koger is allowed to stand, it will set a dangerous precedent. “A sponsor of an event that is advertised as free and open to the public will be able to select certain individuals, for whatever reason, and easily have them arrested and charged with criminal trespass,” says Stone.

Under this new interpretation of the law, millions of people in Illinois will be in danger of arrest and prosecution for doing nothing more dangerous than eating sandwiches or USING THEIR CELL PHONES TO TAKE PICTURES. Criminal behavior? Not necessary.

For more information, or to interview Gregory Koger or Attorney Jed Stone, call 773-629-0572 or see www.dropthecharges.net.

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