By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We previously reported HERE an almost Onion like story of a man charged with impersonating a police officer by driving a black and white colored Maserati painted in a Transformer cartoon livery. The car was painted with white doors on a black body and included on the door a logo and the words Decepticons, Punish and Enslave to suggest the car was the Decepticons character Barricade. The driver was later charged with impersonating a police officer.
The driver’s attorney, provided us with the results of that hearing.
On September fourth, a magistrate’s hearing was held in Quincy District Court by Magistrate Richard Bloom. Magistrate bloom was to decide if charges would proceed against the twenty three year old Maserati driver who faced the possibility of a conviction carrying a four hundred dollar fine and up to a year in jail.
The Police Prosecutor, Lieutenant Kevin Ware argued that because of the coloring resembling police cruisers and inclusion of the words “911 Emergency Response, K-9, Police and Speed Enforcement” that it “would be very hard for the public to make a differentiation” between the Maserati and a police cruiser.
The Bay State Examiner provided the detailed information on the hearing.
Lt. Ware informed the police that he “was doing a favor because people slowed down when they saw his Maserati. But this was disputed by the defense and Magistrate bloom declared there was no evidence of this.
Ware insisted that permitting the driver to parade around in the vehicle had the “potential to go seriously wrong”, making reference to an incident in Avon where a person was kidnapped by someone representing themselves as a law enforcement officer.
Ware conceded the driver had not directly represented himself as a police officer but made a rather astonishing claim that his fellow officers had “intercepted” the driver before he could do so.
Ware claimed the driver was doing a “disservice” to the people of Braintree by driving around with a “disguise” on. He said he was surprised someone with such a high level of education displayed a “lack of common sense.”
During the hearing, the driver said he had removed from the vehicle some of the stickers that police objected to and Ware said this showed “consciousness of guilt,” but Bloom bluntly told him that wasn’t a valid conclusion.
Defense attorney Russell Matson stated his client was needlessly brought before the court for an “art project.” He directed the court to the statute which the driver was accused of violating, which states that it only applies to someone who “falsely assumes or pretends” to be a police officer and “acts as such or requires a person to aid or assist him in a matter pertaining to the duty of such officer.”
The defense stated the driver was not accused of misrepresenting himself as a police officer to anyone or of attempting to exercise any police powers, so the law was not applicable.
Matson demonstrated the police department auctions off retired police cruisers to the public. He also said that if the law was interpreted the way the police wanted it to be, people could be arrested for wearing police costumes on Halloween.
Bloom seemed amused by the case despite not being familiar with the Transformers. He laughed when he looked at the pictures of the Maserati, saying “This is unbelievable.”
During the hearing Bloom asked the driver how much he paid for the car. The driver said he bought the second hand car for eighty thousand dollars.
Ultimately, he agreed with Matson that the law had not been violated. “The key word in the statute is ‘acts,’” Bloom said.
The case was dismissed. Truth, Justice and the American Way prevailed
By Darren Smith
Sources:
Bay State Examiner
Law Offices of Russell J. Matson
Scribd: Braintree Police Department Incident Report
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
I ran across a Black and White article, with a bit blue that makes it noteworthy.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/14/black-actress-arrested-kissing-white-husband-after-police-think-shes-a-prostitute-4868310/
Black actress arrested for kissing white husband (police think she’s a prostitute)Daniele Watts in tears while being detained by LA police (Picture: Brian Lucas/Facebook)
African-American actress Daniele Watts has spoken about being handcuffed and held in the back of a police car after officers thought she was a prostitute.
Her crime? Seen kissing her husband, Brian James Lucas… in PUBLIC!
According to accounts on Facebook by Watts and Lucas, two police officers from Studio City Police Department in Los Angeles approached them and asked Watts for ID.
When she refused, Watts was cuffed and put in the back of their police car while they checked her ID. Watts was released shortly afterwards.
Watts is best known for her role as CoCo in Quentin Tarantino’s slavery film Django Unchained.
Accompanied on her Facebook page by a photo of her crying next to a police officer, Watts wrote: ‘Today I was handcuffed… after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place.
‘As I was sitting in the back of the police car, I remembered the countless times my father came home frustrated or humiliated by the cops when he had done nothing wrong. I felt his shame, his anger.
‘I allowed myself to be honest about my anger, frustration, and rage as tears flowed from my eyes. The tears I cry for a country that calls itself “the land of the free and the home of the brave” and yet detains people for claiming that very right.’
A Los Angeles Police Department public information officer would not comment on Watts’s treatment, telling Variety that there was no record of the incident as Watts was not brought into the station for questioning.
If you can pay $80K for a Uses Maseratti I would assumed you are entitled to paint it any way you like. However your HOA may still forbid you to park it in front of your own house.
Reblogged this on Oxygen in Use! Smoking is OK! and commented:
Interesting blog post! Check it out!
Transforming justice one case at a time.
indio007:
It doesn’t make much sense to try to “mitigate” false arrest damages by creating an additional claim for malicious prosecution.
I’m not at all familiar with the Transformers. Perhaps the cop wasn’t either. So why would he think this was about being a cop? Decepticons, Punish and Enslave. Decepticons at a quick look could be Deception. Punish and Enslave are pretty obvious. Maybe he thought this was someone calling it like he saw it, expecting the public at large to see such words as the cops coming clean. Maybe it hit too close to home.
Thanks for the update.
Unfortunately, the police officer got to punish the driver and I assume got away with it. Having to show up for a hearing and engage a lawyer to represent you is a burden this defendant should not have he to shoulder. The police officer should be disciplined. It would appear the one who suffers from a lack of comment sense is the officer. He would also appear to lack judgment and a sense of humor. He does appear to have more than his fair share of arrogance.
Happily the case was dismissed, but how in the world did it ever get this far? How can the police department sell retired cruisers at auction, and then declare that driving a black and white car was impersonating an officer, on the basis of the color scheme?
I’m glad Magistrate Bloom had a sense of humor. How much did the defendant have to pay for legal council for his lawyer to state the obvious? Unbelievable that the prosecutor doubled down on the officer’s initial mistake.
C’mon you people are smarter than that. We know why charges were brought. The mitigate the liability of the city for false arrest. Police have been running around arresting people willy-nilly for a decade. DA’s a pressing charges they KNOW positively they can’t win in the hopes of catching a plea bargain that will act as a justification for an illegal arrest.
Just like the lone resisting arrest charge without any other charges.
I have seen shake down after shake down in Massachusetts courts.
And how much did it cost the guy to defend himself against this frivolous charge?
Darren,
Can the attorney give you any estimates on exactly how much money this cost the taxpayers?
Good column – really appreciate learning what the resolution was.
Cautionary lesson on what the world would be like if cops weren’t reigned in by higher powers.
Readers who believe in “Officer Friendly” should read this column.
Justice was done. Now, as aridog suggested, why would you pay $80,000 for a Maserati and dress it up like that?
BarkinDog – you know that if you could afford that 80k Maserati it would be sitting in your drive way as we speak. 😉
The guy should take the vehicle on The Tinker Tour. He should wear a black armband in court the next time. Why anyone would pay eighty grand for a car is beyond me. You could go to Yale for two years for that. Oh, come to think about it I would rather have the court. That is a choice not an echo.
iconoclast
Mine also and thanks to everyone for the follow up LOL
Aridog- my thoughts, exactly!
Well, this is one for the Irish Poem’s book:
Les Miseratti???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
Ware painted his car black and white,
And the cops thought that wasn’t right.
Sooo, they took him court,
But the cops came up short,
And Ware waved as he sped out of sight!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
23 year old guy has a Maseratti and paints it in abominable fashion. Is there a charge on the books for blasphemy? 🙂
Darren, Good job following up on this. I noticed the attorney reached out to you and you and he are keeping up informed on this interesting case. One of the many good aspects of this blog is when the actual attorneys write here and we get info from the horse’s mouth. Kudos to you and the barrister.