The police have said that the crime they were sent to investigate was not committed. That doesn’t mean that Watts didn’t commit any other crimes; it just means they chose not to pursue them.
And I didn’t accuse her of libel, I accused her of slander.
Yup, that’s entirely what this nation needs. Cops that, when they’re called out for a crime that didn’t happen, stick around and look for any possible other crime the person can be charged with. :smack:
What happened to you in your life to make you so broken?
Actually, in their CNN interview, the bf suggested the cop was being snotty or condescending when he asked her that.
I wonder how many times she has been hassled by the cops in the past.
When I was 21 in Boston and driving a big car I could expect to be stopped nearly every time I drove any distance. Maybe she had had it with getting hassled.
Which they didn’t do, nor should they have.
I beg your pardon?
Driving while pretty?
You’d think someone who’d been “hassled” that often would have learned that arguing with the cops or yelling at them doesn’t make it any easier.
But they sound so serious! I have it on good authority that she could’ve been on drugs, underage, a verbal assaulter, a phone-shover-in-facer, an investigation-obstructor, a scene-fleer, a serial committer of the fake crime of slander … are you actually saying that all of those things are so insignificant that the cops don’t give half a fuck about them? That doesn’t do much for your argument.
Dad couldn’t protect him from some monster, real or imaginary, so he wants the government to be his all-knowing daddy and make everything OK.
I’m saying the police have discretion whether to pursue an area of investigation or not, which is something that people of your ilk usually support when they talk about cops “harassing” people for minor offenses.
Or are you now arguing that the police should fully investigate and apply the full penalty of law to any person who violates any ordinance that comes to their attention?
You may want to read back. I think it was earlier claimed that certain types of completed misdemeanors might still allow for a legal Terry stop.
Can someone point me to references that answer these:
Did Watts have her ID with her, since she was not driving and needed no DL?
Did she refuse to give her name?
Of course that latter might not be pertinent as the officer may have asked for ID, instead of asking her name. And if she did have her ID, she might not have known that instead of being required to show ID, she could just give her name. So instead she made an issue of that it was unreasonable for her to show ID, when she might have simply stated her name had she been more up on California and Federal criminal law.
To me it is telling that in the TMZ audio, you can hear the officer saying “I would have been gone by now”. He admits the Terry stop would have been much briefer but for “contempt of Cop”
Minor offenses? I thought your view was that they were very serious.
Per the audio logs here, she specifically refused to give her name in addition to refusing to give ID. Her boyfriend volunteers that he has her passport in his possession, but when they ask him to show it to them she shouts that they can’t.
Serious enough to warrant temporary detainment, minor in the grand scheme of things and not worth the officers’ time at the moment, since her greatest offense was aggravated dramatics.
So you admit you were trumping up shit, then. This confirms that all the crap about psych holds and drugs and slander and underage prostitution was just a desperate attempt to make this sound worthwhile when the police quickly acknowledged it wasn’t.
There’s that over-exaggeration others point and laugh at. No wonder you’re such a [del]brown nosing[/del] supportive, nannying git of all things police questionable… the minute you open your trap, without proper identification and utter subservience, you’d be thrown in jail. I completely understand now. Carry on with your unwavering, uh, support. I’m sure your industrial strength knee pads will continue to hold out.
However, other parts of you might get a little sore. Just saying.
Bwahahahahaha! Oh, my God. I cannot breath. Every day on these boards do you see people who are dumber than a box of rocks and proclaim that loudly and often. But it’s very rare for one to step up as their king. Holy shit, but is this priceless comedy gold or what?
Your words, not mine;
I’m beginning to think I’m the only person in this thread who doesn’t constantly fantasize about being raped by policemen. This really isn’t a healthy obsession, guys.
Something can be serious and not worthwhile at the same time.
OK, here’s my lengthy and contrived hypothetical…
A moderately famous artist of some sort is producing an art project which involves burning an American Flag in a clearing in the forest. A park ranger happens upon this scene, and knows that he has the responsibility for enforcing the fire code, and is worried that this burning will result in a forest fire. So he approaches the people doing the filming, and asks them to stop the burning. The artist then immediately goes into both “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!??!?!” and “YOU DAMN FASCISTS” screeching mode and begins tweeting at great length about the jack-booted thugs who are trying to oppress his freedom of expression.
After some analysis over the next few days, it is determined that while the park ranger sometimes DOES have the responsibility to enforce the fire code in situations like this, there are reasons (which have nothing to do with politics or fascism) why in this particular case he was overreaching.
Is that artist someone we should revere and respect for his brave Rosa Parks-esque actions?
(Note: IF in fact it turns out that the ranger acted improperly, then all the proper laws should be followed as far as what consequences if any should apply, etc., etc., I’m not saying “well, he THOUGHT he was doing the right thing, so it’s OK”. What I am saying is that there’s a HUGE difference between “cop thinks he can do whatever he wants because he’s a cop, heroic citizen refuses to be bullied” and “cop tries to do something illegal, but it’s a complicated situation and can only be determined to be actually illegal after much discussion… possibly-heroic citizen refuses to be bullied, but may actually just be loud-mouthed asshole”)