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PERRIN LOVETT

~ Fiction, Freedom, and The West

PERRIN LOVETT

Tag Archives: 42 USC 1983

Enter The KRAKEN – at TPC

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Comments Off on Enter The KRAKEN – at TPC

Tags

2020, 42 USC 1983, crimes, Dominion, election, fraud, Georgia, Kraken, lawsuit, Smartmatic, Sydney Powell, War

Enter The Kraken

Now, as seen at The Piedmont Chronicles:

If a mythological analogy must be drawn from Syndey Powell’s election lawsuit in Georgia (and Michigan), then it is not the Kraken. It is a thunderbolt from Olympus. It’s not a bombshell. It’s not a hydrogen bomb. It’s a gamma-ray burst, potentially capable of searing the political planet out of its current existence.

This Complaint, which initiated Pearson, et al v. Kemp, et al (Nov. 2020) in the Northern District of Georgia, might be the most devastating legal pleading I have ever seen. The CIA deep state AP, in repeating the false call of a Biden win, has – along with the controlled or demoralized “conservative” establishment – repeatedly and haughtily declared that all claims of election rigging were baseless. Did they want evidence? Well, here it is. 

The filing, backed by copious evidentiary exhibits, many of which I’ve read and which a reader can easily find, is more than a civil petition. It is more than a criminal indictment. If half of the supported and real allegations are true, then it is a potential call for measured military reprisal.

Addressing the first dismissive remark from the enemy that the filing was hasty and riddled with spelling and grammatical problems: shut the hell up, retards. Such issues, routine and easily corrected, were a good sign of authenticity. Law firms have litigation templates, one suited for each type of action filed in each court. The fact that “District” was misspelled in a header indicates that the entire document was a custom job, drafted specifically for its purpose – a Lamborghini, not a Buick. Besides, it’s the substance that matters.

A second idiotic response was that the first filing when made public, lacked supporting documentation. The fact that all exhibits were repeatedly referenced indicated that they were on file with the Court. Again, be silent, morons.

A short review of the substance:

The plaintiffs are all Georgia Republican Electors. The first plaintiff is C.J. Pearson, an 18-year-old black conservative wunderkind from Augusta. He alleges that he was disenfranchised and is due relief under 42 USC § 1983. Thus, in keeping with the rhetoric the left has taught us the past few years: Joe Biden, or agents working on his behalf, conspired and acted to rob an African-American teenage student and child, from a formerly-segregated southern city, of his vote, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act (and other laws, state and federal, to include the Fourteenth Amendment). Your author disavows and condemns this racism and white supremacy, and I call on Biden and the CIA deep state AP to do the same. And, yes, “agents working on his behalf” may include officials from both parts of the uni-party along with independent, foreign malfeasors. This is beyond rich.

Not long ago, I warned the Freedom Prepper audience, and through or with them the GOP of Georgia, to never dismiss the opposition out of hand, specifically Stacey Abrams. In hilarious fashion, she is a hero of the pleading, demonstrating intelligence and foresight superior to Brian Kemp. She’s possibly more honest to boot.

For instance, Abrams knew and is on the record advising (Kemp) that Dominion’s software was beyond unreliable and that Georgia was unwise in adopting it. The election officials in other states also knew as much (ie, Texas). Overall, the reservations about DVS go well beyond suspicion. Various people either associated with designing the system or who have studied it conclude that it was essentially designed not for vote recording, but for vote manipulation – it was built to be “hacked.” How easy is it to access an (off-line) machine? “…7 minutes alone with it and a screwdriver” easy. How much time did they have in Fulton County after the fake water leak?

And, how long has the wider-world been aware of the digital dangers? Well, since at least July 2006, the State Department was concerned about and closely monitoring the Smartmatic situation in Venezuela. And, yes, that’s the same Venezuela that the AP claims has no relationship with the program. 

There may have been monitoring of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and associated voter rolls and computer systems during the 2016 election. This made little sense at the time and maybe it is unrelated, but the suggestion was that a rogue DHS agent hacked in for some reason. Might someone have been probing in advance, searching for a weakness in both systemic capacity and human competence? Both were obviously found in abundance as the 2020 matter was riddled, before and during the actual election, with illegality upon stupidity upon perceived and demonstrable nefariousness.

Be the answer to that last question as it may, it appears that many eyes were ready and observing this election, call them what they call themselves, “white hat” intelligence. I suspect that much of the massive trove of evidence was assembled before November 3, 2020. At the least, multiple parties were recording data transmissions and linked networks in real-time, Nov. 3-4, and then rapidly compiled a report on the same. This operation may well have been the culmination of John Durham’s work. Much of the exhibited information appears to have come from either military or civilian intel operations.* As such, it was classified information. How did Powell come by it? My theory is that it was delivered to her by a knowing, aware Trump after the election. The President may, by his lawful authority, declassify any material for any reason and to any person he chooses. My theory is that he gave it to her and then “fired” her from his legal team. Thus, as a free agent of justice, she operated without fear of any false alleged connections with the White House and without being subject to any encumbering roadblocks. Again, kindly note that she is representing the Georgia GOP Electors, not Team Trump.

*Yes, your author is aware of various developing rumors of a literal battle between different factions of the US government in this matter and the ramifications for a civil war scenario, in progress or pending.

And, dear Lord, does she have the substantiation the AP says doesn’t exist. The fraud in Georgia alone was massive, spanning electronic and paper ballots (real and fake) in multiple counties. She has eye-witness testimony. There are video recordings. This is so real that Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson might even see it. A judge certainly will.

Browsing through, one of the things that jumped out at me and a few other readers, was Paragraph Fourteen, Page Seven:

14.

As explained and demonstrated in the accompanying redacted declaration of a former electronic intelligence analyst under 305th Military Intelligence with experience gathering SAM missile system electronic intelligence, the Dominion software was accessed by agents acting on behalf of China and Iran in order to monitor and manipulate elections, including the most recent US general election in 2020. This Declaration further includes a copy of the patent records for Dominion Systems in which Eric Coomer is listed as the first of the inventors of Dominion Voting Systems. (See Attached hereto as Exh. 8, copy of redacted witness affidavit, 17 pages, November 23, 2020).

What? Here’s the Exhibit, as filed. This is unusual as to its inclusion in a civil case and as to its level of sophisticated analysis. As an aside, a witness affidavit confirms that Eric Coomer recently reassured Antifa (the ideology) of Denver that because of reasons, Trump could not win: “We fixed it.” By way of the NSA, CIA, MI6, Army Intel, and/or other investigators, the fix was in for Dominion before or during their interference. The scope reaches at least Venezuela, Serbia, Iran, and China, in addition to multiple domestic parties. Overconfident, as are many criminals, the masterminds behind this fraud failed to cover their tracks or to fully understand how the internet and electronic communication works. Everything – EVERYTHING – was intercepted, deciphered, and recorded, including the relatively easy to follow chain of development and operation. See, here, one graphic example of many:

*One knowing rudimentary URL manipulation may use this linked-exhibit as a starting point for reading the rest.

For reasons I’ll explain in a moment, the international meddling angle is potentially devastating to all the meddlers, even those within the US.

The relief sought, in emergency measure and permanently, is also important. First of all, Pearson, et al seek to have the Georgia results de-certified. As an alternative, they seek to have the reams of illegal votes cast out, to reset the clock to the lawful close of the election, when Trump won. Under the secondary relief, Person and the other GOP Electors (and, ideally those in other affected states as well) would proceed to re-elect Trump, and the AP, et al would necessarily have to re-do their proclamations (and, perhaps, change their underwear). There is a possible middle ground, a movement of the election to the General Assembly similar to what is unfolding in Pennsylvania. However, the primary requested relief is the most interesting. This case and/or others could easily see the Supreme Court. If granted and fulfilled, the primary injunction(s) would leave states without Collegiate representation, thus paving the way for kicking the entire election to Congress. There, Mo Brooks and others are already prepared to drop first day resolutions to initiate a Block Vote (not by individual representatives) in both the House and the Senate, which would necessarily result in Trump’s re-election. 

There are still many, murky “ifs” in this debacle, however, for those who would see Western Civilization defended, there is great cause for hope. Your author expects few in the mainstream, the “right” or the left, to understand these lawful processes. What they mean – either way – is confirmation of one of the approximate winning margins I assigned Trump back in October. Congratulations, Mr. President. Now, or after January 21st, bring the storm!

One semi-grounded fear across the country is that, in the event of a lawful election, Eric Coomer’s ideological friends on the ultra-violent left will let loose with violence far surpassing what they dealt out over the summer. That may happen, though, as indicated by patterns manifesting in the evidence in this case, someone may be expecting them and may be ready for them. In this unfolding incident, it may be the counter-punch that packs the most power.

That brings me back to the evidence of intermingled foreign influence in the fraud. Back in September of 2018, Trump quietly issued an Executive Order that, at the time, made little sense to outside observers. It provides for an expedited national security investigation of alleged foreign election interference along with crushing penalties against any persons involved in such a scheme, whether they are here or abroad, regardless of who they are. For whatever reason, Dominion, in Pennsylvania, has suddenly clammed up, citing its involvement in “litigation.” What could they possibly mean? For his part, Trump appears to mean business, recently sweeping clean his Defense Advisory Board of certain potentially-conflicted parties. What could that mean?

Just as we have a legal election procedure, we also have long-standing precedents for dealing with foreign or domestic assaults. The policy of the DOD and the government is that cyber-warfare is still warfare and may be responded to as such. Via the court-sanctioned wisdom of previous Congresses, the Executive has near-total and summary ability to counter any hostilities. Trump would be very well to reread his own EO, the Insurrection Act, several Authorizations of Defense and Use of Force, and various policies from the Obama, Bush (II), and Lincoln Administrations. He has tools at his disposal. Will he use them? Perhaps it is finally time to get Kraken.

Developing…

Enter The KRAKEN

30 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Comments Off on Enter The KRAKEN

Tags

2020, 42 USC 1983, crimes, Dominion, election, fraud, Georgia, Kraken, lawsuit, Smartmatic, Sydney Powell, War

Enter The Kraken

If a mythological analogy must be drawn from Syndey Powell’s election lawsuit in Georgia (and Michigan), then it is not the Kraken. It is a thunderbolt from Olympus. It’s not a bombshell. It’s not a hydrogen bomb. It’s a gamma-ray burst, potentially capable of searing the political planet out of its current existence.

This Complaint, which initiated Pearson, et al v. Kemp, et al (Nov. 2020) in the Northern District of Georgia, might be the most devastating legal pleading I have ever seen. The CIA deep state AP, in repeating the false call of a Biden win, has – along with the controlled or demoralized “conservative” establishment – repeatedly and haughtily declared that all claims of election rigging were baseless. Did they want evidence? Well, here it is. 

The filing, backed by copious evidentiary exhibits, many of which I’ve read and which a reader can easily find, is more than a civil petition. It is more than a criminal indictment. If half of the supported and real allegations are true, then it is a potential call for measured military reprisal.

Addressing the first dismissive remark from the enemy that the filing was hasty and riddled with spelling and grammatical problems: shut the hell up, retards. Such issues, routine and easily corrected, were a good sign of authenticity. Law firms have litigation templates, one suited for each type of action filed in each court. The fact that “District” was misspelled in a header indicates that the entire document was a custom job, drafted specifically for its purpose – a Lamborghini, not a Buick. Besides, it’s the substance that matters.

A second idiotic response was that the first filing when made public, lacked supporting documentation. The fact that all exhibits were repeatedly referenced indicated that they were on file with the Court. Again, be silent, morons.

A short review of the substance:

The plaintiffs are all Georgia Republican Electors. The first plaintiff is C.J. Pearson, an 18-year-old black conservative wunderkind from Augusta. He alleges that he was disenfranchised and is due relief under 42 USC § 1983. Thus, in keeping with the rhetoric the left has taught us the past few years: Joe Biden, or agents working on his behalf, conspired and acted to rob an African-American teenage student and child, from a formerly-segregated southern city, of his vote, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act (and other laws, state and federal, to include the Fourteenth Amendment). Your author disavows and condemns this racism and white supremacy, and I call on Biden and the CIA deep state AP to do the same. And, yes, “agents working on his behalf” may include officials from both parts of the uni-party along with independent, foreign malfeasors. This is beyond rich.

Not long ago, I warned the Freedom Prepper audience, and through or with them the GOP of Georgia, to never dismiss the opposition out of hand, specifically Stacey Abrams. In hilarious fashion, she is a hero of the pleading, demonstrating intelligence and foresight superior to Brian Kemp. She’s possibly more honest to boot.

For instance, Abrams knew and is on the record advising (Kemp) that Dominion’s software was beyond unreliable and that Georgia was unwise in adopting it. The election officials in other states also knew as much (ie, Texas). Overall, the reservations about DVS go well beyond suspicion. Various people either associated with designing the system or who have studied it conclude that it was essentially designed not for vote recording, but for vote manipulation – it was built to be “hacked.” How easy is it to access an (off-line) machine? “…7 minutes alone with it and a screwdriver” easy. How much time did they have in Fulton County after the fake water leak?

And, how long has the wider-world been aware of the digital dangers? Well, since at least July 2006, the State Department was concerned about and closely monitoring the Smartmatic situation in Venezuela. And, yes, that’s the same Venezuela that the AP claims has no relationship with the program. 

There may have been monitoring of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and associated voter rolls and computer systems during the 2016 election. This made little sense at the time and maybe it is unrelated, but the suggestion was that a rogue DHS agent hacked in for some reason. Might someone have been probing in advance, searching for a weakness in both systemic capacity and human competence? Both were obviously found in abundance as the 2020 matter was riddled, before and during the actual election, with illegality upon stupidity upon perceived and demonstrable nefariousness.

Be the answer to that last question as it may, it appears that many eyes were ready and observing this election, call them what they call themselves, “white hat” intelligence. I suspect that much of the massive trove of evidence was assembled before November 3, 2020. At the least, multiple parties were recording data transmissions and linked networks in real-time, Nov. 3-4, and then rapidly compiled a report on the same. This operation may well have been the culmination of John Durham’s work. Much of the exhibited information appears to have come from either military or civilian intel operations.* As such, it was classified information. How did Powell come by it? My theory is that it was delivered to her by a knowing, aware Trump after the election. The President may, by his lawful authority, declassify any material for any reason and to any person he chooses. My theory is that he gave it to her and then “fired” her from his legal team. Thus, as a free agent of justice, she operated without fear of any false alleged connections with the White House and without being subject to any encumbering roadblocks. Again, kindly note that she is representing the Georgia GOP Electors, not Team Trump.

*Yes, your author is aware of various developing rumors of a literal battle between different factions of the US government in this matter and the ramifications for a civil war scenario, in progress or pending.

And, dear Lord, does she have the substantiation the AP says doesn’t exist. The fraud in Georgia alone was massive, spanning electronic and paper ballots (real and fake) in multiple counties. She has eye-witness testimony. There are video recordings. This is so real that Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson might even see it. A judge certainly will.

Browsing through, one of the things that jumped out at me and a few other readers, was Paragraph Fourteen, Page Seven:

14.

As explained and demonstrated in the accompanying redacted declaration of a former electronic intelligence analyst under 305th Military Intelligence with experience gathering SAM missile system electronic intelligence, the Dominion software was accessed by agents acting on behalf of China and Iran in order to monitor and manipulate elections, including the most recent US general election in 2020. This Declaration further includes a copy of the patent records for Dominion Systems in which Eric Coomer is listed as the first of the inventors of Dominion Voting Systems. (See Attached hereto as Exh. 8, copy of redacted witness affidavit, 17 pages, November 23, 2020).

What? Here’s the Exhibit, as filed. This is unusual as to its inclusion in a civil case and as to its level of sophisticated analysis. As an aside, a witness affidavit confirms that Eric Coomer recently reassured Antifa (the ideology) of Denver that because of reasons, Trump could not win: “We fixed it.” By way of the NSA, CIA, MI6, Army Intel, and/or other investigators, the fix was in for Dominion before or during their interference. The scope reaches at least Venezuela, Serbia, Iran, and China, in addition to multiple domestic parties. Overconfident, as are many criminals, the masterminds behind this fraud failed to cover their tracks or to fully understand how the internet and electronic communication works. Everything – EVERYTHING – was intercepted, deciphered, and recorded, including the relatively easy to follow chain of development and operation. See, here, one graphic example of many:

*One knowing rudimentary URL manipulation may use this linked-exhibit as a starting point for reading the rest.

For reasons I’ll explain in a moment, the international meddling angle is potentially devastating to all the meddlers, even those within the US.

The relief sought, in emergency measure and permanently, is also important. First of all, Pearson, et al seek to have the Georgia results de-certified. As an alternative, they seek to have the reams of illegal votes cast out, to reset the clock to the lawful close of the election, when Trump won. Under the secondary relief, Person and the other GOP Electors (and, ideally those in other affected states as well) would proceed to re-elect Trump, and the AP, et al would necessarily have to re-do their proclamations (and, perhaps, change their underwear). There is a possible middle ground, a movement of the election to the General Assembly similar to what is unfolding in Pennsylvania. However, the primary requested relief is the most interesting. This case and/or others could easily see the Supreme Court. If granted and fulfilled, the primary injunction(s) would leave states without Collegiate representation, thus paving the way for kicking the entire election to Congress. There, Mo Brooks and others are already prepared to drop first day resolutions to initiate a Block Vote (not by individual representatives) in both the House and the Senate, which would necessarily result in Trump’s re-election. 

There are still many, murky “ifs” in this debacle, however, for those who would see Western Civilization defended, there is great cause for hope. Your author expects few in the mainstream, the “right” or the left, to understand these lawful processes. What they mean – either way – is confirmation of one of the approximate winning margins I assigned Trump back in October. Congratulations, Mr. President. Now, or after January 21st, bring the storm!

One semi-grounded fear across the country is that, in the event of a lawful election, Eric Coomer’s ideological friends on the ultra-violent left will let loose with violence far surpassing what they dealt out over the summer. That may happen, though, as indicated by patterns manifesting in the evidence in this case, someone may be expecting them and may be ready for them. In this unfolding incident, it may be the counter-punch that packs the most power.

That brings me back to the evidence of intermingled foreign influence in the fraud. Back in September of 2018, Trump quietly issued an Executive Order that, at the time, made little sense to outside observers. It provides for an expedited national security investigation of alleged foreign election interference along with crushing penalties against any persons involved in such a scheme, whether they are here or abroad, regardless of who they are. For whatever reason, Dominion, in Pennsylvania, has suddenly clammed up, citing its involvement in “litigation.” What could they possibly mean? For his part, Trump appears to mean business, recently sweeping clean his Defense Advisory Board of certain potentially-conflicted parties. What could that mean?

Just as we have a legal election procedure, we also have long-standing precedents for dealing with foreign or domestic assaults. The policy of the DOD and the government is that cyber-warfare is still warfare and may be responded to as such. Via the court-sanctioned wisdom of previous Congresses, the Executive has near-total and summary ability to counter any hostilities. Trump would be very well to reread his own EO, the Insurrection Act, several Authorizations of Defense and Use of Force, and various policies from the Obama, Bush (II), and Lincoln Administrations. He has tools at his disposal. Will he use them? Perhaps it is finally time to get Kraken.

Developing…

If You Read It Right…

27 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns

≈ Comments Off on If You Read It Right…

Tags

"racist", 42 USC 1983, Biden, Biden is a racist

…and by the standards given us by the enemy, then from the GA election litigation it is clear: Joe Biden or his agents stand accused under the “Ku Klux Klan” Act of stealing a vote from an African-American teenager living in a formerly segregated southern city. This can only be described as “white supremacy.” I disavow it. When will Biden?

How to Interact with the Police

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by perrinlovett in Uncategorized

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

1791, 42 USC 1983, 911, advice, Americans, Armed Citizen's Legal Defense Fund, arrest, Augusta, authority, Bill of Rights, Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Agents, citizen, citizen-police encounter, clients, concealed carry, Constitution, Courts, crime, don't talk, education, evidence, felony, Fifth Amendment, firearms, Georgia, government, gun, H.L. Mencken, illegal, incrimination, James Duane, law enforcement, lawyers, libertarian, Libertarian Party, Ludowici, militia, Miranda v. Arizona, Natural Rights, North Carolina, open carry, permit, police, public, right to remain silent, searches, Second Amendment, self-defense, self-preservation, sheriff, South Carolina, States, Switzerland, Terry v. Ohio, Vermont, warrant, witness, Youtube

Don’t talk.  Do not ever talk to the police under any circumstances whatsoever, ever.  Ever.  This is the general libertarian legal advice given by good lawyers who wish to spare their clients and anyone else listening the possibility of unwittingly implicating themselves in criminal activity, whether they were actually involved or not.

I like this advice and tend to give it to clients myself.  However, as with most legal issues, this matter is not quite that simple.  Well, maybe it is, but there are reasons why you might need to address the cops.  I’ll get to those a little later.

On March 10, 2013 I will address the Libertarian Party of the greater Augusta, Georgia area.  I was asked to speak on the subject of citizen interaction with the police in general and, more specifically, interactions involving a citizen carrying a firearm.  I will do so happily.  This column is a preview of what I will likely discuss.

There are two federally recognized (sometimes) natural rights which are affected by such situations – actually, they are different tangents of the same right – the right to self-preservation.  The first involves not implicating oneself in wrongdoing, the second involves the right of self-defense.  The Constitution lists these rights under Amendments V and II, respectively.  All State Constitutions recognize the same rights to a degree somewhere within their texts.  I’ll stick with federal language as a universal representation:

The Fifth Amendment reads: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

The above subject primarily deals with the “witness against himself” clause, though due process is implicated as well.

The Second Amendment reads: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”  This relates, obviously, to carrying a weapon while interacting with the police.

Both of these rights, despite laws and court rulings in their favor, have experienced considerable erosion since the ratification of the Bill of Rights (most rights have).  I will not necessarily discuss the origin of the rights, their history, or their decline herein.  As is, I will just accept them as plainly written.

Back to not talking to the police.  Many attorneys, including yours truly, generally advise against talking to government employees of any stripe, not simply the police.  This extends to telephone conversations (including 911 calls) as such calls are frequently recorded.  I recently posted a link to this video (Don’t Talk to the Police): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc.  The video is a 50 minute discussion of our subject by Regent Law School (Virginia) law professor James Duane.  The advice is excellent.  You’ll notice though that immediately after saying he will never talk to the police, professor Duane talks to a police officer.  There are almost always exceptions to a general rule.

I’ll cover a few of those now.  If you are a law professor who gives such a talk and you invite a police officer to participate, you will need to talk to the police.  If you’re a nice person who walks by a cop on a sunny morning, you might say, “Good Morning!” – that’s talking to the police.  If your child is kidnapped late one night you will probably call the police before anyone else.  If you are the victim of another type of violent crime you might talk.  If you are drunk, high, suffering from low blood sugar, or under a mental delusion, you might talk to the police, not remembering any of this advice at the time.  If your friend, relative, co-worker, or neighbor is a cop …  you get the picture.

Other government employees sometimes require your verbal attention too.  These examples are almost too numerous to list.  They range from telling a campaigning CongressCritter to buzz off when he disturbs your breakfast at the local cafe (happened to me once) to asking a clerk where the county vehicle tag office is.

Most of these examples are innocent enough.  However, sometimes the police arrest and persecute people for innocent interactions.  I had a client once who singed an insurance policy while paying for it.  He was later arrested and charged with felony insurance fraud based on his signature.  The crime didn’t even involve his particular policy.  In such cases, no advice is sufficient; one must engage a competent attorney and fight the system.

My subject matter here is really how to interact with the cops when you are approached about a possible criminal action wherein you might be a suspect. 

I recall from law school there are three tiers of citizen-police encounters.  The first is a simple and voluntary meeting (like some of my above examples) wherein the citizen is free to leave.  If you find yourself in a Tier One and you suspect the officer is probing you, ask if you are free to leave.  If you are, do so immediately.  Remember you do not have to say anything to the police no matter what they ask or say.  In these simple situations you can just walk away and terminate the encounter.

The second tier is known in legal circles as a Terry stop (see: Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).  It is also more commonly called an investigatory stop.  That means the approaching officer is officially investigating some alleged or potential criminal wrongdoing.  The citizen is not necessarily free to leave and is technically under detention, even if temporarily so.  A Tier One becomes a Terry stop if the officer responds that the citizen is not free to leave.  At this point the citizen should shut up.  The exceptions are again to ask if you are free to leave or if you are under arrest and to tell the officer you do not consent to any searches.  Do not ever consent to searches.

The police are not supposed to arbitrarily initiate Terry stops (they do sometimes).  Rather, they are supposed to have “articulable suspicion” that a crime has or may have been committed and that the citizen is a likely suspect or witness.  The standard for such suspicion varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and by the individual case, though the common maxim is the officer must have something more than a hunch about the possible crime.  Fuzzy, yes.

Terry stops originate from many sources: tips or reports of crime, something the officer witnesses, an emergency, a man-hunt, or something else.  Frequently, the police have nothing at all in the way of evidence.  Thus, they turn to the citizen for incriminating evidence.  Citizens offer the evidence against themselves voluntarily in most cases.  If you ever saw the TV show Cops, then you know a suspect will immediately start babbling on about what he did or didn’t do.  This usually digs the suspect a nice hole – with bars.  This is why you shouldn’t say anything.  Do not help the police do their job.  At this point you will either be arrested, further temporarily detained, or released regardless of what you say.  Talking won’t help, so don’t do it.

The third tier is a formal arrest.  If you are arrested you must absolutely cease talking period.  At some point the police will advise you of your Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)) – you know these from TV.  They will tell you you have the right to remain silent and that anything you say can and will be used against you.  Did you get that?  Anything you say will be used against you.  Give them nothing.  Under arrest you only make one statement, repeatedly in necessary: “I want an attorney.”  The police usually stop questioning at that point, sometimes they don’t.  Just do not answer or make any other statements – at all.  Be silent as you have the right.

Silence is the better rule in most of these encounters.  By talking you will either implicate yourself or possibly give the officer(s) something else to consider in your prosecution.  Sometimes officers hear things wrong or falsely report what a citizen says.  They can make you out to be a liar.  You’re not lying if you’re not talking.

I have been retained by several clients just over the issue of voluntary interrogations.  I stopped the practice entirely after so many such incidents.  The client would get a call from the police, asking the client to “come downtown” to answer a few questions or make a statement.  Once a client demanded to visit the Sheriff to make a statement all on his own – over a non-issue.  My constant advice to all of these folks was to not go and to say nothing.  Most did not listen and I had to accompany them to the Q&A sessions.  At those meetings I objected to each and every question the police asked and every statement the client uttered.  That did not stop most of these people.  I have literally watched as people talked themselves into felony prosecutions.  Seeing the process as pointless and potentially liability-inducing on my part, I stopped participating.  Don’t put your attorney through such torture.  Don’t talk.

I’ve also been hired by clients after they talked to the police.  I have read many statements and listened to many recording wherein a client essentially convicted himself.  Often, without their own damning, idiotic testimony through such statements, the government would never have had a case to try.  Don’t talk to the police.

Firearms add an extra dimension to the issue.  America is the most heavily, privately armed country in the world.  We should rejoice!  The primary reason for the Second Amendment was to ensure the People would always be able to fend off a tyrannical government, all other purposes are ancillary.

Unfortunately, much has changed since 1791.  Today, many Americans are afraid of firearms (and much else) and defer unwisely to the government for protection.  Their fears are fueled by a few isolated stories from the lamestream media.  Many of these cases, I suspect, are false-flag operations of the government, ginned up to alarm the frightened people.  Remember always – “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” – H.L. Mencken.

In the old days, no-one looked twice at a person carrying a gun in public.  It was what Americans did.  You can still find the practice accepted in many rural communities.  The practice is open and notorious in Switzerland (God bless the Swiss). 

Swiss Militia man

(A Swiss Militia member openly carrying a battlefield rifle in a grocery store.  The blonde woman is not concerned – free people are not.  Source: Google Images.)

The local LP sent me a video of a law student telling off a police officer who “detained” the student over a firearm.  I seem to have misplaced the video link.  You can surely find it or something similar on Youtube.  Here’s my take on the matter.  First, Americans have every right to go armed just about anywhere they want to, even though many jurisdictions illegally attempt to block this right.  Second, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor – more on that in a second.  Third, in the Georgia and much of the South, we are lucky to have pro-gun law enforcement.  Many officers welcome armed citizens. 

Let’s assume for argument’s sake, you encounter an officer with a dimmer view of freedom.  Georgia and most other States allow concealed carry of weapons – usually with a permit.  I think those permits are UnConstitutional.  A few States like Vermont do not regulate of require such licenses.  This issue is slowing making its way through the courts.  We will see what becomes of it.  For now, if you carry concealed, play the government’s game.

To avoid an unwanted and unnecessary confrontation over your gun, carry concealed.  If they (the police or the easily alarmed) can’t see the weapon, they can’t inquire about it.  Some State’s licenses come with the requirement that a citizen inform any approaching or present law officer that they have a license and are carrying.  North and South Carolina come to mind.  This is also UnConstitutional.  Georgia is not such a State.  Say nothing in Georgia.  In fact, if you have the gun well concealed, say nothing wherever you are.  If they don’t know, they don’t know – and they don’t need to.

If you carry openly, which is your right, you may expect someone to alert the police to “a man with a gun.”  As a result, you may be approached by an officer.  This would be a quasi-tier one/two encounter.  Carrying a gun itself is not justification for any suspicion of wrongdoing.  The police will inquire anyway.  They may go as far as to handcuff you while they check your license and the gun.  This a violation of your civil rights.  I had a friend who was stopped by a traffic officer in Ludowici, Georgia one night.  The officer inquired about my friend’s pistol and took the gun to “check it.”  The officer then announced he would have to keep the gun until the next day in order to verify it really belonged to my friend and was carried properly.  This was in keeping with Ludowici’s long-standing policy of public harassment.

Before I became really upset about the story my friend told me it had ended well.  The Ludowici police chief, realised his officer had broken the law, immediately dispatched a courier to hand deliver the gun back to my friend.  As my friend was happy, the issue died.  A bloodless victory is the best kind as we say in court.

However, if you find yourself in a similar situation, the best thing to do is keep quiet.  Do not tell off the officer as the afore-noted law student did, even though you are completely right.  The police sometimes get nervous and arrest or murder “uppity” civilians and make up a good excuse for their actions in their report.  The street is not the place to fight for your rights – unless the officer endangers your life.  You can use force against the police if necessary, just as you would against any other armed thug.  But, these situations are messy at best. 

It is usually after such an encounter you should act – by contacting an attorney.  You may very well have a civil rights action against the police (State or local) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (or a Bivens action against federal officers [Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)]).  An attorney can advise you in a particular case.

Two more specific situations, very briefly.  First, if you are involved in a self-defense shooting you will likely have contact with the police.  In such cases always identify yourself as the victim of the underlying crime.  In order to legally use deadly force against another, one must reasonable belive that one’s life is in imminent danger from a criminal actor who simultaneously posses the ability and the proximity to in fact endanger innocent life.  This is the general public standard, in most jurisdictions you have more leeway on your own property (stand your ground and castle statutes).

If you have to shoot someone (I hope you never do), report only the fact of the crime and that you ended it per the standard I just stated.  The police may want additional statements.  Do not make them.  Tell the officer you take the matter very seriously and that you need to, accordingly, speak with your attorney before making any additional statements or answering any other questions.  Again, if you are arrested (not always a given, here), say absolutely nothing.  I am referral attorney for the Armed Citizen’s Legal Defense Fund, based in Washington State, http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/.  The Fund has produced an excellent series of videos on this subject.  Legal and tactical shooting experts discuss in-depth how to handle these situations with your gun and with the law.  I recommend you purchase and review these videos. 

Second, if you are at home and the police knock on the door, do not open it.  Do not let the police in volutarily for any reason.  This by itself constitutes a consentual search (at least cursory).  If the police have authority (a warrant) to enter your home, they will do it rather than asking you for permission.  If they ask, they have no authority.  Don’t help them gain it.  I have former clients in prison because they opened a door for the police.  Don’t do it and don’t talk to them. 

Remember, in a specific case you may have, consult with a specific attorney for legal advice.

As for advice, nothing herein constitutes legal advice.  Consider this, rather, a general legal education.  When you see the police use common sense and do not talk if you can help it.  Doing the first and refraining from the second may save you many headaches.

Perrin Lovett

perrinlovett@gmail.com

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