my friend and i were looking for an empty field today to sight in my rifle i bought and we were in for some target practice. we shot out a clip and the cops were called on us by someone. they pulled us over and had us at gunpoint, we weren't armed, my friend was instructed to exit the car first, they then put him in handcuffs, i was next out of the vehicle and handcuffed, then third and last was my fiancee, she's 5'2 and only 100lbs, they had her at gunpoint also, which pissed me off because she poses no threat, they questioned us for 10 minutes then put us in their vehicle and told us that someone said that we were deliberatley shooting at them, which was false, our backs were turned toward the road which was about 100-200 yards from us. when we were in the vehicle my friend noticed that the cops did not read us our miranda rights. we waited until after the booking and proccessing to be questioned, thats when the sherrif wanted my statements. he then read me my rights and i questioned him about not reading me my rights when we were first handcuffed and stuffed in the back of their patrol car. this is waht he told me " YOU WERENT ARRESTED YOU WERE DETAINED" i asked him if we were detained why were all three of us handcuffed. he didnt give me an answer, after that question i asked him why they illegally seized my vehicle and searched it without my consent for them to. they searched the inside of my vehicle and the trunk, very thoroughly and right infront of all three of us while we were "detained" in the back of they're vehicle, cuffed. his answer to my question " we werent searching your vehicle, we were just checking to see what were your possesions for when the tow truck tows your vehicle". that is when i asked him for my lawyer because i knew something was sketchy. they then pulled my friend, Thomas, to questioning and he told me he was being a smart ass and he said he also wouldnt speak without a lawyer and he kept bugging them about his phone call, how much bail was and when he can get a lawyer, Thomas was not as cooperating as me and my fiancee but i think that served us a little better. they were fishing for evidence that didnt exist. they sent thomas back out of questioning and put him back in his cell. during this time i was changing to be put in a cell block. they transferred me to a cell block and i was in there for about 2-3 minutes before someone came back and told me we were free to go. this made no sense to any of us because we were told that we were being charged with criminal discharge of a weapon, which is a serious crime. i dont think the sherrifs of this town knew that we were this knowledgable of our rights or knew anything of the law.
P.S. we are asian and do believe that this was a case of unjust, and racism, do you think we have a strong enough case to bring this to a higher court of some type??
also, my fiancee was the first one who was processed and booked, thankfully she was the only one in her cell block.
my rifle was detained for "INVESTIGATION PURPOSES"
please, give me any advice or why they released us, not that im complaining, all charges were dropped,
charges: trespassing, criminal discharge of a weapon, illegal discharge of a weapon
Thats what it has come to in the US becuz the people have become sheep and anything to do with guns is bad. Thats why we are trying to fix things. and yes if you are asian then there probly was a lot of racial profiling involved in this whole thing. As for having any kind of legal case, not happening unless you have several thousand dollars to spend on a lawyer. Thats just my 2 cents on what i have seen personally.
thank you, i appreciate the feedback very much, would you by any chance know whyOriginally Posted by Marc
they just let us go also? we didnt set bail or anything, didnt even get to use our phone call,
just let go.
The only reason i can think that they let you go was simply because they had no evidence and no witnesses to prove that you were doing anything malicious. It mainly comes down to the fact that while they detained you at the station they called the prosecuter in and gave what they had on you, the prosecuter then decided that they did not have enough proof to take it to court, so the prosecuter said to let you go. That's the way the system operates. But that also shows as ive seen more and more lately, the prosecutors office is not willing to take on a case involving citizens that know the laws if they dont have the evidence to convict them. Thats why you keep asserting your rights and back them up with the laws that say u have those rights. Majority of the time that tells the prosecutor that you will not bend over and take it, and they will generally back off. Its different if they have at least some proof that you did something, but in your case i dont think they found one piece of evidence that you did wrong, so they dropped it and just let you go hoping that you would forget about it altogether. Thats the american justice system at work. If you have lots of disposable income you probly could bring a civil rights lawsuit against them but it is very expensive. Hope that helps you understand it a little better.
They knew they didn't have much which is why they searched your vehicle "for tow truck safety". As you can see once you get 'into the system' they can do all sorts of illegal 4A violations in their "Bumbling attempts" to do their jobs (allegedly). When bumbling produces durgs or weapons or illegal alien protoplasm, you can THEN be arrested for something.
IMO you were stupid for discharging your rifle into an empty field that WAS NOT YOUR PROPERTY. I'd say you got what you deserved, though I'm sorry that happened to you.
Take care.
A firearm is a tool of convenience, not effectiveness - Clint Smith, Thunder Ranch
In your original post, it reads as if you were shooting from your car, pulled off on the side of the road. Is that right?
OK - usual disclaimers...not a lawyer, yada yada...
Miranda - you are to be advised of your rights under the Miranda warning prior to any interrogation.
If you wish to chat with the police prior to any such advisement [consensual conversation] you're on your own.
Note: under a recent SCOTUS ruling you must TELL the authorities that you are going to remain silent until legal representation is secured.
Vehicle search - the PD, if in fact the car was towed, must inventory prior to moving to the impound yard as a liability issue.
As is mentioned many times on this forum, know your rights.
And make a recording of the event.
Negative, we hiked out for about 100-200 yards away from our vehicle which was about100-200 yards away from any road
we have recording of the weapon being discharged, but not when the
officers initially detained us, we were forced to come out with hands up
Yes, the empty field had a backstop and it seriously was big, had no "no trespassing signs" no gates or fences
Was it your (or your friend's) property or public land? If not, you shouldn't have been there.
Just because you find an empty field doesn't mean you can go shoot in it.
How were charges dropped if you didn't go to court?
Some parts of your story are not adding up...
Sorry, you're a new poster so forgive me if I am being unduly critical. Do you have a copy of the police report to post in order to back up your story?
Last edited by thebigsd; 03-18-2012 at 02:05 PM.
"When seconds count between living or dying, the police are only minutes away."
eskewei,
Thank you for posting your story. There are disturbing parts or your story dealing with the Anderson County Sheriff’s department.
But the fact remains you just went to an open field you didn’t own or didn’t belong to someone you knew. If you were on my property shooting without permission I would have called the Sheriff too.
Please remember this for next time you got really lucky you didn't get in trouble. Just some friendly advice, find the local shooting range and join or find a friend who lives in the country. If I am not mistaken there is a gun range in Garnett.
For what you have said I don’t believe race played a factor at all.
If I have missed something please update this thread so I can reevaluate my assessment.
No one fights for gun rights more than me and if I thought you were in the right I would have had a lawyer contact Anderson County Sherriff’s office.
Respectfully,
Marine0300
Last edited by marine0300; 03-18-2012 at 06:53 PM.
Hmm, two people get a little critical of his account and he hasn't been back. I'm beginning to become more suspicious...
"When seconds count between living or dying, the police are only minutes away."
Like, Contrarian post above. You only need to be read your Miranda rights if you are being interrogated. Anyone can be arrested, booked, arraigned and go to trial without ever being read their Miranda rights.
Law Enforcement only have to read them to you and get you to wave them if they decide they need to question you. If they don't need to question you for anything they don't need to read you the Miranda warning.
Don't believe the fiction of arrests that are shown on television.
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