Great news out of New Hampshire
via the law offices of Martin and Hipple:
Weare resident Bill Alleman has won a settlement in his civil
suit alleging retaliatory prosecution on the part of the Weare
Police Department. In July of 2011, Mr. Alleman was arrested for
recording Officer Brandon Montplaisir with his mobile phone. A New
Hampshire District Court judge dismissed the charges approximately
four months later, noting that recording public officials is a
right protected by the First Amendment. Alleman then sued the Weare
Police Department for retaliatory prosecution, claiming that he was
arrested and prosecuted for exercising his First Amendment
rights….
Alleman even got a written apology from Weare police chief
John D. Valleca:
In his apology, Chief Velleca said, “After reviewing your case
and applicable case law, including the recent decision in Gericke
v. Begin, we have concluded that your arrest… should not have
occurred. Accordingly, we regret and apologize for your arrest and
prosecution.” Promising continued changes in the culture of the
department, he continued, “I… provide the officers with the
training and guidance that will assist them in rendering
professional, intelligent, and competent police services. I will
continue to educate our officers on the importance of understanding
and respecting the rights of all citizens, as well as the influence
new case law has on policing.”
Alleman stated in a press release from his lawyers:
“I feel good about the settlement, but I feel great about the
fact that our police chief has, in writing, admitted that recording
the police is not a crime,” said Mr. Alleman. “I really hope we’ve
seen the end of this unlawful nonsense in New Hampshire,” he added.
“Public servants need to understand, finally, that they’re ‘at all
times accountable’ to the people.”
I wrote about Free State Project leader Carla Gericke’s
similar victory over an erroneous procecution based on the
belief she was shooting video of cops back in May.
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