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"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

Driver spends night in jail after recording traffic stop on cellphone



By Ariel Barkhurst

A Davie woman spent one night in jail after she used a cellphone to record a Broward Sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop.
The minute Brandy Berning, 33, told Lt. William O'Brien she was recording the conversation they had when he pulled her over for driving in the HOV lane at the wrong time, O'Brien responds on Berning's audio with:
"I have to tell you, you just committed a felony."
"All I knew was I was trying to keep my phone," Berning said. "I knew I couldn't give him my phone, because I didn't know why he was acting the way he was if he didn't plan on doing something wrong."
Berning spent the night in jail in March but was never charged. Berning now has two attorneys and says she gave BSO notice that she plans to sue the agency.
A BSO spokeswoman said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Whether Berning had a right to record O'Brien is not clear under state law, said Barry Butin, co-legal panel chairman of the Broward American Civil Liberties Union. But because it is clear that third parties can record video of police performing their duties, Berning "has a good chance of the law being on her side," Butin said.
"Clearly, it was an overreaction … And look at the totality of the circumstances," Butin said. "She shouldn't have had to spend the night in jail, that's for sure."
The case could be precedent-setting, Butin said.
Berning had a right to record O'Brien because the law has shown that police performing their duties have no "reasonable expectation of privacy," said Mike Glasser, one of Berning's attorneys.
Florida is a two-consent state when it comes to recordings, meaning both parties are required to know about the recording. Berning recorded about 15 seconds of her conversation with O'Brien before informing him she was doing it.
Another BSO deputy in 2011 allegedly attacked a woman and stole her phone after he realized she was recording their traffic stop. Paul Pletcher, accused of burglary, battery, criminal mischief and petty theft, has a hearing on Friday that might set a date for his trial.
Pletcher allegedly took the phone and drove away while throwing it in pieces out the window. BSO recovered the phone and found a 22-second recording of an argument and what sounds like a struggle.
Berning said she decided to find a lawyer and sue because another sheriff's deputy, who she didn't want to identify, spoke to her while she was in jail and suggested she sue because what O'Brien did was wrong.
"Finding they're liable for what they did, using what we think was excessive force just because she was recording him on her phone, that would drive home the point that police officers can't do this," said Eric Rudenberg, Berning's other attorney.
"The cops should be there to protect us and to serve justice when it's needed," Berning said, "but not step over those boundaries and take advantage."