TV reporter arrested for entering school property with a gun

[Lucky45]

After reading all of these posts, I have a question.
Have we heard of what the reporter was doing before the video started?

The story says he was a photographer, not a reporter. He was accompanying a reporter who was doing a story on school violence.

- Jim

Check again, seamus. The guy arrested was a reporter. Also another update to this story.

MIAMI CENTRAL HIGH
TV reporter carrying gun at school is arrested
Posted on Wed, Oct. 24, 2007
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

WPLG-ABC 10 reporter Jeff Weinsier, 40, was arrested Tuesday at Miami Central High School........ Schools police say Weinsier -- an investigative reporter -- repeatedly ignored warnings to not step on the school's grass, said Detective Ed Torrens, a spokesman.

So now they are saying that he was on the grass. But these cops have not yet found out that PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY starts outside the boundary of a PROPERTY LINE. So since a FENCE IS NORMALLY constructed on the PROPERTY LINE, the video obviously shows that the reporter never crossed the fence line. Even if he stepped on the School's grass outside of the fence, HE IS NOT ON SCHOOL PROPERTY.
I deal with this on a daily basis where some homeowners can't get that CONCEPT that although they water the grass from the sidewalk to the street; that is not their LEGAL PROPERTY, technically. Their PROPERTY PINS are a FEW INCHES from the sidewalk TOWARDS their house.
So they can't tell ANYONE get off their property, when they are STANDING on the SIDEWALK.

[cbr600]

Juries decide facts, so it sounds like this should go to a jury.

Even if he stepped on the School's grass outside of the fence, HE IS NOT ON SCHOOL PROPERTY.

You've seen the plat for that particular property? Can you share a jpeg or pdf?

[soccerguy59]

Is the 500 foot zone school property? NO. I see it as public space around the school property, so how is the reporter tresspassing on school property? Only if he did not have business reason to be there.

This should be dropped and not go to trial.

[KBCraig]

http://bob.wjla.com/headlines/1107/472295.html

No Gun Charges for Reporter Near School
Tuesday November 13, 2007 3:04pm

MIAMI (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped the case against a TV reporter who was arrested carrying a loaded gun near a high school while working on a story on school violence, authorities said Tuesday.Jeffrey Weinsier of WPLG, an ABC network affiliate, was arrested last month after police said he carried a weapon onto the grounds of Miami Central High School and refused to cross the street when asked by an officer.

A cameraman caught the encounter on videotape, which the state attorney's office used in deciding not to pursue the charges, Assistant State Attorney Maggie Gerson wrote in a memo released Tuesday.

Weinsier had been charged with armed trespass on school property, possession of a weapon, violation of carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest without violence. But he was not on school grounds when police approached him and ordered him to leave, Gerson said.

"Since the defendant was not trespassing, anything that was found on the defendant after he was arrested will be suppressed as a matter of law," Gerson wrote.

Weinsier's actions did not appear disruptive and students had been dismissed from classes when he was arrested, Gerson said.

The reporter began carrying a gun after he received death threats stemming from a series he did about unsanitary conditions at restaurants, according to the station. Weinsier has a concealed weapons permit, police had said.

"From day one, I knew that I had been on the public sidewalk outside the school," Weinsier said Tuesday. "I knew the law clearly. This is false arrest."

The reporter said he has filed a formal complaint with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department and is considering legal action.

[KBCraig]

http://www.local10.com/news/14583595/detail.html

Charges Against Local 10 Reporter Dropped
Miami-Dade School Police Said Jeff Weinsier Was Trespassing

POSTED: 12:05 pm EST November 13, 2007
UPDATED: 1:05 pm EST November 13, 2007

MIAMI -- Charges against Local 10 reporter Jeff Weinsier were dropped by the state attorney's office Tuesday.

"I feel vindicated," said Weinsier.

Weinsier was arrested by Miami-Dade School police on Oct. 23 at Miami Central High School. Police said he was on school property and arrested him for trespassing while he was at the school doing a report on violence.

After his arrest, police discovered he was carrying a loaded handgun.

In what is called a close-out memo, Assistant State Attorney Maggie Gerson said there was no evidence that Weinsier was ever on school grounds.

As far as the gun Weinsier was carrying, Gerson said: "Anything that was found on the defendant after he was arrested will be suppressed as a matter of law."

School police have not responded to Local 10's request for a comment on the dismissal of the charges.

"We were allowed to be on that public sidewalk, " Weinsier said after a brief court appearance Tuesday.

Weinsier was suspended for two weeks by Local 10 for carrying a handgun while working, which is a violation of station policy.

[dihappy]

After reading all of these posts, I have a question.
Have we heard of what the reporter was doing before the video started?

The story says he was a photographer, not a reporter. He was accompanying a reporter who was doing a story on school violence.

- Jim

Check again, seamus. The guy arrested was a reporter. Also another update to this story.

MIAMI CENTRAL HIGH
TV reporter carrying gun at school is arrested
Posted on Wed, Oct. 24, 2007
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

WPLG-ABC 10 reporter Jeff Weinsier, 40, was arrested Tuesday at Miami Central High School........ Schools police say Weinsier -- an investigative reporter -- repeatedly ignored warnings to not step on the school's grass, said Detective Ed Torrens, a spokesman.

So now they are saying that he was on the grass. But these cops have not yet found out that PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY starts outside the boundary of a PROPERTY LINE. So since a FENCE IS NORMALLY constructed on the PROPERTY LINE, the video obviously shows that the reporter never crossed the fence line. Even if he stepped on the School's grass outside of the fence, HE IS NOT ON SCHOOL PROPERTY.
I deal with this on a daily basis where some homeowners can't get that CONCEPT that although they water the grass from the sidewalk to the street; that is not their LEGAL PROPERTY, technically. Their PROPERTY PINS are a FEW INCHES from the sidewalk TOWARDS their house.
So they can't tell ANYONE get off their property, when they are STANDING on the SIDEWALK.

I once had an argument with my moms neighbors cuz we had a party and i was parked in the STREET in front of their home.

They came over and wanted me to move my car and i was like "What?"

I told them that it wasnt their property and that i had every right to park there. They called the cops on a "noise" complaint and after talkint to the police (who didnt hear ANY noise), they understood and wrote it off.

[Lucky45]

I told them that it wasnt their property and that i had every right to park there. They called the cops on a "noise" complaint and after talkint to the police (who didnt hear ANY noise), they understood and wrote it off.

Another perfect example. Although I run into the same situation alot like your neighbor. But I have an understanding when there is a party going on. But I have some neighbors that have people come over and they park dead in front of my house and the neighbor's driveway and curb is completely clear. What's up with common courtesy??? Why the heck you can't park in the driveway of someone you are visiting??? That just irks me. Where is my visitors going to park?? But at least you understand the concept. Later.

[stevie_d_64]

Isn't this just the most interesting outcome...

Since the arrest and charge were bogus to begin with, since they have been dissmissed...

Does the school yard officer get to get away with a "mea culpa", and the reporter should just let bygones be bygones, and they live happily ever after???

Or is there a reasonable legal civil recourse he (reporter) can pursue???

Just curious to see if that might be a good idea, or like me I might let it go, I might not if it were me...I explore all options, good or bad...

[Liberty]

Isn't this just the most interesting outcome...

Since the arrest and charge were bogus to begin with, since they have been dissmissed...

Does the school yard officer get to get away with a "mea culpa", and the reporter should just let bygones be bygones, and they live happily ever after???

Or is there a reasonable legal civil recourse he (reporter) can pursue???

Just curious to see if that might be a good idea, or like me I might let it go, I might not if it were me...I explore all options, good or bad...

I think it has to be a very blatent abuse of power. Its pretty easy for the officer to claim he behaved in a manor which he reasonably believed was proper. In the mean time the reportrer loses a night or so of freedom takes on lawyer fees, and he wins because there is no charges. sometimes its hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys.


On second thought though, because the guy was a reporter, and this arrest might have been because he was trying to get a story, If it can proven that the arrest was about stifling the story. there may be a civil rights case here.

[Keith B]

On second thought though, because the guy was a reporter, and this arrest might have been because he was trying to get a story, If it can proven that the arrest was about stifling the story. there may be a civil rights case here.

IIR the raw video correctly, the officers were stating they had been directed to have the reporter move. It may fall back on either school administration or school police supervisors as to why they were so adamant about having them move across the street, so much so as to force a false arrest. I have ran into issues where the patrolman was cool with a situation, then the supervisor shows up and pushes the patrolman to write it up.

[KBCraig]

Or is there a reasonable legal civil recourse he (reporter) can pursue???

At least one of the two follow-ups I posted yesterday says that civil suits are being pursued.