News from the old home town, New Orleans LA. Actually one of the suburbs near New Orleans, Jefferson Parish.

Many of you have seen the video of a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy arresting a suspect in his home. It's gone viral over the last few days and the usual suspects are commenting. First, let's look at the video.



Now I saw this at The Blaze and here is some of the commentary.

‘I’m Scared!’: See the Viral Video That Has Sparked a Heated Debate Over Definition of a ‘Lawful Arrest’

A video uploaded on Facebook Tuesday reportedly shows a Jeffersons Parish Sheriff’s Department officer forcing his way into a man’s home in River Ridge, La., pushing him onto his couch before handcuffing and arresting him. By Thursday, the video had been shared over 30,000 times.

The arrest was apparently the result of an altercation between Donrell Breaux, 26, and a neighbor on Sunday. The man’s friend, Eric Banegas, video recorded the incident.

Breaux also told the Times-Picayune that the deputy is a “personal friend” of the neighbor with whom he had a verbal disagreement. He alleges a clear conflict of interest in the case.

“I thought it was an unlawful arrest. I don’t have to submit to an unlawful arrest,” Breaux said.

The Times-Picayune explains what happened:

Breaux said he and Banegas were standing on Banegas’ front porch and talking. He admits to using profanity, but said they were cracking jokes amongst themselves. “It wasn’t to the point that we were loud and disturbing people,” Breaux said.

The neighbor walked out of his house and warned the two to watch their language. Breaux said the neighbor was belligerent, prompting a brief verbal confrontation that ended with the neighbor telling them he was calling the police.

“He threatens to call the police all the time about stuff in the backyard and stuff going on inside the house. Things like there’s too many cars in the driveway,” Breaux said. He felt the neighbor was out of line.

About 10 to 12 minutes later, a deputy arrived and spoke for a few minutes with the neighbor, according to Breaux.

That’s when he says the situation took a turn for the worst. The deputy reportedly grabbed his hoodie and got his handcuffs out.

“He said, ‘Let me see some I.D.,’ and grabs my wrist and says, ‘You’re under arrest,’ at the same time, I thought it was unlawful,” Breaux said.

The video shows the deputy on top of Breaux trying to handcuff him for several minutes. While the man certainly does resist arrest, he also repeatedly asks the officer why he is under arrest. “I’m scared!” Breaux says at one point.

“Sir, what are you doing? What is your name?” Breaux is heard asking in the video.

“I’m not answering to you! You’re going to answer to me,” the deputy replies.

Breaux was eventually arrested and booked on charges of battery of a police officer, resisting arrest with violence, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

Breaux is questioning the conduct of the officer and his relationship with his neighbor.

“These are personal friends,” he said. “I wish I had friends that I could call and have them handle personal vendettas that I have with my neighbors.”

Breaux is in the process of trying to retain an attorney in the case.

In a news release, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Col. John Fortunato said the neighbor ”expressed his desire to pursue charges against the black male who cursed at he and his family.”

“He then directed the officer to the area where the male subjects were standing,” Fortunato said. ”As the officer followed him into the doorway with his handcuffs in hand, Breaux attempted to close the door on the officer. The officer continued into the home where a brief struggle ensued. The officer did in fact tell the suspect he was under arrest for resisting an officer, as indicated in the video. Breaux was eventually placed in handcuffs and taken into custody.”

A video uploaded on Facebook Tuesday reportedly shows a Jeffersons Parish Sheriff’s Department officer forcing his way into a man’s home in River Ridge, La., pushing him onto his couch before handcuffing and arresting him. By Thursday, the video had been shared over 30,000 times.

The arrest was apparently the result of an altercation between Donrell Breaux, 26, and a neighbor on Sunday. The man’s friend, Eric Banegas, video recorded the incident.

Breaux also told the Times-Picayune that the deputy is a “personal friend” of the neighbor with whom he had a verbal disagreement. He alleges a clear conflict of interest in the case.

“I thought it was an unlawful arrest. I don’t have to submit to an unlawful arrest,” Breaux said...

Now to be honest this is only a small part of the incident and I doubt the full video has been uploaded. Yes, personal opinion. Now lets look at the facts and see if the deputy was in the right.

1. Was the deputy within his authority to detain the man? In my opinion, yes. He respond to a call for service and was directed to Mr. Breaux as the suspect. At this moment, the deputy has reasonable suspicion, justifying the detention of Mr Breaux. For all the lawyer wanna be's out there, here is the definition of reasonable suspicion:

A standard used in criminal procedure, more relaxed than probable cause, that can justify less-intrusive searches. For example, a reasonable suspicion justifies a stop and frisk, but not a full search. A reasonable suspicion exists when a reasonable person under the circumstances, would, based upon specific and articulable facts, suspect that a crime has been committed.

2. Was the deputy within his authority to stop the man from leaving? In my opinion, yes. If Mr Breaux got away from the deputy, he can lock the door and effectively stop the investigation or escape. So yes, he can stop him from locking the door and going inside.

3. Was Mr Breaux right in trying to keep the deputy from arresting him? In my opinion, no. So we know the law, here it is:

SUBPART D. OFFENSES AFFECTING LAW ENFORCEMENT

§108. Resisting an officer
A. Resisting an officer is the intentional interference with, opposition or resistance to, or obstruction of an individual acting in his official capacity and authorized by law to make a lawful arrest, lawful detention, or seizure of property or to serve any lawful process or court order when the offender knows or has reason to know that the person arresting, detaining, seizing property, or serving process is acting in his official capacity.

B.(1) The phrase "obstruction of" as used herein shall, in addition to its common meaning, signification, and connotation mean the following:

(a) Flight by one sought to be arrested before the arresting officer can restrain him and after notice is given that he is under arrest.

(b) Any violence toward or any resistance or opposition to the arresting officer after the arrested party is actually placed under arrest and before he is incarcerated in jail.

(c) Refusal by the arrested or detained party to give his name and make his identity known to the arresting or detaining officer or providing false information regarding the identity of such party to the officer.

(d) Congregation with others on a public street and refusal to move on when ordered by the officer.

(2) The word "officer" as used herein means any peace officer, as defined in R.S. 40:2402, and includes deputy sheriffs, municipal police officers, probation and parole officers, city marshals and deputies, and wildlife enforcement agents.

C. Whoever commits the crime of resisting an officer shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

Amended by Acts 1952, No. 127, §4; Acts 1960, No. 76, §1; Acts 1963, No. 98, §1; Acts 1968, No. 647, §1; Acts 1984, No. 584, §1; Acts 1989, No. 206, §1; Acts 1991, No. 677, §1; Acts 1992, No. 302, §1; Acts 1993, No. 860, §1; Acts 1997, No. 565, §1; Acts 2001, No. 247, §1; Acts 2006, No. 132, §1.

So yes, the deputy was in the right in stopping Mr Breaux from leaving and entering his house to detain him. I've had to explain to many a street lawyer (i.e. college kid who made a C in a constitutional law class or moron who's watched Law and Order) on the street that I don't need probably cause to detain you during an investigation. The deputy in this case was attempting to stop a suspect from leaving and when the suspect tried to flee by using a locked door. Sorry, your ass is at the least being handcuffed and put in the back of the car.

The only thing I can possibly fault the deputy on was putting himself in a position where he was surrounded by multiple potential bad guys. Now I say this knowing only what the video shows, not having spoken to the man, not knowing his view, just what the video shows. However, from this viewpoint, good work Deputy.