If you guys remember last year I showed you guys a video ...
http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/article_2936989e-ae7d-5d6c-9371-7acc9183f3f9.html
Lawyers have worked out a deal for a Fayetteville man whose video-recorded arrest in a state-owned liquor store parking lot last year went viral on the Internet and made national headlines.
But the defendant, 28-year-old Christopher Lamont "Xstravagant" Beatty, is reluctant to take the deal.
According to a court document, the deal would punish Beatty with probation and community service on misdemeanor allegations that he was trespassing and resisted a public officer. After a year, the charges would be dismissed and leave Beatty's record clear of a conviction through an arrangement called a deferred prosecution.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Cumberland County District Court on June 5. District Attorney Billy West said his office has approved the deal.
Beatty said he doesn't like it.
"It would get it dismissed at the end, but I would still have to take responsibility for my actions, and I felt like I did nothing wrong," Beatty said.
Beatty's arrest spurred debate on whether he was unjustly arrested and whether race was a factor in the incident. Beatty is black, and the officer is white.
Beatty was detained April 27 by Rick Libero of Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement. A friend of Beatty's recorded the encounter and posted it on the YouTube video sharing website. It has been viewed more than 1.5million times on the site, and people were still commenting there this month on whether his civil rights against unjust search and seizure were violated.
The video shows Beatty in the parking lot of the Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control store on Morganton Road. He is drinking a beverage from an Arizona-brand can of iced tea. He says he has been making a music video and now is he is waiting for friends to arrive.
Libero, in plain clothes, approaches and asks to examine the can. He wants to check to see whether there is alcohol in it.
Beatty refuses to give up the can and then refuses to follow Libero's repeated commands to leave the property.
Libero finally grabs hold of Beatty, takes him down to the ground and handcuffs him.
Beatty said Friday that the arrest caused him to lose a job last year right after he was hired. The open charges have since made it hard for him to get work, he said.
If he accepts the deferred prosecution, he said, the charges would officially remain open for another year before being dismissed. That would continue to impede his efforts to get a job, he said.
The terms of the deal would have Beatty submit to a year of probation, do 24hours of community service, have a mental health assessment, and submit to drug testing and warrantless searches.
If he doesn't accept the deal, Beatty would have to go to trial before a judge, said his lawyer, Allen Rogers.
While he feels that his rights were violated, he runs the risk that the judge will see the case differently, Rogers said. A judge could convict, so Rogers recommends that Beatty take the deal.
"This is a compromise resolution that gives us a guaranteed result," he said. "As a lawyer, when you're representing folks, your goal is to try to get the best possible outcome. ... The best outcome is one that we can control, and at this point, he would end up with no conviction."
http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/article_2936989e-ae7d-5d6c-9371-7acc9183f3f9.html
Lawyers have worked out a deal for a Fayetteville man whose video-recorded arrest in a state-owned liquor store parking lot last year went viral on the Internet and made national headlines.
But the defendant, 28-year-old Christopher Lamont "Xstravagant" Beatty, is reluctant to take the deal.
According to a court document, the deal would punish Beatty with probation and community service on misdemeanor allegations that he was trespassing and resisted a public officer. After a year, the charges would be dismissed and leave Beatty's record clear of a conviction through an arrangement called a deferred prosecution.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Cumberland County District Court on June 5. District Attorney Billy West said his office has approved the deal.
Beatty said he doesn't like it.
"It would get it dismissed at the end, but I would still have to take responsibility for my actions, and I felt like I did nothing wrong," Beatty said.
Beatty's arrest spurred debate on whether he was unjustly arrested and whether race was a factor in the incident. Beatty is black, and the officer is white.
Beatty was detained April 27 by Rick Libero of Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement. A friend of Beatty's recorded the encounter and posted it on the YouTube video sharing website. It has been viewed more than 1.5million times on the site, and people were still commenting there this month on whether his civil rights against unjust search and seizure were violated.
The video shows Beatty in the parking lot of the Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control store on Morganton Road. He is drinking a beverage from an Arizona-brand can of iced tea. He says he has been making a music video and now is he is waiting for friends to arrive.
Libero, in plain clothes, approaches and asks to examine the can. He wants to check to see whether there is alcohol in it.
Beatty refuses to give up the can and then refuses to follow Libero's repeated commands to leave the property.
Libero finally grabs hold of Beatty, takes him down to the ground and handcuffs him.
Beatty said Friday that the arrest caused him to lose a job last year right after he was hired. The open charges have since made it hard for him to get work, he said.
If he accepts the deferred prosecution, he said, the charges would officially remain open for another year before being dismissed. That would continue to impede his efforts to get a job, he said.
The terms of the deal would have Beatty submit to a year of probation, do 24hours of community service, have a mental health assessment, and submit to drug testing and warrantless searches.
If he doesn't accept the deal, Beatty would have to go to trial before a judge, said his lawyer, Allen Rogers.
While he feels that his rights were violated, he runs the risk that the judge will see the case differently, Rogers said. A judge could convict, so Rogers recommends that Beatty take the deal.
"This is a compromise resolution that gives us a guaranteed result," he said. "As a lawyer, when you're representing folks, your goal is to try to get the best possible outcome. ... The best outcome is one that we can control, and at this point, he would end up with no conviction."
take that shyt to trial bytch
