It looks like Rod MacIver will have to wait another month for his “day in court.” The judge ordered a 30-day postponement in his lawsuit against the town of Shelburne and two of its police officers because they failed to show up in court on Friday morning.
As Seven Days’ Charles Eichacker first reported earlier this week, MacIver is suing Shelburne and two of its cops after he was wrongfully issued a moving violation for running a red light. The 56-year-old Monkton artist and writer subsequently convinced a traffic court judge to dismiss his ticket after video from the police cruiser revealed that, in fact, he had not broken any law.
But MacIver is still demanding justice and has filed a $2000 lawsuit to make a point. He accuses the two Shelburne cops — Officer Jason Lawton, who pulled MacIver over in December 2012, and Sgt. Allen Fortin, with whom MacIver later filed a complaint about Lawton’s conduct — of being “deliberately deceptive and dishonest” and alleges that they lied under oath about what was on the videotape.
Neither of the two cops, both of whom are named defendants, showed up at the small-claims hearing Friday morning in Burlington. Instead, the town sent Burlington attorney Colin McNeil, of McNeil Leddy & Sheahan, as its sole representative. MacIver told the court that he had received written and verbal assurances from Shelburne Town Manager Paul Bohne III that the officers would appear.
Chittenden Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar granted MacIver’s motion for a continuance, or 30-day postponement, and called the officers’ absence “troubling.” Noting that he didn’t know how the case could be decided without their sworn testimony, Hoar further indicated that their absence from any future hearings would be “a mistake on the part of the town” and could potentially result in a “judgment by default” in favor of MacIver.
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Shall he win more fees should be tacked on to the shoulders of the of the Shelburne elite tax payers for their failure to appear and postpone leading to more court costs.
The video makes it clear that Lawton fabricated his claim to probable cause. To go into court and *still* claim that he saw what he obviously *could not have seen* demonstrates that Lawton has absolutely zero concern that he might ever be held accountable for perjury. The ease and confidence with which Lawton and his ilk lie – both on the street and in the courtroom – is a measure of the challenge it will be to bring honor and integrity to this corner of our “legal” system.
Traffic stops are largely about generating revenue for the town. MacIver has already made the town of Shelburne lose money on this. I hope he can find a way to compel the town of Shelburne to actually accept financial responsibility for the cost of Lawton’s choices. I’m thinking $2000 is letting them off easy. I’m also thinking that compelling the town to reimburse MacIver the $45 for the DVD is a no-brainer.
Although it is pure speculation, and not that it would really be a reasonable excuse if it turned out to be true, however it could be that the failure of the police officers involved in the case to show up today could be the result of their being stopped at and stuck behind too many red traffic lights as well as the usual stop and go traffic along Route 7 on their way in to court, not too mention what traffic can be like and also finding available parking space within Burlington as well.
It was heartening to see someone actually take some action against the Town of Shelburne for this kind of harassment and abuse of authority. The Shelburne police are out of control with their “moving violation” ticketing practices. I recently received a $240 ticket for a rolling stop, went to court to try to fight it, and found myself surrounded in court by other people with the same complaints (but the judge was just rubber-stamping all the tickets). These cops don’t get the concept of issuing a warning and ensuring some parity between the violation and the punishment. I suspect the officers are under some pressure to keep the department’s ticket revenues at their high level. That’s really the root of the problem, where there’s a financial incentive for a town to issue traffic tickets, but Shelburne’s practices are really abusive. Remember last year when Shelburne went on a vendetta against bicyclists who were running stop signs, issuing them the same $240 tickets? This is what happens when you have ticket quotas.
This WCAX – Channel 3 TV – News report regarding the Rod MacIver Shelburne traffic-stop case provides additional as well as interesting details, including about why the police officers were not in small claims court:
http://www.wcax.com/story/2294…
I pray an attorney will help! Your damages are your out-of-pocket losses, such as paying for the DVD that proves innocence. The other damages are punitive to demonstrate this behavior under color of authority CAN NOT be tolerated. Please, please get a good attorney to pursue this further…
Go Mr. McIver. The Shelburne police are out of control. I live off of Shelburne Road, and every time I come home after dark I am fully prepared to get pulled over. It’s happened so many times. I cannot avoid Shelburne Road, where they sit off to the side and wait for the next victim. I can’t tell you how many times I have been pulled over for nonsense reasons. The officer always starts by asking if I’ve been drinking (no) and when I ask why I was pulled over, I’ve gotten varied responses such as “Ummmm, that parking pass on your rearview mirror obstructs your view.” and “just checking to make sure you’re not drinking and driving.”
I’m sick of getting pulled over. If I have a light out – fine. If I’m speeding – fine. If I run a light – fine. But every time I’ve been pulled over have all been for NO reason. I’ve never gotten a ticket.
And one officer followed me almost all the way to my home before he put his lights on and pulled me over. (I will mention here that I am a woman, because it is relevant). I felt uncomfortable about it and asked why he’d waited to pull me over as I’d seen him driving behind me after he pulled out of his hiding spot. He said he had been running my license plate while driving behind me and that’s why it took him so long to turn on his lights. He ended up letting me go, I pulled ahead five feet and turned into my garage. That’s how close it was.
These guys are supposed to make the public feel safe; to me it feels like harassment and – in the instance of the cop following me home – makes me feel really unsafe.
I’ve debated calling to complain, but I felt like nothing would be done and I’d become more of a target than I am now simply by being unlucky enough to have to drive past where these guys camp out.