SALT LAKE CITY — An increasing number of lawsuits are being filed over fired Utah Highway Patrol trooper Lisa Steed. People who claim they have been wrongly convicted are trying to clear their names.
Steed’s case is raising questions about what the innocent can do to protect their rights when stopped by police, even on a minor traffic violation.
Chad Ray was one of Lisa Steed’s DUI convictions. On March 8, 2010, he had picked up his drunk brother and was headed home when Steed stopped him.
“I passed the walking tests,” Ray said.
Though Ray said he wasn’t drunk and passed all subsequent tests, he was arrested. And his drunk brother? Left along the side of the freeway.
“I said, ‘Are you really going to leave my brother on the freeway like that?’ She said, ‘It ain’t my problem,’ ” he said.
Ray ultimately chose to fight his conviction when he saw news of Steed’s troubles. His lawsuit is one of three so far involving Steed that prosecutors are not contesting. Attorney Mike Studebaker has filed on 21 other cases like Ray’s, and he’s looking into more than 90 others.
“We will file as many post-conviction cases as need to be filed,” Studebaker said.
Studebaker explained the basic game plan for these post-conviction lawsuits, known as “petitions for post-conviction relief,” is to argue that due to the misconduct that has been revealed about Steed, the convictions should be vacated.
Studebaker said details of Steed’s record should have been disclosed to defense lawyers.
“This type of intentional withholding rises to the level of vacating their convictions,” Studebaker said.
Advice for the innocent
The Steed saga has been highly-publicized, and defense attorneys that after hearing about these cases, innocent people may ask how they can protect their own rights. Even these lawyers say 99.9 percent of cops are law-abiding, but they are still offering advice.
“One, please use your right to remain silent,” Studebaker said.
He said you do have to say who you are, give your date of birth and social security number when stopped by police for any reason.
But, defense attorney Clayton Simms said, “You’re under no obligation if you’re an innocent citizen just to talk to them.”
Simms said turning your phone video recorder on and sliding it in your pocket is a good idea, even if you only get audio of the interaction.
“In case the police report isn’t accurate, you’ll have an accurate transcription of what happened,” Simms said.
What if an officer wants to do a breathalyzer? Simms said you can say no, but you’ll likely have your license suspended.
He also advised to never consent to a police search. But if police go ahead and search anyway, lawyers say don’t struggle.
“Don’t fight it on the side of the road with a police officer. Fight it in court,” Simms said.
“I don’t care if you hire me,” Studebaker said. “I don’t care what you do, but get a lawyer.”
Law enforcement officials told KSL that from their perspective, people should be respectful and cooperative. If you want to record the exchange, don’t be aggressive about it.
They also said if you have questions about an officer’s actions, first inquire politely to the officer then ask to talk to the supervisor.
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In the UK and I imagine its the same in the US, if someone is found to have lied in court, their future use for testimony is all but useless because a Judge has to place weight on the fact that someone has lied to a court before will do so again making them a very unreliable witness.
But its doubly hard for agents of the state as their trust as said agent goes further than sworn testimony, if they are found to lie by statement outside of the court, because usually they have to sign this puts them again in the situation where you the defendent who has no history of lying versus a provable case of prosecution witness lying and a solicitor worth their money should fry the prosecution case to the point that no testimony can be given as they should state clearly at every turn… “how do we know you are not lying?”
Steed appears to be a transsexual. Perhaps why ‘he/ she’ appears to be completely compromised at performing his/her duties (and everything else).