@LegalEagle objection! You've touched on Better Call Saul but failed to address the best legal situation in the entire series: the court-room collapse of Chuck in S3E05: Chicanery. Was any of it legal? Would it make Jimmy culpable in Chuck's death by initiating his decline in mental health? Can you address the contractual situation with Earl Thomas of the Baltimore Ravens possibly being released from his contract after being the victim of domestic violence and robbery? Would you possibly break down the Ahmaud Aubrey situation, with respects to the thresh-hold for "stand your ground" laws, and the potential legal-exposure of the people who filmed the shooting while driving? Love the channel, as soon as Im working again Im gonna become a paying member!
If by safe you mean, destroyed your one place of saftey, put you further in debt, possibly traumatized you and your family, forced you out onto the streets with no home to return to...yea...safe. This is so much excessive force. Why wasn't that ever stated? Is there no statement that says police can not use excessive force on a building or property?
Did you listen to the video? Their argument was that it wasn't the federal government, i.e. the military, taking the home but the police which have different role and responsibilities. But yeah, the government still went with "welp, it was a police action, tough luck" as way of defense.
This honestly put a damper on my whole day. The police rendered their house to an uninhabitable state and got away with only paying out $5k due to a legal loophole. That sucks so much.
It's not a legal loophole. If a drunk driver driving a rental car ran over your loved one, and you had to damage the rental car to save your loved one, do you think that the rental car company should be able to sue you for the damage to their car? No, of course not; the person responsible for that is the drunk driver. If a criminal puts people's lives in danger, and we have to damage property to protect the public from them, the criminal should be the one who is responsible for it. They are suing the police because the police have deep pockets.
@@TitaniumDragon Your argument has a flaw: The ones doing the damage where representing the government while doing so. They used disproportionate, excessive force, or else the house wouldn't have been rendered uninhabitable by police action. The government destroyed the house. The government can pay for it. Because the police _can_ afford to pay for the damage _they directly caused through their excessive, negligent action_ , they should.
What a stupid legal system. “Yes we completely destroyed your house beyond repair, but we don’t need to pay you because we didn’t legally take your house first”
It is. The problem is, you don't understand how criminal responsibility works. The criminal is the one who was responsible for the damage, as their actions were what made it necessary to cause the damage in order to prevent people from being injured or killed. Think about an analogous situation: Imagine that some drunk driver slammed their rental car into a building, and the police had to destroy the rental car to save someone who was trapped underneath it. Do you think that the rental car company should be able to sue the police because the police destroyed the car due to the fault of a third party (the drunk driver)? No. That's unreasonable. Obviously the person who would be culpable for the damage would be the drunk driver.
@@TitaniumDragon Your argument makes 0 sense. Police blew the house to smitherines when it clearly was *not* necessary, therefore it's the police's responsibilty. At worst they had to destroy the windows and toss in some knockout gas.
@@saybrowt real easy to be an armchair general. You weren't there to make these decisions. Also the family was compensated $350.000 by their insurance for the value of their home. That's enough to rebuild a very nice house.
Government: Best I can do is $5,000 for the absolute destruction of your house, oh and if you try to enter your ruined house for belongings we will arrest you
I actually grew up(and still currently live) in this neighborhood and I was in my house when this was all going down. Greenwood Village is a very well off city, in fact, it’s so well off that every summer they have a carnival called Greenwood Village day and it really pisses me off that we have the money to waste on entertainment but we refuse to fix the damage that WE caused
@@Clay3613 Actually the prosecution did have one thing right, Qualified immunity for the police office unless something upraised in the video the police office violated procedure. hence the multiplicity is on the hook not the officers
It sounds like the people of Greenwood still have some good people on their side. And if any one of them heard about the case and the injustice the family continues to go through, they'd support the family while Lawyers set things straight. Clearly, injustice has been done, regardless of whether the case falls under Takings Law or not. There's a lot of compassion for their case and the family should seriously consider starting a kickstarter. My only hope is that they see the video's popularity and start asking for help.
@@nerdypotato7356 This was five years ago dawg. (Kinda confusing that the animated lawyer cites something from 2017 tbh if you're not paying complete attention to it being an appeal mock trial. Although I guess IDK when the legal processes all wrapped up.) But yeah the event was five years ago ish and I'm sure they had homeowner's insurance.
This is literally what you Insurance company is for. This exact sort of sudden loss is what we do. Had a fire? Tree strike? Junkie break in? We exist for this shit.
@@Caiphex But even then, it's incredibly expensive. The insurance company is very hard to actually get compensation from, and your rates will go up by a ton for this sort of action.
@@Caiphex I thought that too with the riots do you know how long that can take to get any funds? And how much that insurance companies dont want to give you? Stfu
I knew before you even got to the end that the family wouldn't get compensation. My friend has his house raided around 3 am one morning in college. He and his roomates were dragged out of bed, their house ransacked, the front door destroyed, all because their neighbor was selling drugs and the cops got the wrong house. No apology, no compensation, just "there's no drugs here, must be the wrong house."
@@TitaniumDragon Legal fees for that can get expensive, and with the low chance of success a few college students aren't going to be able to take the risk.
The argument of Retention as being a necessary portion of Taking is fallacious under this grounds and others similar to it. That argument is patently ridiculous. If I were to take an apple from your fruit bowl, take a bite for the purpose of satiating my hunger, and then put it back into the fruit bowl, it would be said that I had taken and damaged your property. Though a small case it is clear that despite not retaining the object I had in fact taken it.
@@juniperrodley9843 "We ordered all of our citizens abroad to evacuate the neighboring country, so we actually did the opposite of Invade- we Evaded a catastrophe. Then we graciously sent our military in afterwards as part of an extensive humanitarian mission. You wouldn't call the Red Cross invaders, would you? We're exactly like the Red Cross."
Regarding booby traps, they aren't illegal because they are excessive. They are illegal because they are indiscriminate. In the case @LegalEagle talked about, the guy who set them up was the one who got shot and the police almost caught some bullets from other traps when they entered the home.
Unfortunately it isn't up to decent human beings. It is up to those that write the law and uphold the law as written. Given the fact that the Supreme Court wouldn't even hear the case should tell everyone that: "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" Doesn't really mean shit.
I've heard about it and I'm still baffled this even ended up in front of a court to begin with. To me it's common sense that the family should be compensated but I guess laws are not that simple
Common sense isn't so common. And after hearing this, makes me even more despising the legal system 'protecting' police. Uniform or not, someone (a human being) or something (man's machines/intent/actions) caused this and thus, a human being needs to compensate for the damages and or attacks done. Period.
Completely agree. The family is not even asking for anyone to be held liable of jailed. They just want police funds to pay for the reconstruction of their house.
I have to side with the family here. When the Police took charge of the home they altered its purpose. It went from being a home to being the means through which the police were able to use to apprehend the criminal. THEY tore out the walls to create opening that wants to use as gun ports. THEY blew out the windows for the purpose of smoking out the criminal. They changed the function of the structure to fit their intended needs at that time and in doing so I feel they Altered the home's purpose.
Considering how they couldn't live in it after, how is the purpose not altered? Before it was a residential home, after the police were done with it it was a condemned pile of rubble. I don't think you can live in a condemned pile of rubble, in fact according to this video they could have been arrested for attempting to live in it because of the condemned title.
it really seems like a SWAT team could have cleared the house significantly easier then blowing up the entire house. but the SWAT team gave up after coming under fire, surely they could have used a concussion grenade or smoke to cover their approach.
The thing that confuses me most is that by any sane definition the purpose of the house had been altered. It had been legally declared uninhabitable and torn down due to the actions of the police and therefore cannot reasonably be claimed to maintain the same purpose
Teacher: "Johnny, why didn't you hand in your homework?" Johnny: "The police blew it up. They also blew up the home in which the homework was done." Teacher: ????
Teacher: "Did the police alter the purpose of your homework?" Johnny: "Well, no, but that doesn't really matter. They blew it up..." Teacher: "I'm sorry, you are still liable for not turning it in."
@@tylerbarker2957 Johnny: "Objection! I am not liable for turning it in as I no longer have a home in which to do any home work. Therefore I should be exempt from any homework until such time as the police, city or state return the home that was taken."
@@tylerbarker2957 ....Excuse me, teacher, I'm Lil' Johnny's lawyer Mr. Legal Eagle esq....Since Lil' Johnny is no longer a student of this school district thanks to the local police utterly destroying their home to get some crackhead & forcing Lil' Johnny's family to move & enroll Lil' Johnny to another school district. I submit that Lil' Johnny is not under any obligation to this school district, it's teachers or it's assignments......
floyd burney Teacher: “That’s okay. We understand that he has the freedom to not hand in anything. However, exercising such freedom has consequences. If he fails to fill out in triplicate the school district form XB-127 as required by State Code 15432, have it properly translated into Chinese, Arabic, and German as required by District Policy 32471.8(b), have it personal, witnessed by a notary who is located In South Africa as required by District Policy 17398.7, hand it in between 2:15 pm and 3:00 pm on the third Thursday of the month as required by District Policy 38429.2, he will still be considered a student for purposes of doing assignments though if he does not live within the district, he will not have access to said assignments since he will therefore be in breach of the district contract with him. However, as noted in District Policy 16329.4, failure to fill out XB-127 will result in a situation whereby the student still has liability even though we have no requirement to provide instruction. Therefore, until such form is properly submitted, we will still issue an F for the course as well as all subsequent courses, which will follow Johnny forever because it is part of his dreaded ‘permanent record.’”
Actually, they burned the homework page for a firelight, but the "use" has been preserved since the ashes were returned to the student, though they are unreadable by the teacher, who along with Johnny is also forbidden to handle the ashes since they could break into powder, the powder be inhaled, and induce black lung cancer.
"We blew up the home, yes, but the 4th amendment says, 'we can't take your stuff without permission' not 'we can't destroy your stuff and way of living without your permission' Edit: fixed amendment number, mb
In the 1760s, the Sons of Liberty of Boston were protesting against the Stamp Act. The got a mob together, went to a royal official's house (was it the tax collector? I don't quite remember), and completely dismantled the house until no two bricks stood one on top of the other. The mob then went home. No criminal charges were ever filed. These are the people that inspired the American Revolution a decade later.
How?! How is this not considered a “taking” of their home?! They were literally barred from entering their home after the police destroyed it to arrest a suspect. I’m furious about this. This is so unfair.
"Not been altered from a residence into a missile command silo" Yeah, you altered it from a place you can live to a place you can't live in. You altered it from a house to a pile of rubble.
"the property was not altered, it's still a private residence" ... "it's condemned and uninhabitable, definitely not fit for residence" They shouldn't have argued eminent domain. I blame the lawyer
I grew up in Greenwood Village, and I remember this! I didn't see any of the incident personally, but I remember the heavy police presence. I never heard of the result, which is... frankly disgusting.
Any Sane Human: "NOOOOO! YOU CAN'T JUST BLOW UP A HOUSE AND NOT COMPENSATE THE OWNERS!!! THAT'S NOT JUSTICE!!!!!" Laws, Judges and the police, apparently: "Haha, house go boom."
Remember, the police in most states can seize cash and goods from your vehicle on only the belief that they may be part of an ongoing criminal activity, and even if they do not charge you with any illegal act they can indefinitely hold onto those items.
AND they don't need to state what criminal activity they believe may have been ongoing, AND they can direct funds from seized assets or the sale thereof in whatever way they choose. Margarita machines in the breakroom are apparently a popular choice for seized funds, for example. Incidentally, the total annual losses from police seizure has topped the total annual losses from robbery.
in most circumstances, when someone says taking a job or something comes with its own rules, they usually mean _stricter_ rules, but I guess not with police.
Not really, the issue is that Americans are among the most litigious people out there. If cops could be sued too easily, they'd never do their job and eg enter a dangerous situation. It's how liability laws work.
I find it interesting that this has been argued primarily as a matter of property law, at least as portrayed here, and not argued that there wasn't also a case of excessive force on the part of the police. The building was completely surrounded and there was no conceivable means of escape for Robert Seacat. What the police did in compromising the structural integrity of the building, put the entering officers, Seacat, and the community at greater risk of death than had the police done nothing except wait it out. The penetrations to the buildings shell compromise the lateral force resisting system of the house, leading to a greater likelihood of collapse especially in the event of a sharp wind gust. Moreover, the effectively unlicensed demolition raised the possibility of starting a building fire or gas explosion which could further compromise the public safety. A temporary evacuation of the immediate neighborhood and establishment of a perimeter around the premise in question with officers behind behind ballistic shielding would have been enough to ultimately neutralize the threat and eventually affect arrest, the guy wouldn't be able to hide in a house forever.
That is the fault of the lawyer. Once you pick an argument or your charges/allegations you have to stick to it. I agree, they could have argued using excessive force also.
Exactly my thoughts too, I found the focus very weird, but I know next to nothing about legal matters so I can't comment. In my view the police's action was unnecessary and excessive, but I do agree that they should have that legal immunity. I'd say in this case Seacat would be responsible, but of course you can't expect him to pay up. Really sticky situation.
The hostages in the Iranian embassy situation in the UK was based on waiting out the hostage takers, not blowing up the embassy. Things could stretch for days if they had to for this guy, they could turn off the water taps and the guy would be out in less than a week and would be forced to sleep at some point and would probably be out of his drug supply keeping him awake sooner or later. That said, as for why it was sued on this basis is because the homeowners wouldn't have standing for the police using force, they weren't the ones subject to the force, Seacat was.
It's interesting that the lawyer also didn't argue excessive force but there may be a legal reason why they didn't but regardless the city/state/police should have paid so that they could replace their entire home and lost possessions, to argue otherwise is not Justice.
There's a difference between altering something and altering it's purpose. If I pull out a can of paint and slap it on my baseball bat I've altered it, but it's purpose is unchanged. To hit baseballs. If instead I grab a can of nails and hammer in a dozen or two of them into the baseball bat I've not only altered it, I've altered its purpose. The bat is no longer compliant with the rules of baseball so cannot be used, and it's no longer capable of hitting balls because of all of the nails. Ive altered its purpose into a weapon In this case the police clearly altered the house by tearing it apart, and thus they altered its purpose from being a place of habitation to a structure no longer habitable and deemed unsafe for occupancy. $5000 is frankly an insult
The problem with that argument is that it would allow the police to damage property so long as it could not be condemned or require them to only pay enough so that it no longer could be condemned. No, the court ruled correctly, The problem lies with the plaintiff’s attorney who is trying to use the takings clause rather than tort law.
They play on words. IN that case "altered" measn a change of use. for example, if they had it change to a commercial shop, or a medical facilities. "Altered" does not concern the strucutral integrity nor the decorative state of the house.
Nope. Do you really think that any bank would void your mortgage because police literally destroyed it? Theyd probably even decide to increase it because the judges decided police is not at fault, and so theyll twist it to say that you did it.
Maybe it was similar to how anxious or paranoid people believe that everyone is looking at them acts in such a way that eventually makes people pay attention to the person acting unordinarily?
Taking something permanently out of someone's possession is functionally no different than destroying it and saying that the home still served the same purpose after it had been destroyed is nothing more than a ridiculous display of semantics. They deserved to be compensated. Having said that, I have no faith that they were.
It seems to me that the argument is incomplete as presented: namely that the police took a home from the family and a little less than a day later the police returned a husk. I wonder if there is any case law that deals with damages to commandeered vehicles or other property that is not necessarily a home. Or especially if there is any case law relating to a place of business.
@@Sidewinder84x Licking boots isn't going to save you when the cops come to destroy your life in the name of "we gotta get this guy now because I want to be home in time for football".
If they aren't going to be responsible for their actions, can't let them have access to our stuff. Furthermore, by ruling that the police don't have to take responsibility for *blowing up a private citizens' house* they are in fact condoning this sort of wanton destruction, which is definitely against the best interest of the public.
It actually sets a dangerous precedent that it is legal for the police/government to destroy people's property and act erratically to accomplish their "mission", and face minimal consequences.
Person blows up a police station: "OMG terrorist! Kill him!". Police blow up private residence "Durr we make house go boom we make criminal go to jail we did good"
What they should have done is start the rebuilt with the money they got from the home insurance, instead, they used a good amount of it to try and sue for the market value of the home. All because a scummy lawyer took advantage and convinced them they had a chance.
@@Alex632 what has the insurance to do with any of this? police destroyed property -> police should compensate for it really easy to understand. no insurance involved.
I honestly hope they try for the supreme court on this case. This seems like a very good case where some grey areas need to be cleared up in the case something like this happens again. Maxim made a very strong case for the fact the police altered the purpose of the property while they were temporarily holding it. Sure, it is not quite the same as eminent domain, but the family could not use their property the same way again after the destruction of their house.
Zefram Mann State authority is not absolute. If the police are grossly negligent or reckless in their behavior, their actions are not covered by the qualified immunity enjoyed under the police power.
Sickening.. Give the local police a taste of their own medicine. Want a new door? Boom. Giant hole in the wall with a board over it.. Still a doorway, still it's original purpose. Hasn't been altered.
Yeah, it seems like the US is rather against people than for them. Hungary (and I think most of Europe) has basically absolute opposites as a law. I'm not 100% sure, but as I heard you are entitled to compensation even if you parked in front of a fire hydrant and the firemen damage your vehicle with a hose. There's even some wording that if you are the one who willingfully offered your any kind of property for a police action, and even if you had some negligence involved in the damages caused, you are still entitled to compensation. I cannot always praise Hungary as the epitome of the "state for the people" kind of governing (because there is a lot of corruption and the prime minister's 'friends' get basically every public purchasing, etc.) but at least the laws are more oriented towards people, and not towards corporations or forces. I hope this will stay the same, while the other problems will be solved in the future.
These true crime videos are insanely good. I can't imagine the amount of hours put into these videos. They're significantly more interesting and well put together than most real crime shows.
No. There are other, better lawyer youtubers on the platform. Much better in fact. Just cus he has 1 good series doesn't make his channel quality. That would be like trying to argue that I make quality content when 99% of my junk is cringe and 1% is actually worth watching
Without hearing the verdict yet, I would say that destroying a home to the point that it’s condemned and cannot be used as a residence is 100% altering it’s purpose. It can no longer be used for the purpose for which it was built.
I think everyone should learn that a justice system doesn't mean it's just. Court systems suck off old cases instead of what's actually just and logical.
But the fact that the family rebuilt proves otherwise. The lot was still zoned as residential and the police’s didn’t cause any toxic damage. So it could still be lived on.
@@TheLordsCanary I argue that the purpose of the house wasn't changed but the viability of using the property for its intented purpose was. The house was always a house and was never changed to be anything else and thus its purpose was not changed.
16:23 - Apparently, the city and the police department conveniently ignored the fact that the Takings Clause itself draws no such distinction and names no exceptions to the requirement that property owners be compensated when their property is taken.
23:00 OBJECTION! "Not altered" IF a house is in a habitable state at the start of the police operations in the area, but at the end of their operations the house is now deemed uninhabitable. Then the building's usage as a domicile structure has been altered, given that it can no longer be termed a house according to the Oxford English Dictionary definition ("a building for people to live in, usually for one family"). As their house was deemed uninhabitable it could no longer be termed a house, therefore it's purpose had been drastically altered when the police willfully and knowingly destroyed it. Ergo, the police whilst acting in an official capacity as representatives of a State's government (and thus as subsidiary representatives of the United States of America's Federal Government) ceased the family's home for the greater good (apprehending a known criminal), in their process of ex3ecuting their operations they destroyed the family home to such a degree that it was no longer habitable. Thus by OED definition it is no longer a home and as such it's purpose is irreversibly altered. Thus the 5th Amendment's Eminent Domain clause should be applied here!
I agree with your reasoning, but this probably failed because legal definitions and dictionary definitions are in many times different. The dictionary definition is "change or cause to change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way." which obviously the event has down. However, the legal definition of "altered" is probably a lot more concise to prevent someone from winning a case like this.
The defense was that they hadn't altered the property's purpose, but they had condemned the house. I mean, by the city's own position, enforced by the police who damaged the building, the house was no longer capable of being lived in. Is the purpose of a property not to be lived in? How is that not "altering" the building's purpose?
I don't know what was actually said, but by the defense's own definition the house was altered. No reasonable person considers a habitable house and an uninhabitable pile of rubble the same thing. Why? Because it is altered. So the defense claiming that the definition they cited meant that the house was not altered was an incorrect opinion by the exact definition they cited. Their should have been a counter argument that the definition of altered is still met by their definition despite their inability to understand the definition.
This is the case of taking the law as is and ignoring the spirit of the law. To protect the innocent . This should never have come to a litigation. They should have been reimbursed fully and then some.
This is probably the best example of "the cure being worse than the disease". It's the very definition of "using a missile to swat a fly". Just as a matter of legitimacy, the government should have never let this get to court and rather settled with full payment to the family. It's bad enough that the event happened and became local public knowledge. My question is "Who would ever trust or cooperate with the police, after that?"
I live near GV. Here's a story I told in another comment: Mr. Nathan very much reminds me of GV's government as a whole in a really weird way. GV has a summer event called "Greenwood Village Days" at a big park in the city, and you need a ticket to get in. My address technically is not in GV but most of the neighborhoods around me are, so they USED to give us tickets as a neighborhood courtesy. Probably about 10 years ago, they just stopped since TECHNICALLY they don't have to do anything for us. The argument Mr. Nathan makes exactly follows this - according to the letter of the law, GV doesn't have to help out, so...it won't, really.
The question now is did they protect the innocent. If the protection of the innocent leaves the innocent without the basic necessities of life did they actually protect the innocent?
This seems like one of those situations where new laws/rulings should be made. I appreciate the situation of law/police being separate from civilian works but if any other organisation was to take control of my property to complete their works and created damage in the process they would be expected to compensate without any need to apply for insurance reimbursement. If the local water company had to enter my property to repair a damaged water main that ran under my house and they caused damage to my foundations their insurance would be expected to cover my losses and so should the police need to enter my home and caused damage during that process they should be expected to reimburse through their own insurance policies.
I think the same way we should have laws and ruling for this exact situation. I would hope they take it up further so we can all one day be protected from same situation. Though I also understand even going further with it might not even yield any results, as if they don't get appealed and have to take it up with Supreme Court, they can just choose not to do anything about the case. I just hope best for the family either way.
I entirely agree, but how does one overturn legal precedent? I'm asking from the perspective of a non-American whose knowledge of the American legal system is that the doctrine of precedent is the basis for ensuring that similar cases aren't treated differently because of the mood of the judge on the day and other than with new legislation for those cases where legal interpretation set an initial precedent (I hear that getting legislation passed in the US is slower compared to other English-language jurisdictions), I just don't know how else it could be overturned 😓
@@lukeedwards7677 In general, you don't "overturn" legal precedence. You do it by changing the law and clarifying the intent of the law. The legal profession is mostly about interpreting the law and its intent and mostly shouldn't try to change and create new law (at least in America). Its about a check and balance to each system. Sometimes an interpretation can change over time and get clarified in another matter
Definitely worth to go all the way to the supreme court and hope they have a brain and tell the police they can't just destroy a home for funsies when they could have done other stuff (like wait it out longer). They don't have thermal imaging to check where he was hiding? How about sleeping gas or the like? Even poisonous gas at that point, since when does the US police cares about not killing guys that shoot at them? They can shoot a guy that looks like he has a gun, but someone that actually shot at them, his life is worth taking that many risks?
Antoine Chauvet they need to protect their officers. I’m absolutely okay with them blowing the house down and leaving a crater. However they must replace and/or repair the damage. So in effect at least 10% more then damages to take in effect errors in calculations plus another 10% for pain and suffering as well as rental property during the construction less current mortgage and an additional 10% again for pain and suffering. Any more then this should require a court case, and of course this is definitely possible. (If the owners profit from this event then by all means the government can try to recover their losses by court transaction themselves). This is such a travesty of justice. But by all means the police acted well and carefully to preserve loss of life.
Wow. Okay. The purpose of the home WAS altered as it went from a private residential area, to an area deemed uninhabitable and too dangerous even when the police force explicitly stated that their home was in fact “safe to return to to claim any personal property”. This family should absolutely take this to the Supreme Court
Police Lawyer: "It wasn't taken because it was in fact returned" - Family is refused entry to home, and the home is eventually demolished I would hardly call this "returned" Police Lawyer: "That 2017 case actually meant if the purpose had been altered" My brain right at that moment: "ARE YOU FREAKING TELLING ME YOU'D USE THAT BUILDING AS A PRIVATE RESIDENCE IN ITS CURRENT STATE!?"
Unfortunately, the way the government views it is that the condemnation and demolishment are separate from the police action. While the police may have caused the situation, the police did not condemn the home, that was likely something like code enforcement. Therefore from the perspective of the police it was returned. It's a weasly little argument, but a legally sound one based on case law. This is something that needs to go higher up the judicial food chain in order to have the precedent of previous case law altered. I hope the family does keep pressing forward with the case, but even if they get to the Supreme Court, I am not sure it will change things. The Supreme Court has been extremely conservative in it's view of cases of eminent domain. I get the argument that police need to be free to do what is necessary for the public good, but at the same time they need to be cognizant of the effects their actions have and the government, be it city, county, state, or federal, need to fairly compensate people whose property is damaged in police actions.
@@ccapwell Wait, why is the action of police and government separated? Aren't they effectively the same institution, like the Federal State and the military?
@@masalaman7820 Which branch of the federal government are you saying is the same institution as the military? The executive, the legislative, or the judicial?
Removing my own feelings from the issue is difficult, but even when I remain as objective as I can, the act of "Taking" is to remove something from the possession of others. By destroying their home to the point of making it uninhabitable, they have removed the home from the family as it no longer serves the purpose for which it was designed. I would have ruled in favor of the family.
at least give them a home a house with 4 walls and that is it on the place they removed the old house. a worse house is still a house and so the family has a house.
Okay, so you are a judge who ruled in favor of the family. Police departments will remember this, and they will be less likely to work with you as a judge. So, in order to keep the peace, this family has to be sacrificed.
@@KyurekiHana Since when do the police get to pick what judges they work with? They are supposed to be an individual entity that looks at the cases the police and civilians bring up to them and to look if any legislation is broken
@@vincenthanff7026 they don't, but they often are the first to determine what laws they uphold or overlook. In addition, the judge themselves will have interactions with police outside of the courtroom, and you usually want to be on their good sides. It's a give and take thing, because both sides have been known to flex their power from time to time.
The thing is, if one of the cops or judges was in this situation, they would also demand compensation. The apathy of most of our justice department is honestly appalling.
You can say that again. And it's just God awful. The working class common folk get screwed so hard. But if you're anything above that. Via rich, or have some kind of poltical or government power. You somehow get 'compensation'
It's also one of those cases where until the judges rule on the right side (compensating home owners for police destruction of their property) the public will refuse to accept it and will keep on filing lawsuits against police and slander their reputation.
I mean I’m not a lawyer but perhaps this would’ve turned out better if they had sued for use of excessive force because completely destroying a house seems a bit excessive
@@gooblob4188 Unlikely it would qualify as excessive force. In war there is something called the defenders advantage, and generals usually equate to a defending force being equal to 3 people for every person they had. If swat stormed in with out line of sight for snipers, and the criminal fired upon the swat team storming the second floor it is likely several officers could die before returning fire. The clearing of line of sights for snipers would be required for a safe arrest given the positional advantage the criminal would have.
@@TitaniumDragon I dont believe that the actions against the house are unnecessary but the state should reimburse or even offer enough to improve the property by reimbursement.
"We saved society!, but also put a whole family on the street, barely covered any of their costs, and put a massive burden on their shoulders due to forces far out of their control with no chance of recourse. Oopsie. Sorry" A family shouldn't be forced to give up their home and undergo such intense burdens. Furthermore, a government body shouldn't be able to stand on the defense "it was for the good of the public" when clearly the public was harmed (emotionally, financially, etc) by the destruction of property. While I understand Police do need civil protections in the line of duty when life or death is being considered, the family should have been rightfully compensated for the flippant destruction of their home. No family should be forced to have their lives ruined and burdened because of something they clearly had no control over, the police force, village, and all government bodies upholding this situation should go sodomize themselves with a retractable baton.
I'd prefer that thse people responsible just have their houses blown up and their families made homeless, they might enjoy the baton treatment a bit too much...
The real problem is the phrase "the public". Officers see "the public" as a vague, nebulous ideal. Any people they come in contact with are either, perps, victims, or sheep. They're not the public. The family they just made homeless isn't the public. The people that drug dealer didn't theoretically go kill is. Also that drug dealer isn't the public. Imagine how this story would've gone down if the cops hadn't been called in the moment. Guy would've stolen some electronics. Walmart would have him on video doing it. They could've gotten his plates. They find out what was stolen via cameras and inventory report and call an officer later to file the report. The police take the info, ID the suspect and add that to his list of warrants. They arrest him the next time they pull over his crappy truck for a missing taillight or whatever. Walmart receives a check from their insurance company covering a portion of the .000000001% of their profit they lost that day. Nobody is made homeless. No SWAT team. No tanks. No scared kids or dogs. Just... An easy, peaceful day.
@@kev25811 Although I think that it is ok for the police to have blown up their home I think repaying for the parts they damaged would be appropriate. To me that is the cost of catching the criminal. In reality why should they be responsible for paying to catch a criminal. The criminal himself didn't do the damage and no one was in imminent danger (if they didn't approach the house and kept a safe distance) so blowing up the house was purely done because they wanted to catch the dangerous criminal. In that case it is only logical to pay for it as just part of the cost that it does cost sometimes. As a tax payer I would be more than happy to make that payment and then we can later scrutinize on wether it was excessive or not, if it happens too often or not etc.
@@lcmiracle it says right in the video that the guy has priors. This isn't that complicated. Just watch the video and consider that none of it would've happened if the police hadn't been called to the active scene. Worst case scenario the guy didn't have priors and nobody could ID him and the store would've had to fill out some insurance forms. Again... Nobody is made homeless. No tanks have to get involved. Just a minor headache for a guy who has to fill out some insurance forms and a reduction of nothing percent of an insurance company's profits.
Cops: *Literally blow up an entire family's house to catch one guy* Family: Can we have at least enough money to get a new one? Cops: Nah, you can have $5000. Also, this money is because we're being nice and we also deny any wrongdoing. Also if you try to go back to the house, you will be arrested.
It's worse than that. They were told they could go back to the house, but when they tried to they were threatened with arrest on the premises. Imagine if the police smashed into your parked car full on during a high speed chase and then they said "well hey, shit happens, here's a couple bucks for a gallon of gas and you're free to pick up your car and head to a shop" and then when you get there they arrest you for trying to tamper with evidence lmao
Me: "This should be a landslide case. All of the defendant's points were borderline preposterous!" E.g. these gems: We didn't take their home, we just destroyed it; we did not alter its purpose when we made a private residence uninhabitable. Devin: "Well, the appellate court decided in favor of the police." Me: *Disbelief noises*
"If Seacat is willing to open fire on the police, what else is he capable of?" Well, opening fire on anyone is pretty much the worst-case scenario already, isn't it?
"We're not arguing that we traumatized the entire family down to their dogs, blew the shit out of their house and made sure they knew it was uninhabitable by forcing them away from their own blown up house, that we blew up, nor are we arguing that we absolutely took every measure to escalate every aspect of the situation, but we just reeeeaaalllly don't feel like taking responsibilityyyyyy sooooooo..."
@@lunarservant6781 Don't forget the traumaticed policemen who were exposed to all these explosions like a war zone. The family should pay for the therapists bills.
"bu-but he was a danger to public safety, sure a family no longer has a home and wasn't properly compensated but at least we get the warm fuzzies when we think we did a good job!"
@@zlatinmihai958 and how would they be sacrificing two to take one criminal? Even the most basic officer has bullet proof vests. Those swat guys? They have full military style armor. That guy would get one shot off with a *chance* to kill one officer before being brought down(which is what happened in the end anyway). I mean this is entirely why we have swat.
"Is it worth it for them to try again?" - Is it worth it to the family? No.. the supreme court would probably uphold the decision and the family would just be incurring more legal fees and stress.. - But is it worth it to society? Yes.. the police should not have this kind of immunity to damage they cause, in this case, or ideally in any case...
If this is the case, what is the point of having a 3rd Amendment (military cannot enter your property without permission) and 4th Amendment (search and seizure require warrant) when your police is as destructive as Army in 19 century?
@@chongjunxiang3002 i think that's an excellent question that gets to the very concerning militarization of law enforcement we've been seeing over the last ~15 years. fighting wars and keeping peace are two very different kinds of tasks, and our law enforcement is shifting from the latter to the former.
@@adfaklsdjf You know whats weird about that is that military personal have much stricter rules of engagement where your actions are held accountable. The police however have a culture of obstruction it's a breeding ground for unlawful behavior. Yeah he killed that guy or shoved an old man to ground causing head trauma better them than me is the mentality as long i come home. Kill, maim, and destroy is there motto and if you don't like it they yell obscenities at you as they beat you half to death.
I agree. It is an absolute benefit to society. The idea that the government can take whatever it wants provided that it does not retain it does not appear to be constitutionally valid. If it was, the government could take a billion dollars from random citizens and just burn it as a measure to control inflation. If the US government took your entire life savings, burned it, and then argue that it didn't actually take it because it didn't retain it would you feel any differently?
I think the homeowners went the wrong direction by trying to argue imminent domain. The PD basically admitted that they should compensate the family by offering the $5k. Don’t accept the $5k, ask for more, get denied, then court could have had a different outcome
"Look, it's not altered. The livingroom is still a livingroom, and the bedroom is still a bedroom, and the house is still a house." Uh... The house is no longer liveable or safe. I'd say that is altered.
I wonder if arguing the statement: "The purpose of the house was not altered." with the fact that the house was condemned and deemed not livable? Does a condemned house still have the status of private residence if it is unsafe to enter? I'm genuinely curious.
Land use probably still residential. But I'd still have argued that the use was altered to unlivable for a time. Or even argued that altered use within that law should be read as certain entry into that law, not a bar of requirement. That the taking and its effects don't change depending on the purpose so the purpose within the wording of the law needn't be the sole stipulation for deciding entry. But then of course they were trying to use that entry to justify compensation other than from the police, who have immunity. So that wouldn't have worked. They really went for the wrong claim and should have persued the police's conduct though we know how that tends to go even when the claim is right and justified...
I’m supposing that since the land is still zoned as residential, and after removal of the condemned structure the land is still livable, the property was returned. I’d hope you could argue that the house was a possession on the property, and was not returned, therefore the cost of the house should be repaid minus the value of the land. Having said that I’m fairly certain that police can take personal belongings as evidence, without repayment. Long story short, this predicament sucks. I’m also fairly certain that if the police completely destroyed a shopping center or factory, they would be forced to pay
Levelling an innocent family's house with gas grenades, explosives, a robot and a SWAT team to arrest a man accused of stealing some electronics from Walmart that probably cost a few hundred dollars is the most American thing I can think of.
They spent MORE time, effort, resources and possibly life on that one scene in that period than it was ever worth his stealing. Send a few men in armored up after finding what room he was in. Cause a large distraction while they move in. Bam. Catch by Suprise and arrest him. House still there. (I know it isn't that easy..)
As soon as he fired at a police officer, the theft was pretty much irrelevant. The stand off itself makes sense, it was important that he wouldn’t have a chance to get away and to avoid risking the lives of law enforcement as much as possible. The destruction of the property seems excessive to me, but I don’t have any knowledge about situations like that. However, the behaviour afterwards was disgraceful. Calling to inform that they may take their belongings and that “some destruction” had occurred and only offering 5000$ after the family comes to the station in need is silly and shows contempt for the innocent family whose home had been destroyed.
Legit sounds like something PETA would say to wiggle their way out of any criminal persecution. Oh wait, they did do something like that. #fuckPETA #justice4Maya
Before the verdict reveal: Even under the argument of "Altered" referring to the purpose of the property, I would still side with the family. As a result of the actions taken by the police the home had to be condemned, thus the property can no longer serve its original purpose as a residential home, therefore the purpose of the property has been altered. After the reveal: Those judges are idiots and the family should definitely keep pushing for the decision to be reversed.
Each of the Judges should have all of their personal property forcibly taken, then smashed to pieces, and given back. Also they are legally forbidden from even trying to use that property as it is now unsafe.
Yeah, got hung up on that as well. "As in, a residential house was not altered to serve as a blood drive facility..." so, reducing a house to just rubble doesn't alter it's purpose as a residence to just being trash?
That was the same thing I thought and should have been argued. The house was altered from habitable to uninhabitable, as the police themselves stated at the time when the residents attempted to return to their home. Additionally, the ruling that was given sets precedent that police can take any means necessary to catch a suspect, up to and including the complete demolition of a building without any compensation to the building's owner as long as the owner gets the remains of the structure after the event.
My guess is that "it's still a property of value" The home may have been demolished, but the land could still be sold to those who want to build a new home. Not that I'm agreeing with the decision, but if the city didn't seize the property, then they didn't "take" it. My confusion is still about what's been altered. Obviously an empty lot has its value go down and thus that has been altered, yet it's not like the city gained any value either (unless we're talking about property tax)
Purpose and efficacy are not the same thing. Both a rusty sword and a high-performance assault rifle have the same purpose, even though one is less effective than the other. If a master criminal and a drunk idiot both try to rob a bank, they are both acting with the same purpose, even though one is vastly less likely to succeed. Likewise, a ruined house and a standing house both have the same purpose, even though one is less effective than the other. Both before and after the police action, the structure is still _meant_ to function as a residence. That is its purpose. The fact that it isn't very _good_ at it anymore doesn't change the goal. Laws generally choose their words very carefully, so it is likely that the law in question was written with the _intention_ that damage not be a factor. That said, I sincerely hope that interpretation, and ideally the written laws as well, are changed to be more generous through more appeals to cases like this one and new legislation. Not just because I believe that the government should take responsibility for the collateral damage its acts cause to its citizens, but also because the police are kinda suffering from severe lack of public trust, which makes it extremely difficult for them to investigate crimes and make arrests among an uncooperative and sometimes even _hostile_ public, when the police and the public _could_ and _should_ be on the same side.
How can you say they purpose of the house hasn't been altered when it has literally been ruled UNINHABITABLE? What exactly do they think the purpose of a residential home is?
That's might be because it's still not fully settled since they are considering taking it to the supreme court. There's an odd note in the wikipedia articles for both the legal case and Seacats arrest that the legal case has only cost the family 28,000.
@@FirstIsa that's pretty low all things considered and going through two trials (unfortunately legal representation over a long time is super expensive). but my bet is that its just random trivia that whomever edited wikipedia found out. No idea if its true.
I don’t think it should’ve been the police who was forced to pay the rest of the damages. I don’t know if it was the county or the state, but somebody provided the police with the tools and weapons that amplified the utter destruction of that poor family’s home. Anyone who militarizes police should bear the burden of cleaning up after them. In addition, the police were doing their jobs the way they were trained: as if they’re in a war zone. Obviously that has its own tower of problems, but putting that can of death-worms aside, the actions the police took here weren’t malicious or careless; they were just trying to minimize human casualties efficiently and effectively. Was it excessive? Probably. Future training should include considering property damage when strategizing. Obviously human lives are the priority (whether bystander, police or criminal) but I think everyone would agree that we’d like the police officer in charge to at least try to think of another way that’s safe *and* wouldn’t demolish the innocent civilians’ homes, even if just for 10 seconds and they do it anyway because it’s still the safest option. The police shouldn’t be prosecuted for protecting the public safety, but they *should* at least have to explain why the destruction they caused was necessary, because if the destruction wasn’t necessary, the police are then harming, not protecting, the people. Then they should be prosecuted for harming the people, or breaking their oath, or abuse of power or something. Corruption and police brutality are real, whether rare “bad apples” or systemic, and there are limits to police power (like use of force in getting unwilling confessions) for exactly these reasons. We need to be able to distinguish between the good and so-so officers from the bad ones and punish wrongdoings heavily to keep those “bad apples” from spoiling the entire barrel. From the facts that we know, I think 5k was a fair contribution from the police, just considering the level of destruction for one man with a handgun in an unrelated bystander’s home, and plus, the quote from that “commander” allowing all destruction short of total collapse was rightfully horrifying. The homeowners insurance should just have to pay for damages up to the most they would’ve paid if a natural disaster destroyed their home and all their belongings, and whichever level of government (local or state) employs those police officers should *have* to cover the rest. That’s the cost of empowering the police to such destructive levels. As a sucker for superhero stories, I, too, prefer the safety that level of power can insure, so I’m willing to pay the tax dollars necessary to fix up what the police break in their pursuit to save lives. I just want the police to explain why the destruction was necessary, and for my tax dollars to go to repairing the damages they cause. The family did absolutely nothing to cause or worsen this catastrophe, so ideally they shouldn’t be paying more than what they’d normally pay to fix some part of the house that suddenly and unexpectedly broke, just to get their home back from this man-made disaster. If you got this far down, congrats. Here’s a medal: 🏅
how it should have turned out is a bloody insurance check from the police's insurance company for the rebuilding of the house as the family was not at fault for the crook breaking and entering their home AND stuff like driving a frigging Tank through the home was insanely out of proportion for a single addict with a gun.
@@JBC352 the police are not trained to do that which is the problem. If they followed procedure they just would have gone in or shot secatt using a sniper
@@davidinass But these old people from a few hundred years ago based their system of government on the thought of a old guy from a few hundred years ago called John Locke. And guess what one of his basic principles of government was? Protection of the property rights of its citizens. A double-edged sword: It protected slavery, but also says "If agents of the government destroy private property, the government is liable for damages and has to compensate".
@@mujtabaalam5907 If it was that simple, then the entire case would be automatically dismissed anyway. That doesn't explain it: why not just sue them for property damage? It seems like a much more clear, direct, simple easy to handle the case. Making it into a constitutional issue seems like an overcomplicated approach that is more likely to fail.
Let me get this straight. The police department could afford hours of wages for multiple officers, explosives, a goddamn robot, an armed task force and snipers. They then explicitly stated the house was too destroyed to be fit for resistance. Then refused to pay the family for their destroyed house. Imagine how that poor family feel when they have to pay tax.
@@hazzasazza444 That was the point I tried to make. I used the quotation marks to show that was the reasoning the defendant's lawyer used. Maybe should've used /s for sarcasm.
@@hazzasazza444 In the end, the property is currently a residence, ergo was not "altered in purpose". And I suspect that the "house was damaged so bad it had to be demolished" was a short way of saying "the damage to the house was severe enough that it was more cost-effective to demolish it and start fresh than to attempt to repair the existing structure", meaning that the police had returned a "house" to the family, despite its condition. Seems to me that the family was screwed over far more by their insurance company, if the house was considered a complete write-off, their policy should have covered far more than half the costs.
@Luís Filipe Andrade That's the issue, the court found that there is not right to compensation for damage that occurs from police using their policing powers as opposed to the state using eminent domain.
objection: insurance paid for it to be rebuilt, brand new. Insurance also provided payment for living in temp housing while the state/city was also providing it which means they were compensated DOUBLE for the replacement housing. They were also paid an extra $5000 on top to cover the deductible and other things that insurance was already covering. I wish they gave the total breakdown of the entire payment the state made. I also would be curious what these people are even asking for? They lost use of their house for a few weeks, which means what... a few grand in pain and suffering? It would take some fancy lawyer-ing to say that they were really entitled to a lifetime supply of money because of the pain and suffering it caused. I think the people that should sue here is the insurance company, but they have the legal smarts to avoid the fees arguing this.
@@scottwolforth8948 "For a few weeks": Dunno what ramshackle houses your area has, but where I'm coming from building new houses to code takes half a year - in a rush job. Not withstanding the time to get the old building demolished, find a company+craftsmen which would build a new house on such a short notice, file the paperwork on a new building with the city. The family would have to live in a homeless shelter for a long time if there were no relatives where they could spontaneously crash for a year or so. Once again I think the US must be a dystopian horror to live in.
@@Enyavar1 You can build to code much faster than 6 months, but it still takes several weeks. The slowest parts are pouring a foundation and waiting for inspectors to approve.
imagine the judge coming home, sitting down, and say to his wife, "this family's house was blown up, and they wanted compensation, but we decided the police didn't need to do that." how do they sleep at night
Probably not well. The case wasn't about deciding if the police should have pay compensation (it seems obvious that they should), but whether or not it was a case of eminent domain. And in terms of eminent domain, it's a stretch. The judges probably think they should be compensated just like everyone else. What we need is a law to prevent this from happening again.
They can sleep at night because their job is to look at the applicable law itself and render a decision on that accordingly. The law isn't about emotional appeal but was the law says is and isn't. If justice decisions were always based on emotional appeals, there would never truly be justice because you would have to throw the rules out at the beginning of every case.
I think I'd want to argue (and this is with very little legal knowledge,) that the complete destruction of a livable and structurally sound residence is not "reasonable damage" for a single man with very limited ammo, in a house that is completely surrounded. Or that when the police made their initial appearance at the store they let the ball drop by not ensuring that the building's entrances were secured to prevent Seacat's original escape. That being said, the insurance company that these poor people had should have given them the full value of the house/contents (not half,) considering it was condemned and had to be rebuilt. It doesn't matter if the people decided to make a smaller house or whatever (or rather were forced to due to the lack of insurance payment,) they lost $600K worth of home/memories and just overall value, that means they should be compensated for it. x.X It's pretty crap that they can just say "oh, we don't think it was worth that much anyways.. Here ya go! Have a cookie!"
This all started because some piece of shit had to judge someone and watch him over a couple.hundred dollars of shit that Walmart can afford to lose millions of times over for 10 years straight every day
I absolutely love this format! I don't even care for USA's legistlation, i'm Italian and have no interest in becoming a lawyer, but despite this... the way this is narrated, the animations and the way the trials are explained makes it incredibly interesting and worth watching.
I agree. Though. I need to not listen to them while driving. The amount of sheer "What in the Dumblands of USA am I listening to?" is astoundingly high to the point I am losing brsincells. I forgot how to drive for a moment.
This is a wise path to go down. Write this down: Unless you have personally asked a police officer to help you with something, NEVER EVER EVER speak to them. Give your name, and address. The only other words should be "I demand my lawyer be present" and "am I being detained?" Unless you have a couple million in the bank, they are not working for you.
@ALSO-RAN ! he's right, you dont have to be a sovereign citizen to have reason to not talk to police if they confront you, you just dont do it. they are there to convict you, not help you. here's a great talk that explains the problems with talking to police th-cam.com/video/d-7o9xYp7eE/w-d-xo.html
I’m not a lawyer, and regardless of how I feel about the morality of the situation, I think the family attorney’s argument was really compelling when she mentioned “common sense” and highlighted how eminent domain and the police services are both meant to serve the public (regardless of reason or jurisdiction). Their home was lost in order to benefit the public, therefore the public should compensate them fairly. A completely different situation, but it’s reminiscent of the way police departments in some states abuse laws to deliberately seize property from innocent citizens (or minor drug offenders) to raise funding for their department. I can’t stand the way people are able to poke holes in legal precedent that results in an outcome that is patently unjust.
*"Common sense" is trash, absolute trash,* flat earthers, anti-vaxxers and paedophiles all literally appeal to so-called "common sense" to justify their absurdity! It doesn't even mean anything more than: _"hur dur, if I think something should be one way, everyone who disagrees is a dum dum!"_ The moment I heard that lawyer appealing to "Common sense" I knew the case was lost, she may as well challenged her counterpart to a fiddling contest, it has as much validity as her argument.
The dude had a Gloc and while noone died... They ruined these peoples lives forever- and didn't even care. The fact they condemned it before they came home is a total slap in the face.
What I gather from another comment is that the house was insured (But they still had to take out a mortgage to cover all the cost). However, because it was rented from the father and the son did not have insurance the property of the son was not insured.
Well certain insurers wont offer coverage on "acts of war", and might have these types of situations under that. And thusly wont pay out. I recall hearing a similar case where the police destroyed a home, government offered like only 10k, and insurance wouldn't cover it. The home owners did try and sue to government and I believe they might have won, but I would need to look up and find that case again to be certain... Edit: try as I might I cant seem to find that specific case
At the end he says they did get some compensation, but not full compensation, and no help in paying off legal fees. So, I'd bet it's safe to say they got screwed over real bad in this case. Even with insurance.
@@Moleoflands Well like Freak_Gene said, "acts of war" are not covered by insurance and this could be argued as such. Plus insurance tends to be less for your benefit and more only when they really feel like being nice to you. It's not that simple.
The point is the law should be closer to morally fair. If the government or some rich corporation takes your one item or destroys it they should pay fair value to replace it. That just makes sense, and laws should reflect that.
I agree but there's no common morality. The problem is that morals are nebulous. There's differences in cultures and what's moral and just for one group of people can be different to another... Whereas the word of the law is more concrete? I wonder if they have a crowdfunding thing set up.
@@goldenpun5592 I disagree, to an extent. There are general ideas of right and wrong, morals. We all know that generally it's wrong to cheat, steal, kill, lie, etc. It's the specifics we question. When are they ok? Can I tell grandma I like her fruit cake? What is considered self defense? Am I cheating if my husband and I are separated and have filed for divorce but it's not final? There will always be outliers, and the range is large, but many people would say this situation is not fair or not just. So morals are in some way not universal, but close to that.
In my opinion, the house being condemned is key in this case. The fact that the house was condemned by the government should be considered as an admission and acknowledgement by the government that their temporary use of the house did, in fact, change its purpose.
I'm also of the opinion that the condemnation itself should really be considered a taking in this case. To my mind, there is a difference between this and the case of a property being condemned due to negligence on the part of the owner. This was not a home condemned because the owner neglected their responsibilities not to allow their property to fall into such a state of disrepair it became a hazard to public safety for example. This was a property condemned because the government themselves willfully took a non-hazardous structure and made it hazardous then used that as grounds to condemn it. Sorry, but the latter situation is not one in which the burden of condemnation should be on the home-owner they were not liable for any act or omission that would justify the condemnation the government was.
@@aoikemono6414 How can it be considered a *residence* if it's condemned as unfit to live in? Condemned means it's not fit to be a residence - therefore, it isn't a residence.
@2:00: Some of these facts are incorrect. John was renting that home from his father Leo for $1300 a month, which was a bargain for that neighborhood. Leo and his wife actually lived in Sedalia, about 30 miles south of there. John, with his then-girlfriend and her son, after their home was destroyed, moved in with Leo and his wife; Leo refinished his Sedalia home's basement to accommodate them. Without Leo's help, John and his family would have ended up homeless. @23:08: "That court took the words 'not been altered' to mean 'its purpose had not been altered.' To put it another way, 'had not been altered' meant 'not been changed in purpose to something other than a private residential home.'" I would argue that, after the police were done with it, that property could no longer be considered a residential home, as it was officially deemed uninhabitable--literally condemned by the government of Greenwood Village, and eventually had to be demolished. No, Mr. Nathan, it wasn't converted into a "blood drive facility" or "missile command station." It was "altered" from a "private residential home" into a "total loss." @24:40: While Leo had insurance on the home, his son John did not have renter's insurance, so all the personal belongings in the home were lost. Leo also had to pay for all the costs associated with demolition of the old house. Leo got a $345K insurance settlement on a home which reportedly appraised for $580K. Leo took out a $600K mortgage loan to rebuild the house; that process took 2 years. Leo did opt to replace the undamaged foundation and build a larger home. Leo said he would have settled out of court for $600K, but the city never offered more than $5K for the insurance deductible and living expenses. Regardless of the legal outcome, Greenwood Village and its PD, by spending money on legal fees and court fees instead of compensating the Lech family for the loss of their home, has put a huge stain on their reputation in the community. If I lived there, I'd never trust that police department again. Further, I accuse the counsel for the defense of using "weasel words" to try to clear his clients of their moral obligation to compensate the Lech family for the loss of their home. In my opinion, Andrew Nathan is an example of why lawyers are almost universally loathed.
The police have a right to a lawyer that will uphold their interest according to the law. As do you and I, this was terrible but I wouldn't get mad at the lawyer for arguing successfully for his client
Do the police have some sort of legal rep that state insurance pays for or something? I honestly don't know, but I would imagine they have to go to court a lot, and they may have a law firm that they pay routinely instead of every instance. And whatever liability insurance the local police has, if that's a thing, should have helped out here, at least in tandem with Lech's private insurance, but instead probably told the police "yeah, give them 5 grand to see if that shuts them up, and if not, we'll pay for your legal fees, lol" for whatever formulaic cost/benefit they do. Insurance. Yay.
@@KumaCarter He TOOK the case. That is a decision he was not forced to make. Decisions should have consequences. Bending the law to defend a clearly unjust position should have the consequence of getting debarred. PERIOD.
OBJECTION: So does this mean the state police have the unlimited power to do anything they want in order to arrest a suspect? That any action is justified? What happened to a measure response approach? What if the guy was cornered in a factory, office building, or church with no one else inside instead? It would be ok to blow the whole building up just to arrest him and offer little to no compensation whatsoever to the owners? What happens if the suspect turns out to be innocent or found not guilty at trial? It seems a very slippery slope to be on.
The law is probably far more complex than the police can do whatever they want. As far as I intrepreted the response was measured. The commander didn't just roll up and blow up the house but endured a day long stand-off and only destroyed the house when it was clear the officers couldn't remove the suspect without putting themselves in serious risk. Just because the law grants immunity in this scenario doesn't mean it will in a different one.
ThaneofFife even if it’s a measured approach, they still should be paying damages or the criminal should be paying damages. Not the family who is innocent in this entire ordeal.
They have to justify those armoured vehicles by taking them out every day... and then the authorities that should regulate them just let run wild because they hold too much electoral power. Strong police unions and an industrial-military complex pushing surplus military hardware into police departments make such a toxic dynamic.
👮♂️What case should I do next?
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The truth behind the McDonald's coffee lawsuit. Reality vs the corporate spin
Philly police bombing a house.
How about Lon Horiuchi?
@LegalEagle objection! You've touched on Better Call Saul but failed to address the best legal situation in the entire series: the court-room collapse of Chuck in S3E05: Chicanery. Was any of it legal? Would it make Jimmy culpable in Chuck's death by initiating his decline in mental health?
Can you address the contractual situation with Earl Thomas of the Baltimore Ravens possibly being released from his contract after being the victim of domestic violence and robbery?
Would you possibly break down the Ahmaud Aubrey situation, with respects to the thresh-hold for "stand your ground" laws, and the potential legal-exposure of the people who filmed the shooting while driving?
Love the channel, as soon as Im working again Im gonna become a paying member!
Devin it would be so great if you would review A Civil Action 1998. Yeah it's Travolta but still a great story and commentary on a lawyers process
Got to love the government. "I destroyed your house and definitely should've compensated you for it but lookie I made you safe".
Thank you officer, I feel very safe living on the streets!
🔥
If by safe you mean, destroyed your one place of saftey, put you further in debt, possibly traumatized you and your family, forced you out onto the streets with no home to return to...yea...safe. This is so much excessive force. Why wasn't that ever stated? Is there no statement that says police can not use excessive force on a building or property?
@@jacobcoady8852 qualified immunity. cops can do whatever the hell they want.
Did you listen to the video? Their argument was that it wasn't the federal government, i.e. the military, taking the home but the police which have different role and responsibilities.
But yeah, the government still went with "welp, it was a police action, tough luck" as way of defense.
This honestly put a damper on my whole day. The police rendered their house to an uninhabitable state and got away with only paying out $5k due to a legal loophole. That sucks so much.
It's not a legal loophole.
If a drunk driver driving a rental car ran over your loved one, and you had to damage the rental car to save your loved one, do you think that the rental car company should be able to sue you for the damage to their car?
No, of course not; the person responsible for that is the drunk driver.
If a criminal puts people's lives in danger, and we have to damage property to protect the public from them, the criminal should be the one who is responsible for it.
They are suing the police because the police have deep pockets.
For real. I hate this whole thing.
@@TitaniumDragon Your argument has a flaw:
The ones doing the damage where representing the government while doing so.
They used disproportionate, excessive force, or else the house wouldn't have been rendered uninhabitable by police action.
The government destroyed the house. The government can pay for it.
Because the police _can_ afford to pay for the damage _they directly caused through their excessive, negligent action_ , they should.
@Titanium Dragon what a interesting comparison 😆
@@TitaniumDragon you're not wrong
What a stupid legal system. “Yes we completely destroyed your house beyond repair, but we don’t need to pay you because we didn’t legally take your house first”
I suspect the issue here was the insurance would only cover half the cost of the rebuild.
Yup.Trash.WE NEED A REFORM!
Don’t forget that the criminal they were attempting to catch was a result of the war on drugs created by said legal system
Qualified immunity needs to be vastly reigned in, if not thrown away. The police constantly over reach because of it.
@@realsonofmars Of course. A country in which the law is above itself is a country leading itself towards totalitarian autocracy
Watching this makes me belief that "You break it, you fix it" should be a literal law.
It is. The problem is, you don't understand how criminal responsibility works.
The criminal is the one who was responsible for the damage, as their actions were what made it necessary to cause the damage in order to prevent people from being injured or killed.
Think about an analogous situation:
Imagine that some drunk driver slammed their rental car into a building, and the police had to destroy the rental car to save someone who was trapped underneath it. Do you think that the rental car company should be able to sue the police because the police destroyed the car due to the fault of a third party (the drunk driver)?
No. That's unreasonable. Obviously the person who would be culpable for the damage would be the drunk driver.
@@TitaniumDragon so seacat should be responsible for the damage to the house?
@@TitaniumDragon Your argument makes 0 sense. Police blew the house to smitherines when it clearly was *not* necessary, therefore it's the police's responsibilty. At worst they had to destroy the windows and toss in some knockout gas.
@@SuperPupperDoggo their homeowner's insurance should be responsible and they did award them $350,000.
@@saybrowt real easy to be an armchair general. You weren't there to make these decisions. Also the family was compensated $350.000 by their insurance for the value of their home. That's enough to rebuild a very nice house.
Government: Best I can do is $5,000 for the absolute destruction of your house, oh and if you try to enter your ruined house for belongings we will arrest you
Yah that's the iceing on the cow patty cake isnt it
Spend that 5k on explosives and level that police chiefs house with everyone inside.
@@jasjfl well If you do that you at least don't have to worry about being homeless anymore...
ahh yes, "land of the free"
Police: “You home is safe to enter now, you can go get your stuff.”
Also police: “You can’t enter your house and get your stuff, it’s not safe.”
I actually grew up(and still currently live) in this neighborhood and I was in my house when this was all going down. Greenwood Village is a very well off city, in fact, it’s so well off that every summer they have a carnival called Greenwood Village day and it really pisses me off that we have the money to waste on entertainment but we refuse to fix the damage that WE caused
Sounds like the city council and police officers involved should experience the same fate as the Lech's.
@@Clay3613 Actually the prosecution did have one thing right, Qualified immunity for the police office unless something upraised in the video the police office violated procedure. hence the multiplicity is on the hook not the officers
It sounds like the people of Greenwood still have some good people on their side. And if any one of them heard about the case and the injustice the family continues to go through, they'd support the family while Lawyers set things straight. Clearly, injustice has been done, regardless of whether the case falls under Takings Law or not. There's a lot of compassion for their case and the family should seriously consider starting a kickstarter.
My only hope is that they see the video's popularity and start asking for help.
Think the community should have made the family whole.
@@nerdypotato7356 This was five years ago dawg. (Kinda confusing that the animated lawyer cites something from 2017 tbh if you're not paying complete attention to it being an appeal mock trial. Although I guess IDK when the legal processes all wrapped up.) But yeah the event was five years ago ish and I'm sure they had homeowner's insurance.
Imagine destroying someone's home and then complaining they want better compensation than $5k.
This is literally what you Insurance company is for. This exact sort of sudden loss is what we do. Had a fire? Tree strike? Junkie break in? We exist for this shit.
@@Caiphex But even then, it's incredibly expensive. The insurance company is very hard to actually get compensation from, and your rates will go up by a ton for this sort of action.
@@Caiphex I thought that too with the riots do you know how long that can take to get any funds? And how much that insurance companies dont want to give you? Stfu
@@Caiphex Which is why their insurance paid them in full.
Oh, wait.
@@Caiphex you surely mean the police forces insurance policy?
And private insurance in the US covers your house being destroyed by the police?
I knew before you even got to the end that the family wouldn't get compensation. My friend has his house raided around 3 am one morning in college. He and his roomates were dragged out of bed, their house ransacked, the front door destroyed, all because their neighbor was selling drugs and the cops got the wrong house.
No apology, no compensation, just "there's no drugs here, must be the wrong house."
In cases like that, suing for negligence is more of a thing. Though it depends on the situation.
@@TitaniumDragon Legal fees for that can get expensive, and with the low chance of success a few college students aren't going to be able to take the risk.
Insurance compensated the family in the video. They should have done the same for you.
@@carlost856 What the insurance payout rate for a home invasion?
"Well, the Appellate Court decided in favor of the police."
Geee, what an unexpected outcome!
Top 10 anime betrayal.
That has never happened anywhere! Or anytime! I’ve never heard of such a thing!
"Y'see, your honor, my client couldn't have taken the victim's life, because he didn't keep it afterwards."
This! I'm dying bc it is so accurate
I love this 😂
The argument of Retention as being a necessary portion of Taking is fallacious under this grounds and others similar to it. That argument is patently ridiculous. If I were to take an apple from your fruit bowl, take a bite for the purpose of satiating my hunger, and then put it back into the fruit bowl, it would be said that I had taken and damaged your property. Though a small case it is clear that despite not retaining the object I had in fact taken it.
Killing isn't equivalent to stealing since the killer couldn't take ownership of the life. In this case the argument seems grounded in ownership.
Lmaooooo
"Ah but you see, we didn't take your house. We just blew it up. So...it's legal."
"I didn't invade the neighboring country, I just carpet nuked it."
@@juniperrodley9843 "We ordered all of our citizens abroad to evacuate the neighboring country, so we actually did the opposite of Invade- we Evaded a catastrophe. Then we graciously sent our military in afterwards as part of an extensive humanitarian mission. You wouldn't call the Red Cross invaders, would you? We're exactly like the Red Cross."
@@juniperrodley9843 If it has oil its legal.
Destruction of property, forgot about that?
@@d.v.z7389
But, the government did it, so it’s okay.
Government: Setting a shotgun booby trap in a house to stop a thief is excessive, reckless and brutal.
Also government: *blows up house to stop thief*
It's almost like it's not about what's right but who has the right to do wrong.
@@KoreaMojoAmen sister
Regarding booby traps, they aren't illegal because they are excessive. They are illegal because they are indiscriminate. In the case @LegalEagle talked about, the guy who set them up was the one who got shot and the police almost caught some bullets from other traps when they entered the home.
@@CableGuyRyv I thought the shotgun hit a theif who had the audacity to sue and won.
@Violexie-wb7op you are correct. I don't know what CableGuyRV is talking about
There is no decent human being who could ever imagine that the cops should be able to get away with this insanity.
Well, i guess they won't have to. They'll be gone a four months
I can imagine cause it just happened
@@imoaardvark2248 Well, apparently the US Supreme Court does not consist of decent human beings, or at least not enough of them to accept this case.
Unfortunately it isn't up to decent human beings. It is up to those that write the law and uphold the law as written. Given the fact that the Supreme Court wouldn't even hear the case should tell everyone that:
"nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"
Doesn't really mean shit.
I've heard about it and I'm still baffled this even ended up in front of a court to begin with. To me it's common sense that the family should be compensated but I guess laws are not that simple
Common sense isn't so common. And after hearing this, makes me even more despising the legal system 'protecting' police.
Uniform or not, someone (a human being) or something (man's machines/intent/actions) caused this and thus, a human being needs to compensate for the damages and or attacks done. Period.
It seems like an issue lawmakers should deal with.
@@tovekauppi1616 yes
Completely agree. The family is not even asking for anyone to be held liable of jailed. They just want police funds to pay for the reconstruction of their house.
Perhaps they should be
I have to side with the family here. When the Police took charge of the home they altered its purpose. It went from being a home to being the means through which the police were able to use to apprehend the criminal. THEY tore out the walls to create opening that wants to use as gun ports. THEY blew out the windows for the purpose of smoking out the criminal. They changed the function of the structure to fit their intended needs at that time and in doing so I feel they Altered the home's purpose.
Yeah the defences argument seemed to backfire but they still went with him. Perhaps there was something in the case we didn't see
I’m surprised the family’s attorney didnt’ fire back with that. “A pile of rubble is not a house, therefore the purpose was altered.”
They may have left the citizens their *land*, but how could they argue they *didn't* take the house itself?
Considering how they couldn't live in it after, how is the purpose not altered? Before it was a residential home, after the police were done with it it was a condemned pile of rubble. I don't think you can live in a condemned pile of rubble, in fact according to this video they could have been arrested for attempting to live in it because of the condemned title.
it really seems like a SWAT team could have cleared the house significantly easier then blowing up the entire house.
but the SWAT team gave up after coming under fire, surely they could have used a concussion grenade or smoke to cover their approach.
The thing that confuses me most is that by any sane definition the purpose of the house had been altered. It had been legally declared uninhabitable and torn down due to the actions of the police and therefore cannot reasonably be claimed to maintain the same purpose
"justice, may it please the Court: the purpose of the property was altered, unless my clients are willing to reside in a pile of rubble"
Teacher: "Johnny, why didn't you hand in your homework?"
Johnny: "The police blew it up. They also blew up the home in which the homework was done."
Teacher: ????
Teacher: "Did the police alter the purpose of your homework?"
Johnny: "Well, no, but that doesn't really matter. They blew it up..."
Teacher: "I'm sorry, you are still liable for not turning it in."
@@tylerbarker2957 Johnny: "Objection! I am not liable for turning it in as I no longer have a home in which to do any home work. Therefore I should be exempt from any homework until such time as the police, city or state return the home that was taken."
@@tylerbarker2957 ....Excuse me, teacher, I'm Lil' Johnny's lawyer Mr. Legal Eagle esq....Since Lil' Johnny is no longer a student of this school district thanks to the local police utterly destroying their home to get some crackhead & forcing Lil' Johnny's family to move & enroll Lil' Johnny to another school district. I submit that Lil' Johnny is not under any obligation to this school district, it's teachers or it's assignments......
floyd burney Teacher: “That’s okay. We understand that he has the freedom to not hand in anything. However, exercising such freedom has consequences. If he fails to fill out in triplicate the school district form XB-127 as required by State Code 15432, have it properly translated into Chinese, Arabic, and German as required by District Policy 32471.8(b), have it personal, witnessed by a notary who is located In South Africa as required by District Policy 17398.7, hand it in between 2:15 pm and 3:00 pm on the third Thursday of the month as required by District Policy 38429.2, he will still be considered a student for purposes of doing assignments though if he does not live within the district, he will not have access to said assignments since he will therefore be in breach of the district contract with him. However, as noted in District Policy 16329.4, failure to fill out XB-127 will result in a situation whereby the student still has liability even though we have no requirement to provide instruction. Therefore, until such form is properly submitted, we will still issue an F for the course as well as all subsequent courses, which will follow Johnny forever because it is part of his dreaded ‘permanent record.’”
Actually, they burned the homework page for a firelight, but the "use" has been preserved since the ashes were returned to the student, though they are unreadable by the teacher, who along with Johnny is also forbidden to handle the ashes since they could break into powder, the powder be inhaled, and induce black lung cancer.
"I submit that the law permits application of logic and common sense"
That's where she went wrong lmao
yeah, there is no logic or common sense in law, it really is an ass...
'common sense' isn't common, especially in law.
Logic and common sense would suggest that criminals are responsible for the damage they do and the damage that is done in protecting others from them.
"We blew up the home, yes, but the 4th amendment says, 'we can't take your stuff without permission' not 'we can't destroy your stuff and way of living without your permission'
Edit: fixed amendment number, mb
And the US Supreme Court did not accept this case.
In the 1760s, the Sons of Liberty of Boston were protesting against the Stamp Act. The got a mob together, went to a royal official's house (was it the tax collector? I don't quite remember), and completely dismantled the house until no two bricks stood one on top of the other. The mob then went home.
No criminal charges were ever filed. These are the people that inspired the American Revolution a decade later.
This court case in a nutshell.
actually, that's the 4th amendment, not the 5th
Good point! Search and seizure is the 4th Amendment. Rights of the accused, such as the right to remain silent, are the 5th.
How?! How is this not considered a “taking” of their home?! They were literally barred from entering their home after the police destroyed it to arrest a suspect. I’m furious about this. This is so unfair.
And a THEFT suspect, no less! Yes, I realize he had a record, but still ....
"Not been altered from a residence into a missile command silo"
Yeah, you altered it from a place you can live to a place you can't live in. You altered it from a house to a pile of rubble.
a silo implies you could even store something there
The house: *doesn't exist*
The court: this house is still a fine residence, and is safe to live in.
Freedom and Security eh lol
"the property was not altered, it's still a private residence"
...
"it's condemned and uninhabitable, definitely not fit for residence"
They shouldn't have argued eminent domain. I blame the lawyer
@@andrewb.4031 They would just argue even unlivable it is still a residence, and still listed as such. That argument goes nowhere legally i think.
@@andrewb.4031 , Except that the only reason the idea that the home had been 'altered' mattered was because of the eminent domain taking angle.
@@andrewb.4031 I agree. The Lechs' lawyer sucked!
This is literally the "I wasn't driving, I was traveling" argument except it's the government so it works.
sovereign government. XD
I want to see a parody of that.
Donut Operator got a content idea for ya...LMAO
It's like that other version: "i didn't shoot, the gun did!"
I grew up in Greenwood Village, and I remember this!
I didn't see any of the incident personally, but I remember the heavy police presence. I never heard of the result, which is... frankly disgusting.
Police be like "Hippity-hoppity, your house is now--- destroyed. Whoops."
"Whoopsie."
"How did you destroy my house?"
"Oh it was easy, barely an inconvenience"
Sir, you want to destroy the house?
Ya ya ya.
@@LegalEagle just curious why didn't they make a police report under criminal damage to make the case easier and use the judgement as evidence
Seriously, I'm going to need you to get WAAAAY off my back about destroying that house.
Any Sane Human: "NOOOOO! YOU CAN'T JUST BLOW UP A HOUSE AND NOT COMPENSATE THE OWNERS!!! THAT'S NOT JUSTICE!!!!!"
Laws, Judges and the police, apparently: "Haha, house go boom."
"We the police stopped a man from potentially destroying the lives of people by destroying their lives first!"
Remember, the police in most states can seize cash and goods from your vehicle on only the belief that they may be part of an ongoing criminal activity, and even if they do not charge you with any illegal act they can indefinitely hold onto those items.
AND they don't need to state what criminal activity they believe may have been ongoing, AND they can direct funds from seized assets or the sale thereof in whatever way they choose. Margarita machines in the breakroom are apparently a popular choice for seized funds, for example.
Incidentally, the total annual losses from police seizure has topped the total annual losses from robbery.
William Vincent Any Minority: “THE LAW WOULDN’T PLAY ME LIKE THIS IF WE WERE WHITE!”
Me:
To be fair to the judges, they can't rewrite laws just because it's unfair. Blame legislators for this one.
“The police power comes with its own rules, apart from the taken clause” There’s something about that sentence that’s deeply concerning
in most circumstances, when someone says taking a job or something comes with its own rules, they usually mean _stricter_ rules, but I guess not with police.
The fact that argument was used to explain why the constitution doesn’t apply to them is deeply worrying as well
It’s kind of the whole problem, ain’t it?
@o0O-JD-O0o Lets not forget, innocent till proven guilty, but we're giving you a newbie lawyer who has to argue ten other cases this week
It should be concerning.
If police need immunity from the law to uphold the law, then something has gone horribly wrong
Which is why they don’t need it. But they need it keep up with racism.
Not really, the issue is that Americans are among the most litigious people out there. If cops could be sued too easily, they'd never do their job and eg enter a dangerous situation. It's how liability laws work.
@@projectpitchfork860 Racism?? the story says nothing about race and no such thing exist. Many variations of one human species.
At what cost ?
Immunity is only for individuals, not the department or city and it’s only qualified.
I find it interesting that this has been argued primarily as a matter of property law, at least as portrayed here, and not argued that there wasn't also a case of excessive force on the part of the police. The building was completely surrounded and there was no conceivable means of escape for Robert Seacat. What the police did in compromising the structural integrity of the building, put the entering officers, Seacat, and the community at greater risk of death than had the police done nothing except wait it out. The penetrations to the buildings shell compromise the lateral force resisting system of the house, leading to a greater likelihood of collapse especially in the event of a sharp wind gust. Moreover, the effectively unlicensed demolition raised the possibility of starting a building fire or gas explosion which could further compromise the public safety. A temporary evacuation of the immediate neighborhood and establishment of a perimeter around the premise in question with officers behind behind ballistic shielding would have been enough to ultimately neutralize the threat and eventually affect arrest, the guy wouldn't be able to hide in a house forever.
That is the fault of the lawyer. Once you pick an argument or your charges/allegations you have to stick to it. I agree, they could have argued using excessive force also.
Exactly my thoughts too, I found the focus very weird, but I know next to nothing about legal matters so I can't comment. In my view the police's action was unnecessary and excessive, but I do agree that they should have that legal immunity. I'd say in this case Seacat would be responsible, but of course you can't expect him to pay up. Really sticky situation.
The hostages in the Iranian embassy situation in the UK was based on waiting out the hostage takers, not blowing up the embassy. Things could stretch for days if they had to for this guy, they could turn off the water taps and the guy would be out in less than a week and would be forced to sleep at some point and would probably be out of his drug supply keeping him awake sooner or later.
That said, as for why it was sued on this basis is because the homeowners wouldn't have standing for the police using force, they weren't the ones subject to the force, Seacat was.
@@robertjarman3703 they're property was subject to the force though no?
It's interesting that the lawyer also didn't argue excessive force but there may be a legal reason why they didn't but regardless the city/state/police should have paid so that they could replace their entire home and lost possessions, to argue otherwise is not Justice.
police: "it can't be taking because we didn't alter the purpose"
also police: "you can't live in this home now because we altered it"
logic [o_O].
There's a difference between altering something and altering it's purpose. If I pull out a can of paint and slap it on my baseball bat I've altered it, but it's purpose is unchanged. To hit baseballs. If instead I grab a can of nails and hammer in a dozen or two of them into the baseball bat I've not only altered it, I've altered its purpose. The bat is no longer compliant with the rules of baseball so cannot be used, and it's no longer capable of hitting balls because of all of the nails. Ive altered its purpose into a weapon
In this case the police clearly altered the house by tearing it apart, and thus they altered its purpose from being a place of habitation to a structure no longer habitable and deemed unsafe for occupancy. $5000 is frankly an insult
A house which you can not legally enter or shelter in is less able to serve its original purpose than a bat with a nail in it
@@jh-ne4sy indeed it is
The problem with that argument is that it would allow the police to damage property so long as it could not be condemned or require them to only pay enough so that it no longer could be condemned. No, the court ruled correctly, The problem lies with the plaintiff’s attorney who is trying to use the takings clause rather than tort law.
They play on words. IN that case "altered" measn a change of use. for example, if they had it change to a commercial shop, or a medical facilities. "Altered" does not concern the strucutral integrity nor the decorative state of the house.
That's one way of getting rid of your mortgage I guess.
How do I keep seeing you everywhere on this website!
Arsin Thegreat pretty sure it’s a bot
Not funny
Nope. Do you really think that any bank would void your mortgage because police literally destroyed it? Theyd probably even decide to increase it because the judges decided police is not at fault, and so theyll twist it to say that you did it.
Arsin Thegreat huh so it’s not this me
How exactly does a disheveled criminal “not fit in” at a Walmart
Maybe it was similar to how anxious or paranoid people believe that everyone is looking at them acts in such a way that eventually makes people pay attention to the person acting unordinarily?
my thoughts exactly at the Malwart. Another American story.
@@Ingu.z And also that, on top of it all, he was armed and (arguably clearly) doped up?
COLORADO
@@fds7476 aka every 3rd customer here in Oklahoma ☠️
Taking something permanently out of someone's possession is functionally no different than destroying it and saying that the home still served the same purpose after it had been destroyed is nothing more than a ridiculous display of semantics. They deserved to be compensated. Having said that, I have no faith that they were.
John Maloney semantics? welcome to the legal system
I find it very interesting that in all these videos the courts ruled in favor of the bad guys
It seems to me that the argument is incomplete as presented: namely that the police took a home from the family and a little less than a day later the police returned a husk. I wonder if there is any case law that deals with damages to commandeered vehicles or other property that is not necessarily a home. Or especially if there is any case law relating to a place of business.
@@Makarosc Bad guys? I didn't see any bad guys (or girls for that matter) in any of this. Unless you meant Seacat somehow??
@@Sidewinder84x Licking boots isn't going to save you when the cops come to destroy your life in the name of "we gotta get this guy now because I want to be home in time for football".
If they aren't going to be responsible for their actions, can't let them have access to our stuff. Furthermore, by ruling that the police don't have to take responsibility for *blowing up a private citizens' house* they are in fact condoning this sort of wanton destruction, which is definitely against the best interest of the public.
It actually sets a dangerous precedent that it is legal for the police/government to destroy people's property and act erratically to accomplish their "mission", and face minimal consequences.
Person blows up a police station: "OMG terrorist! Kill him!". Police blow up private residence "Durr we make house go boom we make criminal go to jail we did good"
What they should have done is start the rebuilt with the money they got from the home insurance, instead, they used a good amount of it to try and sue for the market value of the home. All because a scummy lawyer took advantage and convinced them they had a chance.
@@Alex632 what has the insurance to do with any of this?
police destroyed property -> police should compensate for it
really easy to understand.
no insurance involved.
@@mahe4 succefully claimed home insurance -> should of been used to rebuild house.
Really easy to understand.
I honestly hope they try for the supreme court on this case. This seems like a very good case where some grey areas need to be cleared up in the case something like this happens again. Maxim made a very strong case for the fact the police altered the purpose of the property while they were temporarily holding it. Sure, it is not quite the same as eminent domain, but the family could not use their property the same way again after the destruction of their house.
Waste of time. I don't see this SCOTUS doing anything to undermine absolute state authority.
It has been appealed to SCOTUS as of March of this year (2020) but something came up so not much news on it since then.
@@dunzerkug what came up?
Zefram Mann State authority is not absolute. If the police are grossly negligent or reckless in their behavior, their actions are not covered by the qualified immunity enjoyed under the police power.
@@TheEmmakathryn My Sharona!
Update: The family lost. According to Wikipedia, the Supreme Court denied cert on June 29, 2020. Sad.
Sickening..
Give the local police a taste of their own medicine.
Want a new door? Boom. Giant hole in the wall with a board over it.. Still a doorway, still it's original purpose. Hasn't been altered.
Yeah, it seems like the US is rather against people than for them.
Hungary (and I think most of Europe) has basically absolute opposites as a law. I'm not 100% sure, but as I heard you are entitled to compensation even if you parked in front of a fire hydrant and the firemen damage your vehicle with a hose.
There's even some wording that if you are the one who willingfully offered your any kind of property for a police action, and even if you had some negligence involved in the damages caused, you are still entitled to compensation.
I cannot always praise Hungary as the epitome of the "state for the people" kind of governing (because there is a lot of corruption and the prime minister's 'friends' get basically every public purchasing, etc.) but at least the laws are more oriented towards people, and not towards corporations or forces. I hope this will stay the same, while the other problems will be solved in the future.
*FLIPS THE TABLE*
Not sad... just disappointing
Boooommm I pulled the disappointment card take that
Hope they at least got donations from people
Can we just appreciate that this quality content is free
Absolutely
These true crime videos are insanely good. I can't imagine the amount of hours put into these videos. They're significantly more interesting and well put together than most real crime shows.
I think that's why he's constantly promoting the Nebula thing.
No. There are other, better lawyer youtubers on the platform. Much better in fact. Just cus he has 1 good series doesn't make his channel quality. That would be like trying to argue that I make quality content when 99% of my junk is cringe and 1% is actually worth watching
Not free. Unless you didnt pay your phone or internet bill.
Police: The residences purpose has not been altered as it's still a residence
Also Police: Please don't enter your new premium open view residence
Without hearing the verdict yet, I would say that destroying a home to the point that it’s condemned and cannot be used as a residence is 100% altering it’s purpose. It can no longer be used for the purpose for which it was built.
I think everyone should learn that a justice system doesn't mean it's just. Court systems suck off old cases instead of what's actually just and logical.
But the fact that the family rebuilt proves otherwise. The lot was still zoned as residential and the police’s didn’t cause any toxic damage. So it could still be lived on.
Jacob Clark true, but the actual structure itself was altered beyond usability for *any* purpose, since it was unsafe to even leave it standing.
@@TheLordsCanary I argue that the purpose of the house wasn't changed but the viability of using the property for its intented purpose was. The house was always a house and was never changed to be anything else and thus its purpose was not changed.
Honestly what exactly would the court determine is altering the purpose???
16:23 - Apparently, the city and the police department conveniently ignored the fact that the Takings Clause itself draws no such distinction and names no exceptions to the requirement that property owners be compensated when their property is taken.
23:00 OBJECTION!
"Not altered"
IF a house is in a habitable state at the start of the police operations in the area, but at the end of their operations the house is now deemed uninhabitable. Then the building's usage as a domicile structure has been altered, given that it can no longer be termed a house according to the Oxford English Dictionary definition ("a building for people to live in, usually for one family").
As their house was deemed uninhabitable it could no longer be termed a house, therefore it's purpose had been drastically altered when the police willfully and knowingly destroyed it. Ergo, the police whilst acting in an official capacity as representatives of a State's government (and thus as subsidiary representatives of the United States of America's Federal Government) ceased the family's home for the greater good (apprehending a known criminal), in their process of ex3ecuting their operations they destroyed the family home to such a degree that it was no longer habitable. Thus by OED definition it is no longer a home and as such it's purpose is irreversibly altered. Thus the 5th Amendment's Eminent Domain clause should be applied here!
I agree with your reasoning, but this probably failed because legal definitions and dictionary definitions are in many times different. The dictionary definition is "change or cause to change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way." which obviously the event has down. However, the legal definition of "altered" is probably a lot more concise to prevent someone from winning a case like this.
@@bsq2phat In law unless a word or phrase is specifically defined in the law the dictionary definition is used.
The defense was that they hadn't altered the property's purpose, but they had condemned the house.
I mean, by the city's own position, enforced by the police who damaged the building, the house was no longer capable of being lived in. Is the purpose of a property not to be lived in? How is that not "altering" the building's purpose?
I don't know what was actually said, but by the defense's own definition the house was altered. No reasonable person considers a habitable house and an uninhabitable pile of rubble the same thing. Why? Because it is altered. So the defense claiming that the definition they cited meant that the house was not altered was an incorrect opinion by the exact definition they cited. Their should have been a counter argument that the definition of altered is still met by their definition despite their inability to understand the definition.
Sustained! (By my opinion)
This is the case of taking the law as is and ignoring the spirit of the law. To protect the innocent . This should never have come to a litigation. They should have been reimbursed fully and then some.
This is probably the best example of "the cure being worse than the disease". It's the very definition of "using a missile to swat a fly". Just as a matter of legitimacy, the government should have never let this get to court and rather settled with full payment to the family. It's bad enough that the event happened and became local public knowledge.
My question is "Who would ever trust or cooperate with the police, after that?"
Exactly that, abusing their police powers.
@@1mag1nat1vename They have probably spent more on legal fees than what the house would have cost the city in compensation.
I live near GV. Here's a story I told in another comment:
Mr. Nathan very much reminds me of GV's government as a whole in a really weird way. GV has a summer event called "Greenwood Village Days" at a big park in the city, and you need a ticket to get in. My address technically is not in GV but most of the neighborhoods around me are, so they USED to give us tickets as a neighborhood courtesy. Probably about 10 years ago, they just stopped since TECHNICALLY they don't have to do anything for us. The argument Mr. Nathan makes exactly follows this - according to the letter of the law, GV doesn't have to help out, so...it won't, really.
The question now is did they protect the innocent. If the protection of the innocent leaves the innocent without the basic necessities of life did they actually protect the innocent?
This seems like one of those situations where new laws/rulings should be made. I appreciate the situation of law/police being separate from civilian works but if any other organisation was to take control of my property to complete their works and created damage in the process they would be expected to compensate without any need to apply for insurance reimbursement. If the local water company had to enter my property to repair a damaged water main that ran under my house and they caused damage to my foundations their insurance would be expected to cover my losses and so should the police need to enter my home and caused damage during that process they should be expected to reimburse through their own insurance policies.
I think the same way we should have laws and ruling for this exact situation. I would hope they take it up further so we can all one day be protected from same situation. Though I also understand even going further with it might not even yield any results, as if they don't get appealed and have to take it up with Supreme Court, they can just choose not to do anything about the case. I just hope best for the family either way.
I entirely agree, but how does one overturn legal precedent? I'm asking from the perspective of a non-American whose knowledge of the American legal system is that the doctrine of precedent is the basis for ensuring that similar cases aren't treated differently because of the mood of the judge on the day and other than with new legislation for those cases where legal interpretation set an initial precedent (I hear that getting legislation passed in the US is slower compared to other English-language jurisdictions), I just don't know how else it could be overturned 😓
@@lukeedwards7677 In general, you don't "overturn" legal precedence. You do it by changing the law and clarifying the intent of the law. The legal profession is mostly about interpreting the law and its intent and mostly shouldn't try to change and create new law (at least in America). Its about a check and balance to each system. Sometimes an interpretation can change over time and get clarified in another matter
Definitely worth to go all the way to the supreme court and hope they have a brain and tell the police they can't just destroy a home for funsies when they could have done other stuff (like wait it out longer).
They don't have thermal imaging to check where he was hiding? How about sleeping gas or the like? Even poisonous gas at that point, since when does the US police cares about not killing guys that shoot at them? They can shoot a guy that looks like he has a gun, but someone that actually shot at them, his life is worth taking that many risks?
Antoine Chauvet they need to protect their officers. I’m absolutely okay with them blowing the house down and leaving a crater. However they must replace and/or repair the damage. So in effect at least 10% more then damages to take in effect errors in calculations plus another 10% for pain and suffering as well as rental property during the construction less current mortgage and an additional 10% again for pain and suffering. Any more then this should require a court case, and of course this is definitely possible. (If the owners profit from this event then by all means the government can try to recover their losses by court transaction themselves).
This is such a travesty of justice. But by all means the police acted well and carefully to preserve loss of life.
Wow. Okay. The purpose of the home WAS altered as it went from a private residential area, to an area deemed uninhabitable and too dangerous even when the police force explicitly stated that their home was in fact “safe to return to to claim any personal property”. This family should absolutely take this to the Supreme Court
they did, and they lost-
@@notarobot1494 No, the refused to review it. The Supreme Court did not rule on this case.
Police Lawyer: "It wasn't taken because it was in fact returned"
- Family is refused entry to home, and the home is eventually demolished
I would hardly call this "returned"
Police Lawyer: "That 2017 case actually meant if the purpose had been altered"
My brain right at that moment: "ARE YOU FREAKING TELLING ME YOU'D USE THAT BUILDING AS A PRIVATE RESIDENCE IN ITS CURRENT STATE!?"
We have altered the house, pray we do not alter it further
Unfortunately, the way the government views it is that the condemnation and demolishment are separate from the police action. While the police may have caused the situation, the police did not condemn the home, that was likely something like code enforcement. Therefore from the perspective of the police it was returned. It's a weasly little argument, but a legally sound one based on case law. This is something that needs to go higher up the judicial food chain in order to have the precedent of previous case law altered. I hope the family does keep pressing forward with the case, but even if they get to the Supreme Court, I am not sure it will change things. The Supreme Court has been extremely conservative in it's view of cases of eminent domain. I get the argument that police need to be free to do what is necessary for the public good, but at the same time they need to be cognizant of the effects their actions have and the government, be it city, county, state, or federal, need to fairly compensate people whose property is damaged in police actions.
@@N1ghtLancer You are my favourite person this week
@@ccapwell Wait, why is the action of police and government separated? Aren't they effectively the same institution, like the Federal State and the military?
@@masalaman7820 Which branch of the federal government are you saying is the same institution as the military? The executive, the legislative, or the judicial?
Removing my own feelings from the issue is difficult, but even when I remain as objective as I can, the act of "Taking" is to remove something from the possession of others. By destroying their home to the point of making it uninhabitable, they have removed the home from the family as it no longer serves the purpose for which it was designed.
I would have ruled in favor of the family.
at least give them a home a house with 4 walls and that is it on the place they removed the old house. a worse house is still a house and so the family has a house.
Okay, so you are a judge who ruled in favor of the family. Police departments will remember this, and they will be less likely to work with you as a judge. So, in order to keep the peace, this family has to be sacrificed.
@@KyurekiHana Then those police officers need to be fired and replaced.
@@KyurekiHana Since when do the police get to pick what judges they work with? They are supposed to be an individual entity that looks at the cases the police and civilians bring up to them and to look if any legislation is broken
@@vincenthanff7026 they don't, but they often are the first to determine what laws they uphold or overlook. In addition, the judge themselves will have interactions with police outside of the courtroom, and you usually want to be on their good sides. It's a give and take thing, because both sides have been known to flex their power from time to time.
The thing is, if one of the cops or judges was in this situation, they would also demand compensation. The apathy of most of our justice department is honestly appalling.
You can say that again. And it's just God awful. The working class common folk get screwed so hard. But if you're anything above that. Via rich, or have some kind of poltical or government power. You somehow get 'compensation'
I know Judges aren't suppose put emotion in their cases but still!
if your a Politian or part of the government then you get away with just about anything, but if your everyday citizen then you don't get nothing
It's also one of those cases where until the judges rule on the right side (compensating home owners for police destruction of their property) the public will refuse to accept it and will keep on filing lawsuits against police and slander their reputation.
And the community would rally together and the cop would get his house rebuilt because people in the US worship police.
“They tackled him to the ground and arrested him safely” and that wasn’t possible without blowing up the entire house??
I mean I’m not a lawyer but perhaps this would’ve turned out better if they had sued for use of excessive force because completely destroying a house seems a bit excessive
@@gooblob4188 Unlikely it would qualify as excessive force. In war there is something called the defenders advantage, and generals usually equate to a defending force being equal to 3 people for every person they had. If swat stormed in with out line of sight for snipers, and the criminal fired upon the swat team storming the second floor it is likely several officers could die before returning fire. The clearing of line of sights for snipers would be required for a safe arrest given the positional advantage the criminal would have.
You're from Europe, aren't you? This is actually very common.
He was literally trying to shoot them the entire time, from a highly defensible position. It's very difficult to deal with people in that situation.
@@TitaniumDragon I dont believe that the actions against the house are unnecessary but the state should reimburse or even offer enough to improve the property by reimbursement.
If you destroy someone’s house, I don’t care what the purpose is, pay compensation
If you destroy or take someone's property there should be compensation.
What if the purpose is that they told you to?
Even if the purpose is to catch someone who almost stole something from Walmart?
@Aarav Valaparla Pretty sure he was being sarcastic
@@emilyseer7898 then that destruction is not without consent...
idk tho
"We saved society!, but also put a whole family on the street, barely covered any of their costs, and put a massive burden on their shoulders due to forces far out of their control with no chance of recourse. Oopsie. Sorry"
A family shouldn't be forced to give up their home and undergo such intense burdens. Furthermore, a government body shouldn't be able to stand on the defense "it was for the good of the public" when clearly the public was harmed (emotionally, financially, etc) by the destruction of property.
While I understand Police do need civil protections in the line of duty when life or death is being considered, the family should have been rightfully compensated for the flippant destruction of their home. No family should be forced to have their lives ruined and burdened because of something they clearly had no control over, the police force, village, and all government bodies upholding this situation should go sodomize themselves with a retractable baton.
I'd prefer that thse people responsible just have their houses blown up and their families made homeless, they might enjoy the baton treatment a bit too much...
The real problem is the phrase "the public". Officers see "the public" as a vague, nebulous ideal. Any people they come in contact with are either, perps, victims, or sheep. They're not the public. The family they just made homeless isn't the public. The people that drug dealer didn't theoretically go kill is. Also that drug dealer isn't the public.
Imagine how this story would've gone down if the cops hadn't been called in the moment.
Guy would've stolen some electronics.
Walmart would have him on video doing it. They could've gotten his plates.
They find out what was stolen via cameras and inventory report and call an officer later to file the report.
The police take the info, ID the suspect and add that to his list of warrants. They arrest him the next time they pull over his crappy truck for a missing taillight or whatever.
Walmart receives a check from their insurance company covering a portion of the .000000001% of their profit they lost that day.
Nobody is made homeless.
No SWAT team.
No tanks.
No scared kids or dogs.
Just... An easy, peaceful day.
@@kev25811 Although I think that it is ok for the police to have blown up their home I think repaying for the parts they damaged would be appropriate. To me that is the cost of catching the criminal. In reality why should they be responsible for paying to catch a criminal. The criminal himself didn't do the damage and no one was in imminent danger (if they didn't approach the house and kept a safe distance) so blowing up the house was purely done because they wanted to catch the dangerous criminal. In that case it is only logical to pay for it as just part of the cost that it does cost sometimes. As a tax payer I would be more than happy to make that payment and then we can later scrutinize on wether it was excessive or not, if it happens too often or not etc.
@@kev25811 bold of you to think the investigation would turn up anything for such a small-time criminal...
@@lcmiracle it says right in the video that the guy has priors.
This isn't that complicated.
Just watch the video and consider that none of it would've happened if the police hadn't been called to the active scene.
Worst case scenario the guy didn't have priors and nobody could ID him and the store would've had to fill out some insurance forms.
Again... Nobody is made homeless. No tanks have to get involved. Just a minor headache for a guy who has to fill out some insurance forms and a reduction of nothing percent of an insurance company's profits.
Cops: *Literally blow up an entire family's house to catch one guy*
Family: Can we have at least enough money to get a new one?
Cops: Nah, you can have $5000. Also, this money is because we're being nice and we also deny any wrongdoing. Also if you try to go back to the house, you will be arrested.
They'll probably have to pay income tax on that 5k too...
It's worse than that. They were told they could go back to the house, but when they tried to they were threatened with arrest on the premises. Imagine if the police smashed into your parked car full on during a high speed chase and then they said "well hey, shit happens, here's a couple bucks for a gallon of gas and you're free to pick up your car and head to a shop" and then when you get there they arrest you for trying to tamper with evidence lmao
I am livid over this case! When the police were done, it could not be a home, therefore it was changed.
Me: "This should be a landslide case. All of the defendant's points were borderline preposterous!"
E.g. these gems: We didn't take their home, we just destroyed it; we did not alter its purpose when we made a private residence uninhabitable.
Devin: "Well, the appellate court decided in favor of the police."
Me: *Disbelief noises*
You get used to it... which is the worst thing about this kinda stuff....
Are you not American? Not meant disrespectfully...it would just make a lot more sense for you to be in disbelief.
@@jamesoblivion I am American! But pretty young. Still finding out how dumb the world can be sometimes.
@@Rickyp0123 not the world, just this place. And even worse, it's state by state.
I would argue that it being condemned altered it's purpose.
"If Seacat is willing to open fire on the police, what else is he capable of?"
Well, opening fire on anyone is pretty much the worst-case scenario already, isn't it?
He could take the pups as Hostage!
Perhaps he wanted to blow up the entire house. Luckily, they prevented that.
@@stefanoolivotto2391 the home was blown up anyway, and it seems he ran there to hide from the police
@@septicaemia5699 Am I going to woooosh you or...?
@@stefanoolivotto2391 *yes*
"We're not arguing that we traumatized the entire family down to their dogs, blew the shit out of their house and made sure they knew it was uninhabitable by forcing them away from their own blown up house, that we blew up, nor are we arguing that we absolutely took every measure to escalate every aspect of the situation, but we just reeeeaaalllly don't feel like taking responsibilityyyyyy sooooooo..."
"really they should be paying us for all the explosives we had to use."
“I mean, yeah we destroyed the house but man did we scare the HELL outta that shoplifter”
@@lunarservant6781 Don't forget the traumaticed policemen who were exposed to all these explosions like a war zone. The family should pay for the therapists bills.
@@TremereTT because the family did?
What?
What did they do to deserve any cost to their lives? Live in the US? Seems like punishment enough.
@@DemonjustinofPhoenix woosh
"Just because its legal, doesnt make it right" swings hard with this one.
Guy : *has one handgun*
Police : My god, bring in the tanks
This is wrong, I agree but a gun is a gun, it can kill. Officers will not sacrifice 2 of the to catch 1 criminal.
I just thought they could’ve just brought a hidden camera on the phone and took that part of the wall
"bu-but he was a danger to public safety, sure a family no longer has a home and wasn't properly compensated but at least we get the warm fuzzies when we think we did a good job!"
@@zlatinmihai958 and how would they be sacrificing two to take one criminal? Even the most basic officer has bullet proof vests. Those swat guys? They have full military style armor. That guy would get one shot off with a *chance* to kill one officer before being brought down(which is what happened in the end anyway). I mean this is entirely why we have swat.
@@lychanking And depending on what body armour they had, his handgun may not have had the power to even get through it.
I didn't need to get that angry this early in the morning.
"Is it worth it for them to try again?"
- Is it worth it to the family? No.. the supreme court would probably uphold the decision and the family would just be incurring more legal fees and stress..
- But is it worth it to society? Yes.. the police should not have this kind of immunity to damage they cause, in this case, or ideally in any case...
If this is the case, what is the point of having a 3rd Amendment (military cannot enter your property without permission) and 4th Amendment (search and seizure require warrant) when your police is as destructive as Army in 19 century?
@@chongjunxiang3002 i think that's an excellent question that gets to the very concerning militarization of law enforcement we've been seeing over the last ~15 years. fighting wars and keeping peace are two very different kinds of tasks, and our law enforcement is shifting from the latter to the former.
@@adfaklsdjf You know whats weird about that is that military personal have much stricter rules of engagement where your actions are held accountable. The police however have a culture of obstruction it's a breeding ground for unlawful behavior. Yeah he killed that guy or shoved an old man to ground causing head trauma better them than me is the mentality as long i come home. Kill, maim, and destroy is there motto and if you don't like it they yell obscenities at you as they beat you half to death.
I agree. It is an absolute benefit to society. The idea that the government can take whatever it wants provided that it does not retain it does not appear to be constitutionally valid. If it was, the government could take a billion dollars from random citizens and just burn it as a measure to control inflation. If the US government took your entire life savings, burned it, and then argue that it didn't actually take it because it didn't retain it would you feel any differently?
@@Elliandr that's what the government did to me and my property
I think the homeowners went the wrong direction by trying to argue imminent domain. The PD basically admitted that they should compensate the family by offering the $5k. Don’t accept the $5k, ask for more, get denied, then court could have had a different outcome
they needed a place for their children to sleep that night man they had no choice but to take that five grand
@@prismpyre7653 too bad
"Look, it's not altered. The livingroom is still a livingroom, and the bedroom is still a bedroom, and the house is still a house."
Uh... The house is no longer liveable or safe. I'd say that is altered.
"Look, we didn't tear it down and build a strip club in it's place, so clearly there's no issue..."
I wonder if arguing the statement: "The purpose of the house was not altered." with the fact that the house was condemned and deemed not livable? Does a condemned house still have the status of private residence if it is unsafe to enter? I'm genuinely curious.
You should ask the city if it would still be legal to live there according to the code.
Land use probably still residential. But I'd still have argued that the use was altered to unlivable for a time. Or even argued that altered use within that law should be read as certain entry into that law, not a bar of requirement. That the taking and its effects don't change depending on the purpose so the purpose within the wording of the law needn't be the sole stipulation for deciding entry.
But then of course they were trying to use that entry to justify compensation other than from the police, who have immunity. So that wouldn't have worked. They really went for the wrong claim and should have persued the police's conduct though we know how that tends to go even when the claim is right and justified...
I’m supposing that since the land is still zoned as residential, and after removal of the condemned structure the land is still livable, the property was returned.
I’d hope you could argue that the house was a possession on the property, and was not returned, therefore the cost of the house should be repaid minus the value of the land.
Having said that I’m fairly certain that police can take personal belongings as evidence, without repayment.
Long story short, this predicament sucks. I’m also fairly certain that if the police completely destroyed a shopping center or factory, they would be forced to pay
Levelling an innocent family's house with gas grenades, explosives, a robot and a SWAT team to arrest a man accused of stealing some electronics from Walmart that probably cost a few hundred dollars is the most American thing I can think of.
They spent MORE time, effort, resources and possibly life on that one scene in that period than it was ever worth his stealing.
Send a few men in armored up after finding what room he was in. Cause a large distraction while they move in. Bam. Catch by Suprise and arrest him.
House still there.
(I know it isn't that easy..)
that person was armed which posed a huge problem.... tho i feel it could have been handled better with less destruction of the house
As soon as he fired at a police officer, the theft was pretty much irrelevant. The stand off itself makes sense, it was important that he wouldn’t have a chance to get away and to avoid risking the lives of law enforcement as much as possible. The destruction of the property seems excessive to me, but I don’t have any knowledge about situations like that. However, the behaviour afterwards was disgraceful. Calling to inform that they may take their belongings and that “some destruction” had occurred and only offering 5000$ after the family comes to the station in need is silly and shows contempt for the innocent family whose home had been destroyed.
And shot at a police officer. Twice, don't forget that
And my family doesn't understand why I shit all over this place.
I really enjoy these "The Case Of" videos! Please make more! They are so educational, and I really love learning about all these influential cases.
“We can’t take control of your home without permission, but we can destroy it without.” How do Americans not live in fear of that?
Most Americans don't realise they live in a totalitarian police state until they become its victims themselves
@@exantiuse497 I’m an atheist, but amen to that!
But hey, at least they have the constitutional right to not have to house British soldiers in their home
@@DukeDukeGo can't house soldiers in your home if you have no home
As an american... I do
"I didn't _kidnap_ your cat, I just killed her and left her body on your doorstep! I don't know what you're complaining about, she's right there!"
And you can't pick her up or I'll arrest you
That sounds like a line from Family Guy. Is that a line from Family Guy?
"I didn't take your wallet! I just picked it up from your bag, emptied it and threw it away somewhere. If you don't retain it it's not taking!"
Legit sounds like something PETA would say to wiggle their way out of any criminal persecution. Oh wait, they did do something like that.
#fuckPETA #justice4Maya
Cops kill a dog every hour of every day in the US
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
To catch a thief a house we blow
And when the owners sue we go:
"Now you can't use it?? We didn't know!!"
I just stumbled upon Legal Eagle and now I am realizing there are only 4 of these videos...bummer....these are SO GOOD!
Before the verdict reveal: Even under the argument of "Altered" referring to the purpose of the property, I would still side with the family. As a result of the actions taken by the police the home had to be condemned, thus the property can no longer serve its original purpose as a residential home, therefore the purpose of the property has been altered.
After the reveal: Those judges are idiots and the family should definitely keep pushing for the decision to be reversed.
Unfortunately that takes money(for the lawyer fees) and they're run out before it gets that far-That what the defendants (the police) are counting on
100% agree.
@@nancyomalley9959 Pro Bono hopefully
Each of the Judges should have all of their personal property forcibly taken, then smashed to pieces, and given back. Also they are legally forbidden from even trying to use that property as it is now unsafe.
Yep, if "condemned public safety hazard" does not mean altered I don't know what is.
"The purpose has not been altered." So, it's still a house where you can live, right?
That was my thought. Sure, the real estate hadn't been rezoned, but the police themselves declared it inhabitable.
Yeah, got hung up on that as well.
"As in, a residential house was not altered to serve as a blood drive facility..."
so, reducing a house to just rubble doesn't alter it's purpose as a residence to just being trash?
That was the same thing I thought and should have been argued. The house was altered from habitable to uninhabitable, as the police themselves stated at the time when the residents attempted to return to their home.
Additionally, the ruling that was given sets precedent that police can take any means necessary to catch a suspect, up to and including the complete demolition of a building without any compensation to the building's owner as long as the owner gets the remains of the structure after the event.
My guess is that "it's still a property of value"
The home may have been demolished, but the land could still be sold to those who want to build a new home.
Not that I'm agreeing with the decision, but if the city didn't seize the property, then they didn't "take" it. My confusion is still about what's been altered. Obviously an empty lot has its value go down and thus that has been altered, yet it's not like the city gained any value either (unless we're talking about property tax)
Purpose and efficacy are not the same thing. Both a rusty sword and a high-performance assault rifle have the same purpose, even though one is less effective than the other. If a master criminal and a drunk idiot both try to rob a bank, they are both acting with the same purpose, even though one is vastly less likely to succeed. Likewise, a ruined house and a standing house both have the same purpose, even though one is less effective than the other. Both before and after the police action, the structure is still _meant_ to function as a residence. That is its purpose. The fact that it isn't very _good_ at it anymore doesn't change the goal.
Laws generally choose their words very carefully, so it is likely that the law in question was written with the _intention_ that damage not be a factor.
That said, I sincerely hope that interpretation, and ideally the written laws as well, are changed to be more generous through more appeals to cases like this one and new legislation. Not just because I believe that the government should take responsibility for the collateral damage its acts cause to its citizens, but also because the police are kinda suffering from severe lack of public trust, which makes it extremely difficult for them to investigate crimes and make arrests among an uncooperative and sometimes even _hostile_ public, when the police and the public _could_ and _should_ be on the same side.
"The house looked like it was bombed."
Well it literally was.
This is sad
It literally wasn't
@@BrandonDriver99 Not bombed, just dEmOLiShEd wItH ExPlOsIvEs.
@@blue_tetris well only some of the house was damaged with explosives.
@Christopher Corriveau no I mean the majority was smashed up, not blown up
Imagine if after all of that, they fond out Seacat was no where to be found.
If somebody destroys something you own, they ought to replace/repair it.
How can you say they purpose of the house hasn't been altered when it has literally been ruled UNINHABITABLE? What exactly do they think the purpose of a residential home is?
tax deductions?
Its an income source, obviously (property tax).
The question “how *should* this have turned out” is a different question than “how do you think this did turn out”
That's might be because it's still not fully settled since they are considering taking it to the supreme court. There's an odd note in the wikipedia articles for both the legal case and Seacats arrest that the legal case has only cost the family 28,000.
@@FirstIsa that's pretty low all things considered and going through two trials (unfortunately legal representation over a long time is super expensive). but my bet is that its just random trivia that whomever edited wikipedia found out. No idea if its true.
I don’t think it should’ve been the police who was forced to pay the rest of the damages. I don’t know if it was the county or the state, but somebody provided the police with the tools and weapons that amplified the utter destruction of that poor family’s home. Anyone who militarizes police should bear the burden of cleaning up after them.
In addition, the police were doing their jobs the way they were trained: as if they’re in a war zone. Obviously that has its own tower of problems, but putting that can of death-worms aside, the actions the police took here weren’t malicious or careless; they were just trying to minimize human casualties efficiently and effectively. Was it excessive? Probably. Future training should include considering property damage when strategizing. Obviously human lives are the priority (whether bystander, police or criminal) but I think everyone would agree that we’d like the police officer in charge to at least try to think of another way that’s safe *and* wouldn’t demolish the innocent civilians’ homes, even if just for 10 seconds and they do it anyway because it’s still the safest option.
The police shouldn’t be prosecuted for protecting the public safety, but they *should* at least have to explain why the destruction they caused was necessary, because if the destruction wasn’t necessary, the police are then harming, not protecting, the people. Then they should be prosecuted for harming the people, or breaking their oath, or abuse of power or something. Corruption and police brutality are real, whether rare “bad apples” or systemic, and there are limits to police power (like use of force in getting unwilling confessions) for exactly these reasons. We need to be able to distinguish between the good and so-so officers from the bad ones and punish wrongdoings heavily to keep those “bad apples” from spoiling the entire barrel.
From the facts that we know, I think 5k was a fair contribution from the police, just considering the level of destruction for one man with a handgun in an unrelated bystander’s home, and plus, the quote from that “commander” allowing all destruction short of total collapse was rightfully horrifying. The homeowners insurance should just have to pay for damages up to the most they would’ve paid if a natural disaster destroyed their home and all their belongings, and whichever level of government (local or state) employs those police officers should *have* to cover the rest. That’s the cost of empowering the police to such destructive levels. As a sucker for superhero stories, I, too, prefer the safety that level of power can insure, so I’m willing to pay the tax dollars necessary to fix up what the police break in their pursuit to save lives. I just want the police to explain why the destruction was necessary, and for my tax dollars to go to repairing the damages they cause. The family did absolutely nothing to cause or worsen this catastrophe, so ideally they shouldn’t be paying more than what they’d normally pay to fix some part of the house that suddenly and unexpectedly broke, just to get their home back from this man-made disaster.
If you got this far down, congrats. Here’s a medal: 🏅
how it should have turned out is a bloody insurance check from the police's insurance company for the rebuilding of the house as the family was not at fault for the crook breaking and entering their home AND stuff like driving a frigging Tank through the home was insanely out of proportion for a single addict with a gun.
@@JBC352 the police are not trained to do that which is the problem. If they followed procedure they just would have gone in or shot secatt using a sniper
Why couldn't this case be a simple "you damaged my stuff, so you're liable"?
Why did this have to be a Constitutional issue?
Cause it's better if we take old people's words from a few hundred years ago then admit you messed up.
@@davidinass But these old people from a few hundred years ago based their system of government on the thought of a old guy from a few hundred years ago called John Locke.
And guess what one of his basic principles of government was?
Protection of the property rights of its citizens.
A double-edged sword: It protected slavery, but also says "If agents of the government destroy private property, the government is liable for damages and has to compensate".
Because the US is a failed state?
Because they're the police, so they're above the law
@@mujtabaalam5907 If it was that simple, then the entire case would be automatically dismissed anyway.
That doesn't explain it: why not just sue them for property damage? It seems like a much more clear, direct, simple easy to handle the case. Making it into a constitutional issue seems like an overcomplicated approach that is more likely to fail.
Let me get this straight. The police department could afford hours of wages for multiple officers, explosives, a goddamn robot, an armed task force and snipers. They then explicitly stated the house was too destroyed to be fit for resistance. Then refused to pay the family for their destroyed house.
Imagine how that poor family feel when they have to pay tax.
"But it still has the purpose of a residence, so it has not been altered in purpose."
9Johnny8 if it’s declared uninhabitable then it can no longer serve as a place of residence.
@@hazzasazza444 That was the point I tried to make. I used the quotation marks to show that was the reasoning the defendant's lawyer used. Maybe should've used /s for sarcasm.
@@hazzasazza444 In the end, the property is currently a residence, ergo was not "altered in purpose". And I suspect that the "house was damaged so bad it had to be demolished" was a short way of saying "the damage to the house was severe enough that it was more cost-effective to demolish it and start fresh than to attempt to repair the existing structure", meaning that the police had returned a "house" to the family, despite its condition. Seems to me that the family was screwed over far more by their insurance company, if the house was considered a complete write-off, their policy should have covered far more than half the costs.
@Luís Filipe Andrade That's the issue, the court found that there is not right to compensation for damage that occurs from police using their policing powers as opposed to the state using eminent domain.
Objection: The house was NOT returned to them. All they got back was a pile of rubble.
objection: insurance paid for it to be rebuilt, brand new. Insurance also provided payment for living in temp housing while the state/city was also providing it which means they were compensated DOUBLE for the replacement housing. They were also paid an extra $5000 on top to cover the deductible and other things that insurance was already covering. I wish they gave the total breakdown of the entire payment the state made. I also would be curious what these people are even asking for? They lost use of their house for a few weeks, which means what... a few grand in pain and suffering? It would take some fancy lawyer-ing to say that they were really entitled to a lifetime supply of money because of the pain and suffering it caused.
I think the people that should sue here is the insurance company, but they have the legal smarts to avoid the fees arguing this.
@@scottwolforth8948 objection: the insurance only paid half the price of reconstruction
@@scottwolforth8948 "For a few weeks": Dunno what ramshackle houses your area has, but where I'm coming from building new houses to code takes half a year - in a rush job. Not withstanding the time to get the old building demolished, find a company+craftsmen which would build a new house on such a short notice, file the paperwork on a new building with the city. The family would have to live in a homeless shelter for a long time if there were no relatives where they could spontaneously crash for a year or so.
Once again I think the US must be a dystopian horror to live in.
@@Enyavar1 You can build to code much faster than 6 months, but it still takes several weeks. The slowest parts are pouring a foundation and waiting for inspectors to approve.
.
imagine the judge coming home, sitting down, and say to his wife, "this family's house was blown up, and they wanted compensation, but we decided the police didn't need to do that."
how do they sleep at night
@CLP no kidding
Probably not well. The case wasn't about deciding if the police should have pay compensation (it seems obvious that they should), but whether or not it was a case of eminent domain. And in terms of eminent domain, it's a stretch. The judges probably think they should be compensated just like everyone else. What we need is a law to prevent this from happening again.
With a fat check from the police chief
Mainly because they are literal fascists tbh.
They can sleep at night because their job is to look at the applicable law itself and render a decision on that accordingly. The law isn't about emotional appeal but was the law says is and isn't.
If justice decisions were always based on emotional appeals, there would never truly be justice because you would have to throw the rules out at the beginning of every case.
I think I'd want to argue (and this is with very little legal knowledge,) that the complete destruction of a livable and structurally sound residence is not "reasonable damage" for a single man with very limited ammo, in a house that is completely surrounded. Or that when the police made their initial appearance at the store they let the ball drop by not ensuring that the building's entrances were secured to prevent Seacat's original escape.
That being said, the insurance company that these poor people had should have given them the full value of the house/contents (not half,) considering it was condemned and had to be rebuilt. It doesn't matter if the people decided to make a smaller house or whatever (or rather were forced to due to the lack of insurance payment,) they lost $600K worth of home/memories and just overall value, that means they should be compensated for it. x.X It's pretty crap that they can just say "oh, we don't think it was worth that much anyways.. Here ya go! Have a cookie!"
“Doesn’t seem to quite fit in” at Walmart?
Oh, boy.
he mustve looked ROUGH
This all started because some piece of shit had to judge someone and watch him over a couple.hundred dollars of shit that Walmart can afford to lose millions of times over for 10 years straight every day
I have seen such a variety of people in Walmart, I wonder how someone can NOT fit in at Walmart XD
(Nobody tell him)
@ What he stole was absolutely not worth what the police did to get him, though. How much did that end up costing?
I absolutely love this format! I don't even care for USA's legistlation, i'm Italian and have no interest in becoming a lawyer, but despite this... the way this is narrated, the animations and the way the trials are explained makes it incredibly interesting and worth watching.
Court: We don't want people to be able to sue the police, so we'll overlook the injustice done.
These are amazing. Just finding them now. Sad to find it was a limited series. Just wonderfully done!
We want more of these "The Case of" episodes they are very interesting and entertaining.
I miss em too. Just watched em all again.
I agree. Though. I need to not listen to them while driving. The amount of sheer "What in the Dumblands of USA am I listening to?" is astoundingly high to the point I am losing brsincells. I forgot how to drive for a moment.
Every single one of these episodes keeps making me trust less and less the whole legal system...
This is a wise path to go down.
Write this down:
Unless you have personally asked a police officer to help you with something, NEVER EVER EVER speak to them. Give your name, and address. The only other words should be "I demand my lawyer be present" and "am I being detained?"
Unless you have a couple million in the bank, they are not working for you.
He is right never talk to police
@ALSO-RAN ! he's right, you dont have to be a sovereign citizen to have reason to not talk to police if they confront you, you just dont do it. they are there to convict you, not help you. here's a great talk that explains the problems with talking to police th-cam.com/video/d-7o9xYp7eE/w-d-xo.html
@@kev25811 "I don't answer questions" was the coolest most effect response to the police I've ever heard.
Good. Don't trust the legal system. Learn its flaws, its inadequacy, & its absolute stupidity & hatred.
I’m not a lawyer, and regardless of how I feel about the morality of the situation, I think the family attorney’s argument was really compelling when she mentioned “common sense” and highlighted how eminent domain and the police services are both meant to serve the public (regardless of reason or jurisdiction). Their home was lost in order to benefit the public, therefore the public should compensate them fairly.
A completely different situation, but it’s reminiscent of the way police departments in some states abuse laws to deliberately seize property from innocent citizens (or minor drug offenders) to raise funding for their department. I can’t stand the way people are able to poke holes in legal precedent that results in an outcome that is patently unjust.
I try not to use 'common sense' in regards to U.S. laws, its like using 'vicious' in regards to puppies.
daniel job
Touché lol.
Civil forfeiture. If property is seized, the police should be the ones to prove that it was lawful, not put upon the owners to prove a negative.
As soon as she mentioned "Common Sense" the appellate court made up their minds.
*"Common sense" is trash, absolute trash,* flat earthers, anti-vaxxers and paedophiles all literally appeal to so-called "common sense" to justify their absurdity!
It doesn't even mean anything more than: _"hur dur, if I think something should be one way, everyone who disagrees is a dum dum!"_
The moment I heard that lawyer appealing to "Common sense" I knew the case was lost, she may as well challenged her counterpart to a fiddling contest, it has as much validity as her argument.
The dude had a Gloc and while noone died... They ruined these peoples lives forever- and didn't even care. The fact they condemned it before they came home is a total slap in the face.
Just saying, all of this could have been prevented with a shotgun boobytrap
Which is illegal. Several US home owners have been charged for keeping lethal traps on their property.
@@ZakTheFallen It was a reference to his other case video involving the shotgun boobytrap.
@@popcornsprinkles8071 I got that reference.
Nah, too damaging, pull out the 50 cal sniper trap that shoots out the door, not damaging the house
@@ZakTheFallen that's stupid
OBJECTION: “a disheveled man who plainly doesn’t belong there” WHERE ELSE ARE DISHEVELED PEOPLE GOING TO SHOP BUT WALMART.
That was clearly a Malwart
I once saw a disheveled man getting arrested in a Walmart. Everyone was just walking by like nothing was happening.
I think you are underestimating his disheveledness.
@@ld6782 Yeah, I think we're talking more than too tight yoga pants and unkempt hair.
I always wondered, is it possible to be just sheveled? Or...heveled?
What if they weren't insured? Jeeze this ruling is horrible.
What I gather from another comment is that the house was insured (But they still had to take out a mortgage to cover all the cost). However, because it was rented from the father and the son did not have insurance the property of the son was not insured.
Well certain insurers wont offer coverage on "acts of war", and might have these types of situations under that. And thusly wont pay out.
I recall hearing a similar case where the police destroyed a home, government offered like only 10k, and insurance wouldn't cover it.
The home owners did try and sue to government and I believe they might have won, but I would need to look up and find that case again to be certain...
Edit: try as I might I cant seem to find that specific case
At the end he says they did get some compensation, but not full compensation, and no help in paying off legal fees.
So, I'd bet it's safe to say they got screwed over real bad in this case. Even with insurance.
@@ronrolfsen3977 I mean what happens if they unwisely had no insurance? Police go 'Rip your house. Have $5000' and run away
@@Moleoflands Well like Freak_Gene said, "acts of war" are not covered by insurance and this could be argued as such. Plus insurance tends to be less for your benefit and more only when they really feel like being nice to you. It's not that simple.
A reminder of why the *legal* system should never be referred to as the *justice* system.
This verdict pissed me off. Laws should be applied with morality and justice. On a side note, get rid of qualified immunity.
Just because something is the law doesn't mean it's morally correct. There is a difference between the two
The point is the law should be closer to morally fair. If the government or some rich corporation takes your one item or destroys it they should pay fair value to replace it. That just makes sense, and laws should reflect that.
I agree but there's no common morality. The problem is that morals are nebulous. There's differences in cultures and what's moral and just for one group of people can be different to another... Whereas the word of the law is more concrete?
I wonder if they have a crowdfunding thing set up.
@@goldenpun5592 I disagree, to an extent. There are general ideas of right and wrong, morals. We all know that generally it's wrong to cheat, steal, kill, lie, etc. It's the specifics we question. When are they ok? Can I tell grandma I like her fruit cake? What is considered self defense? Am I cheating if my husband and I are separated and have filed for divorce but it's not final? There will always be outliers, and the range is large, but many people would say this situation is not fair or not just. So morals are in some way not universal, but close to that.
Absolutely s
In my opinion, the house being condemned is key in this case. The fact that the house was condemned by the government should be considered as an admission and acknowledgement by the government that their temporary use of the house did, in fact, change its purpose.
I'm also of the opinion that the condemnation itself should really be considered a taking in this case. To my mind, there is a difference between this and the case of a property being condemned due to negligence on the part of the owner. This was not a home condemned because the owner neglected their responsibilities not to allow their property to fall into such a state of disrepair it became a hazard to public safety for example. This was a property condemned because the government themselves willfully took a non-hazardous structure and made it hazardous then used that as grounds to condemn it. Sorry, but the latter situation is not one in which the burden of condemnation should be on the home-owner they were not liable for any act or omission that would justify the condemnation the government was.
It would still be considered a private residence, even if condemned. Or at least it can be argued such.
@@aoikemono6414 How can it be considered a *residence* if it's condemned as unfit to live in? Condemned means it's not fit to be a residence - therefore, it isn't a residence.
Legally, it's a bit iffy. Morally, though, there's no question that the city should have helped them more than they did.
Please do more of these cases. They are fascinating. Good job!
@2:00: Some of these facts are incorrect. John was renting that home from his father Leo for $1300 a month, which was a bargain for that neighborhood. Leo and his wife actually lived in Sedalia, about 30 miles south of there. John, with his then-girlfriend and her son, after their home was destroyed, moved in with Leo and his wife; Leo refinished his Sedalia home's basement to accommodate them. Without Leo's help, John and his family would have ended up homeless.
@23:08: "That court took the words 'not been altered' to mean 'its purpose had not been altered.' To put it another way, 'had not been altered' meant 'not been changed in purpose to something other than a private residential home.'"
I would argue that, after the police were done with it, that property could no longer be considered a residential home, as it was officially deemed uninhabitable--literally condemned by the government of Greenwood Village, and eventually had to be demolished. No, Mr. Nathan, it wasn't converted into a "blood drive facility" or "missile command station." It was "altered" from a "private residential home" into a "total loss."
@24:40: While Leo had insurance on the home, his son John did not have renter's insurance, so all the personal belongings in the home were lost. Leo also had to pay for all the costs associated with demolition of the old house. Leo got a $345K insurance settlement on a home which reportedly appraised for $580K. Leo took out a $600K mortgage loan to rebuild the house; that process took 2 years. Leo did opt to replace the undamaged foundation and build a larger home. Leo said he would have settled out of court for $600K, but the city never offered more than $5K for the insurance deductible and living expenses.
Regardless of the legal outcome, Greenwood Village and its PD, by spending money on legal fees and court fees instead of compensating the Lech family for the loss of their home, has put a huge stain on their reputation in the community. If I lived there, I'd never trust that police department again.
Further, I accuse the counsel for the defense of using "weasel words" to try to clear his clients of their moral obligation to compensate the Lech family for the loss of their home. In my opinion, Andrew Nathan is an example of why lawyers are almost universally loathed.
Askmi Leitr Your last paragraph put exactly what I felt into words. The government of Greenwood Village is morally reprehensible at best.
The police have a right to a lawyer that will uphold their interest according to the law. As do you and I, this was terrible but I wouldn't get mad at the lawyer for arguing successfully for his client
Do the police have some sort of legal rep that state insurance pays for or something? I honestly don't know, but I would imagine they have to go to court a lot, and they may have a law firm that they pay routinely instead of every instance.
And whatever liability insurance the local police has, if that's a thing, should have helped out here, at least in tandem with Lech's private insurance, but instead probably told the police "yeah, give them 5 grand to see if that shuts them up, and if not, we'll pay for your legal fees, lol" for whatever formulaic cost/benefit they do.
Insurance. Yay.
@@eleaseroberson4243 Morally reprehensible, yeah, and LEGALLY reprehensible. They overstepped their bounds and used excessive force.
@@KumaCarter He TOOK the case. That is a decision he was not forced to make. Decisions should have consequences. Bending the law to defend a clearly unjust position should have the consequence of getting debarred. PERIOD.
OBJECTION: So does this mean the state police have the unlimited power to do anything they want in order to arrest a suspect? That any action is justified?
What happened to a measure response approach? What if the guy was cornered in a factory, office building, or church with no one else inside instead? It would be ok to blow the whole building up just to arrest him and offer little to no compensation whatsoever to the owners? What happens if the suspect turns out to be innocent or found not guilty at trial?
It seems a very slippery slope to be on.
"What happened to a measure response approach?" who an American police department? A measured approach? HAH! What a world that'd be
The law is probably far more complex than the police can do whatever they want. As far as I intrepreted the response was measured. The commander didn't just roll up and blow up the house but endured a day long stand-off and only destroyed the house when it was clear the officers couldn't remove the suspect without putting themselves in serious risk. Just because the law grants immunity in this scenario doesn't mean it will in a different one.
ThaneofFife even if it’s a measured approach, they still should be paying damages or the criminal should be paying damages. Not the family who is innocent in this entire ordeal.
They have to justify those armoured vehicles by taking them out every day... and then the authorities that should regulate them just let run wild because they hold too much electoral power. Strong police unions and an industrial-military complex pushing surplus military hardware into police departments make such a toxic dynamic.
Ask the Philly police who dropped a BOMB on a black activist group. In the '80s.
I love "Lowe Depot" and "Malmart."
Missed opportunity: Malwart
Dome Hepot
Or as AvE would say “Homeless Despot”
Wow. I did not even notice that.
@@ziggystardog in the video, it actually does say Malwart.
automatic mattywhack read it wrong.