Thursday, July 10, 2014

Barney Fife Deputizes Beulah Balbricker

Barney Fife is at it again, this time in Manassas City, Virginia:
"A Manassas City teenager accused of “sexting” a video to his girlfriend is now facing a search warrant in which Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors want to take a photo of his erect penis, possibly forcing the teen to become erect by taking him to a hospital and giving him an injection, the teen’s lawyers said."
Here's the official story:
"On January 23, 2014 Manassas City Police was contacted by a parent of a 15 YOA female juvenile who was sent pornographic videos by a 17 YOA male suspect after repeatedly being told to stop. Upon further investigating the incident charges of manufacturing and distributing child pornography were brought against the 17 YOA male suspect on January 28, 2014 after consultation with the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office."
There is a bit more to the story, according to the defense lawyer:
"Foster said the case began when the teen’s 15-year-old girlfriend sent photos of herself to the 17-year-old, who in turn sent her the video in question. The girl has not been charged, and her mother filed a complaint about the boy’s video, Foster said. "
That's right, "manufacturing and distributing child pornography" charges for video likely shot and shared with a cell phone.

The 17-year-old was apparently not caught red-handed. The prosecutor's alleged plan was to get pictures to help make an identification of the person in the video using "special software to compare pictures of this penis to this penis." The police have issued a classic nondenial denial:
"It is not the policy of the Manassas City Police or the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to authorize invasive search procedures of suspects in cases of this nature and no such procedures have been conducted in this case. Beyond that, neither the Police Department nor the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office discusses evidentiary matters prior to court hearings."
That doesn't say they didn't ask a court to authorize the invasive search.

Yes, we've seen this movie before: