it City of Apache Junction of the law have until September 16 to inter- vene in the lawsuit. The new challenge to Apache Junction is just one example of what could happen in such circumstances. An ‘Illegal Battery, Seizure, and Arrest’ New Times’ account of Williams’ case is based largely on the information in the complaint, which attorneys said is supported by body camera footage from the officers. New Times requested the complete police report and bodycam footage from the incident, but the Apache Junction Police Department has not yet provided the material. When Williams began filming, he was about 15 feet away from the officers and the car they were searching, according to the lawsuit. He “in no way interfered with the investigation or search,” attorneys said. But when the officers realizing they were being filmed, three of them — Sergeant David James and officers Craig Martin and Timothy Gearhart — approached Williams. Williams, as James confronted him, requested that the sergeant not touch him. James replied that he would “do whatever the fuck I want,” and grabbed Williams’ neck. Williams was ultimately “thrown to the ground” and arrested. Attorneys said the officers then seized Williams’ smartphone, deleted his video of the incident, and claimed that Williams instigated the whole event. When city pros- ecutors continued with the charges against Williams, they withheld convenience store footage of the incident. It was, Williams’ attorneys claimed, an “illegal and tortious assault, battery, seizure, and arrest.” A citation obtained by New Times, signed off by an Apache Junction sergeant, shows the charges that Williams faced after the incident: Failure to comply with a police officer, hindering prosecution in the second degree, criminal nuisance, and resisting arrest. City prosecutors pursued these charges for months. Williams, 53, had no prior Apache Junction faces a lawsuit over its arrest and prosecution of a man who was filming the police. convictions or criminal record and spent thousands of dollars on his defense. In November, the city dropped the fourth charge, resisting arrest. In court records obtained by New Times, prosecu- tors offered little rationale behind the move and said only that the state would “proceed on the first three charges.” In January, Williams learned that secu- rity camera footage of the incident existed and had not been provided by prosecutors. The Apache Junction police chief let that fact slip in a conversation with his brother. That was, “a serious violation of Mr. Williams’ constitutional Brady right to have exculpatory evidence disclosed to him,” according to attorneys for Williams. Days later, the city dropped the case. The city did not answer questions from New Times about why the case was dismissed. As legal pleadings in the ACLU suit over the eight-foot ban show, it’s not uncommon for people to be targeted for filming police, particularly in Maricopa County. An amicus brief filed in the case by national civil rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation and local activist groups Mass Liberation and Poder in Action provided details on cases in which legal observers — people who intentionally record police actions at protests — were targeted by Phoenix police for recording. “[Legal observers] have been targeted, arrested, and removed from the scene ... to prevent observation and recording,” according to the brief. In September 2020, one observer was followed by a Phoenix police officer and given a false citation after a protest, the brief stated. Without close-range recording, it’s difficult to docu- ment these cases. “Recording police is synonymous with accountability,” Rundall said. “It’s the right of every person to be able to record the functions of their government.” DELIVERY AVAILABLE Box and mattress VALLEY-WIDE Bunk-Bed-Frame with mattress $ $ 309 529 2pc sectional Choice of fabrics 4pc bedroom set 5 drawer chest $ 639 $ 439 T-$119 F-$139 Q-$169 K- $289 Twin Mattress w/ 6” Foam $ 7995 $ 139 CHESTs Starting from $ 139 CALL FOR PRICING mon-THU: 9AM - 7PM fri: 9AM - 7PM sat: 9AM - 6PM sun: 10AM - 5PM 3330 w Van Buren St • Phoenix • 602-272-0034 (NE Corner of 35th Ave & Van Buren) *prices are subject WESTSIDEFURNITURE.COM 13 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES SEPT 15TH–SEPT 21ST, 2022
