Woman who videotaped officer found guilty of resisting arrest

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

A Salisbury woman who was arrested in November 2009 after she refused a police officer’s order to go into her house while he was making a traffic stop nearby was found guilty Friday of resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.

She had been videotaping the traffic stop.

Rowan County District Court Judge Beth Dixon found Felicia Laverne Gibson, 29, guilty and sentenced her to six months of probation and community service work. Gibson, through her attorney Jacob Sussman, of Charlotte, gave notice of appeal.

Dixon found Gibson had interfered with the officer’s ability to do his job as he dealt with a traffic stop.

Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter had been in pursuit of a vehicle and was attempting to pull it over. A passenger in the vehicle jumped from the car and was caught a short time later by other officers. Police said that suspect had drugs and a handgun.

Hunter continued to follow the vehicle to West Fisher Street, where he ordered the two occupants out of the car. Both were given citations. The traffic stop was not far from Gibson’s home.

She sat on her front porch and recorded the arrest on video. That video, which Gibson shot with a digital camera, was shown in court Friday.

A portion of the video has subsequently been posted on YouTube by Groundbreaking Video Productions, the same local company that released a video of police involved in an incident at a club last year.

In the YouTube video, Gibson narrates her own arrest. The video shown in court had some audio that included the voices of Gibson; her father, Nathaniel; and a neighbor, Mary Jones.

Note: This is an edited version of the video placed on YouTube by Groundbreaking Productions and narrated by Felicia Gibson. Staff at the Salisbury Post have not seen the original video.

Gibson’s boyfriend, who was not heard on the video, was also on the front porch with the others.

Hunter said the only people he saw on the porch were Gibson and her father.

“I did not notice anyone else,” he testified.

Hunter’s in-car camera footage, including the chase and arrest, was also shown in court. The veteran police officer can be heard in both his video and Gibson’s video telling her and others who gathered to return to their homes.

“Did some people comply?” asked Assistant District Attorney Karen Biernacki.

“Yes,” the officer testified.

Hunter yelled at Gibson to go inside multiple times.

“Did she do that?” Biernacki asked.

“No, she did not,” Hunter said.

A neighbor, Mary Jones, disagreed. In her testimony, Jones told the court Gibson was backing up to go inside before the officer walked across the street and onto the woman’s property and arrested her inside her home.

After a break, Sussman asked the court to dismiss the case, citing insufficient evidence. He pointed to the rights a person has or expects to have on their own property.

He said Gibson did not impede the traffic stop by being on her own property. Like everyone else gathered, she was just watching the arrest take place, he said.

Sussman also said testimony provided earlier from Chris Branham, a city code services manager, about an overgrown wooded area across from the traffic stop was irrelevant.

Branham said he was asked in April, nearly five months after the incident to look into having the overgrown area trimmed. He said Hunter made the request, but before the incident no one had ever asked the area to be trimmed.

Hunter and other officers testified in court Wednesday and Friday about having bottles, rocks and other items thrown at them while responding to incidents. A few officers mentioned the wooded area as being a cause for concern since they could not see if someone was coming from the woods.

Sussman asked Hunter if items were ever hurled at him along West Fisher Street. He answered no.

Hunter told the court he could not see behind him and the area was unsecure.

Judge Dixon denied the attorney’s motion to dismiss the case.

Biernacki said Gibson was arrested for her “inaction,” which was to return to her home as the officer had instructed.

Sussman said he could understand if the officer was trying to remove Gibson from the property because of a natural disaster, but that was not the case.

Jones testified that Gibson and others never approached the officers, but just watched.

“He went around us and into the house,” the neighbor said.

Jones said she and Nathaniel Gibson were still standing near the steps when the officer went inside to arrest Gibson. No other arrests were made.

“Ms. Gibson did not commit a crime. She was on her stoop in her home watching officers do their duty. She didn’t seek out this incident,” Sussman said in his closing argument.

He said if this had happened in another neighborhood, they would not even be discussing this issue.

Sussman said arguing with an officer, though he wouldn’t advise it, was not resisting.

Biernacki said she resented the Charlotte attorney’s comment about if this were a different neighborhood.

“It is insulting,” she said. “This neighborhood is what it is.”

Biernacki said there have been a fair share of calls to the neighborhood, which was discussed on the first day of trial. There have been numerous calls to the area for shootings, fights and other disturbances.

“There was nothing unreasonable about this officer’s request,” she said.

Judge Dixon said Gibson could have observed from inside her home. The judge said she hoped Gibson learned to respect law enforcement.

“We are disappointed in the outcome and we’re ready and willing to take it to Superior Court,” Sussman said after the trial.

Gibson also expressed her disappointment. “I was very disappointed in the judge’s ruling. Justice needs to be served,” she said.

Before Friday’s court proceedings, Police Chief Rory Collins confirmed there is no department policy that speaks to an officer approaching and arresting someone on their own property if the officer has instructed the person to move.

He did not speak about the case specifically, but spoke in general, saying if an officer believed a criminal offense was occurring, it’s irrelevant if it is on the person’s property. “Circumstances that occur within plain view gives them a reason to approach,” he said.

Collins declined further comment after the trial, citing the appeal.

Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.