Sub 26 months ago now, i can't use twitch without xqcl welcome to audit the audit, where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions. This episode covers search, warrants, officer, privilege and departmental corruption and is brought to us by fire and police videos. This channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve. Let's dive right in and audit the interaction on the evening of march 22nd, 2020 espanola new mexico resident philip chicone barricaded himself into his home after the espanola police department attempted to make contact with him regarding a stabbing incident which occurred earlier that day, the espanola pd Surrounded the house and began issuing orders for mr ciccone to surrender peacefully shortly after the incident began, rio arriba sheriff james lujan, arrived on the scene in plain clothes and attempted to order the espanola city police officers to leave the scene yeah.

Yes, oh my god. Excuse me, i'm not asking i'm telling you. I will bring him in okay. We don't need to make this bigger than what he did.

Hey, uh the sheriff just pulled in and he's he's asking us to pull back and he'll pull him in, but he's been drinking. I can smell it on him. We're gon na need some huh yeah. We need to pull somebody over here.

Something about. Is he acting chef when he's not enclosed and not like on duty me, because he's he's already pushing his weight at all of me. So, okay, we're not pulling back hi, i'm waiting for. I told jeremy jeremy's calling command one now uh, but do you smell it or am i the only one who smells yeah? Please do something about it right.

Mr chacon eventually surrendered to the officers and was taken into custody during the standoff sheriff lujan revealed to the espanola officers that he had been communicating with mr ciccone, while he was inside the home and briefly attempted to convince the officers that mr chicone was not actually In the house, sheriff lujan's, strange, behavior and unwelcome appearance, garnered suspicion from the espanola police department and culminated in the department filing official charges against sheriff lujan and securing search warrants for both the sheriff's personal cell phone and the phone issued to him by the sheriff's office. On the morning of may 14, the espanola pd attempted to serve those warrants at the rio arriba sheriff's office. Good is james here. The sheriff this is weird at this point, sheriff lujan has officially been served the search warrants and must comply with the orders of the judge, immediately the search warrant authorizes officers to search the sheriff for the phones and, as of this moment, the phones are in the Sheriff's pocket, which means that he was served.

The warrant, while in possession of the phones, however, sheriff lujan attempts to circumvent the authority of the warrants by handing his phones to his colleague under sheriff. Martin trujillo call me is this: for which case what case is this? So that is in reference to stemming from the original charges which one the and, if he was him instead - and this was like a normal civilian it'd, go hard on him like super hard, the sheriff informs the officers that he will not surrender the phones until he Has spoken with his attorney, while all americans are entitled to due process under the 5th and 14th amendments. Disputing the legitimacy of a search warrant as it is being served, does not fall within the scope of those protections. If a defendant wishes to challenge the validity of a search warrant, they must do so in a court of law not on the streets and the fact that the espanola officers allowed the sheriff to call his attorney and wander around the office freely after serving the warrants.

Is a testament to the privilege that officers often afford one another when performing their duties in a country where departments are authorized to execute no knock raids daily, sees millions of dollars of contraband and intercepts sensitive personal information all in the name of justice, it is highly Irregular for officers to allow a suspect to comply with a warrant on their own terms busy right now it doesn't have the case number on here for the original, that's a pd case number. It doesn't have a magistrate or district case. This is in district court too, and this is a magistrate warrant. Okay, this case is already in district court.

This is a match. You understand that this case this case is in district court right. Did you get a different court judge stuff with it district court? Judges? Don't do search warrants anymore, they just don't they put, they put them all down in the magistrate. Do you know that i didn't know that they just don't do them.

Okay in the 1971 supreme court case of coolidge vs hampshire, the court held that a warrant must be issued by a neutral and detached judge capable of determining whether probable cause exists. Whether the warrant was signed by the circuit judge or a magistrate is irrelevant to obtain a warrant law enforcement officers must show that there is probable cause to believe a search is justified. Officers must support the showing with sworn statements and must describe in particularity the place they will search and the items they will seize the search warrant that the espanola officers are attempting to serve specifically targets sheriff lujan's work phone and the personal phone that he was using To communicate with mr chacon during the march 22nd standoff keep this in mind, because it will play an important role later in this episode. What is it exactly? Are you looking for stipulates in there? Why the were you talking about the ongoing investigation with the prison being investigated? Yeah, you have all your units here, so i have all my units here.

Who do you see here the undersheriff myself, a transport deputy, i'm doing reports? Okay, sounds good, saying i'm gon na. Do something and the espanola officers inform the deputies that they need to be able to see the phones in case the sheriff attempts to delete anything. The sheriff and undersheriff eventually returned to the front of the office, but continue to wander aimlessly in and out of the view of the officers. Shortly thereafter, espanola interim police chief, roger jimenez arrives on the scene to speak with sheriff lujan trying to make contact.

That is so up. It's a court order. I know, i know you guys are just doing your job, but i don't want you guys in the middle of this all we needed the phones. That's it says i got him, i don't know, do you have your phone on his phone? Yes, okay.

Can i see him at least so i could give you that professional privacy? Okay, can you see his mask yeah on the top of his head and not on his chin? Well, i'm not the one making the show. I had only sent these guys in here. You know what i just again: we want the phone, that's fine you're, probably going to get the phone, but wait still: okay dude! As a recent eures doctor graduate who just took the bar. Some of this is disputed law regarding right to an attorney before searching a phone.

They can take his wallet check, narcotics or weapons, but searching through a phone is disputed. No, no they're not going to search the phone they're going to take the phone. Wait! Wait! What are you talking about if they, if they have a warrant right and a judge signed off on them, taking the phone? Their job is to execute that warrant and a story they go there to execute it. That's it just done.

If it's signed it's signed, you can't contest that, in the middle of the of an officer what that works, i know how that works, because whatever is in there, if, if, if the court says that uh the war was was was uh should have gone through whatever Right then, it's fruit of the poisonous street and they can't use information that they got with the one in the first place it doesn't matter. Why would you care? He has the phones, he already told me he has a phone okay, that's not what warren says. Does it okay, so you want us to lock down the sheriff's office. Go ahead, we're going to lock down this building until he gives me those really yes, okay, dude! I think it's the same as the same as if as if it's a civilian and the guy is a warrant for his arrest right, the guy can't say no, no, no, that arrest, no dude if it if on file, it says that there's a one for his Arrest, they execute the warrants.

That's it. No questions, no arguing, no phone calls. No, they actually the one that's gon na. Stop me from leaving.

If i want to leave, am i under arrest? If we have to am i under arrest not not now get away from that now go back and then we're going to lock down the office. Please go back seriously back up, you can go in the office. This slight physical altercation demonstrates that the deputies prioritize their loyalty to the sheriff above their sworn duty, to uphold the law. The espanola officers followed the proper protocol and served a legitimate search warrant to the sheriff the rio arriba deputies are bound by the same oath to uphold the law as it is dictated by their respective justice system, as every other member of law enforcement.

Their failure to uphold the search warrant raises serious questions about their competence as a department and reveals a glaring gap between their ability to perform their duties according to the law and the ethical standards associated with law enforcement as a whole. There are tamper with evidence, but now what you're saying you're refusing a lawful order from the judge on what case is that, on my case, it doesn't matter on your case yeah yeah, the search warrant. Yeah the case is going to district court right. You continue to continue it's a district, i don't know, but then what's wrong.

Actually i don't know you're actually wrong. If, if, if somebody is, is out there - and they don't have a bull calls for a certain amount on a person, they find a gun on him right, he goes to court. He wins that case. They didn't see it, they didn't have probable cause right.

Therefore, it's a they find the weapon on the through the person's tree and he he wins. So this doesn't only apply their houses and doesn't say how long i have to give it to you. Does it it says now? Yes, yes, you have the copies. It says now yeah: when do you okay, so you get a search warrant, you just do it whenever you want.

This is always true. This is you're like guys, i'm not even american. This is one of your amendments. One of the writing thing on the paper.

Scroll thing on the thing: man - i don't know this well, no, but you we, i saw you, give them to your undersheriff who has them in his pocket. So just the knowledge of that. This is all harassment and retaliation, because i told the city council that you shouldn't be the chief, that's what it is think whatever you want. I don't think i know.

Okay, that's exactly what it is. These phones are not to be gone through until you have a warrant for the content. You only have a warrant for the phones, you're, absolutely right and good luck. You better not come through a magistrate.

You better go through it. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day, so even even then even they should they knew this.

Since the get-go, they still decided to tamper with the evidence, which is it says you toenail take candy, which is even even even more they literally tampered. That's officers left the scene without further incident. The officers secured a search warrant for the contents of the phone a few days later and discovered that sheriff luhan did not surrender the correct phone to the officers. The search warrant specifically named the phone that the sheriff would use to communicate with mr cohen.

Neither of the phones that the sheriff gave to these cops needs a step up, reporting this to coyle name the phone that the sheriff had used to communicate with mr chicone. But neither of the phones that the sheriff gave to the officers were the one he had used on march 22nd upon realizing that the sheriff failed to comply with the stipulations of the search warrants. An arrest warrant was issued and on may 21, the espanola police department arrested sheriff lujan at his office. During the arrest the sheriff managed to get a resisting charge stacked on top of the other charges.

He was already facing overall sheriff lujan and the rio arriba sheriff's. For failing to comply with the language of the search warrant, escalating a lawful interaction into a passive, aggressive standoff and actually probably working dude as as a post officer. They know they do mother, they know better. Okay, they should never ever ever ever, go down to the level of everybody else and go down under to where they breach their own code.

That's absolutely that's from the authorities. Man, the blind loyalty of the deputy sheds, light on the gang-like operations of certain police departments across the country, they're, human nah they're, not okay, it's not how that works. Man when you're a cop, you serve the people. Man, you see you yes, yeah! You you take a note to serve the people and do the job you're you saying oh yeah, but he is human.

You don't get to use that that discourse. That's that's just a stupid thing. You don't, though, and officers well yeah, but they're, just interested at the expense of properly enforcing the law are a danger to their communities. If the sheriff's actions are any indication of his guilt, then there is no doubt that he will be prosecuted for his crimes.

It will be interesting to see what, if any information is gathered from the cell phone, that the sheriff went through so much trouble to hide, and there is a good possibility that the sheriff could face more charges in the future throughout the interaction. What about that? Dude is that is that that let's do some guys down bad, he he's having a tough life. I think he's against him. It's it's so sad and you're all for him and he's a he has an arrest warrant right, but is it by a judge he has executed? Are you gon na say dude all is against him the world.

He had a tough child everything's against him, but dude. What would somebody that's human do? What was somebody? No he's he's good. No, you can't do that. You ever give a girl.

You have a job, you have a job, you have a job to. Do you do the job on the second, you want to do that. Don't be a cop in a story? Yes, the sheriff mentions that the search warrants were issued in retaliation for comments that he had made about the interim police chief, but i was unable to substantiate those claims and the sheriff's office could not be reached for comments. The espanola police department gets a seam, yes, offering the sheriff privileges that they do not grant average citizens by allowing the sheriff and deputies to wander aimlessly through the building while executing a search warrant and not arresting the sheriff after he made several attempts to evade.

You want to fill this guy, he was kind of trying a little bit, but but but he really helped them in in his deal with his investigation and he let him tamper on purpose. He let him temper weird, extending a professional courtesy to sheriff any civilian who attempted to evade a search warrant by leaving the scene or passing off. Evidence to a colleague would have been arrested on the spot, and this encounter draws many parallels to an interaction i have covered in the past, involving the arrest of attorney victor revel for defying the authority of a search warrant in central alabama. I hope it's like.

I wasn't your boss dude the boss, i'll rest, my boss, any day of the week, man post a link to that episode in the info card above regardless of any professional titles. All americans are equally subject to the laws of this country, but the espanola police department provided sheriff lujan with a degree of leniency that is not consistent with the standard protocols administered during most interactions with average citizens. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic. You would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe for more police interaction, content, interesting way that was actually interesting.

I enjoyed that that that that was like super um unique compared to the other ones. I mean they're always good, but that was really unique. Give man you.