Dem
47
GOP
53
A lot of people get treated very badly by the police (see: ICE). And a lot of them suffer damage as a result. And relatively few of them are made whole, because the chances of successfully winning a police misconduct case are low enough that it's rarely worth it to make the attempt.
Afroman is not most people, however. The singer, best known for his novelty-ish reggae song "Because I Got High," found himself on the radar of sheriff's deputies in Adams County (Ohio), who apparently suspected he was engaged in drug trafficking. They wrecked his driveway gate, busted down his front door, (allegedly) pocketed $400 in cash, disabled his home security cameras, and even ate some lemon pound cake that was in his kitchen. The po-pos found no evidence, and did not charge the singer, but also did not apologize, or pay for any damage, or return his money.
Given his profession, Afroman has... options for getting even. And so he wrote, recorded, and released a string of music videos about the incident, including "Lemon Pound Cake," "Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera," "Will You Help Me Repair My Door?," and "Randy Walters is a Son of a Bitch." Randy Walters, as you might guess, is one of the deputies who participated in the invasion.
Foolishly, Walters and his department took the bait, and sued for defamation. And so, Afroman got his day in court, and he used it to full effect. The plaintiffs' lawyer was not so great, judging from video of the trial, and he backed himself into questions like "[Is there] anything that could change your mind about what you're doing to these deputies?" Hard to know what response he was looking for, but what he got from the defendant was:
Is there anything that can change my mind about the fact that they shouldn't have been at my house in the first place? Is there anything that can change my mind about how my money shouldn't have been touched in the first place? No.
Trying to clean up whatever argument he was making, the lawyer then asked Afroman what, "gave [him] the right to do everything..." Afroman cut him off and said:
Under the circumstance that I got freedom of speech after they run around my house with guns and kick down my door. I got the right to kick a can in my backyard, use my freedom of speech, turn my bad times into a good time. Yes, I do, and I think I'm a sport for doing so, because I don't go to their house, kick down their doors, flip them off on their surveillance cameras, then try to play the victim and sue them.
Thereafter, the plaintiffs' counsel said the smartest thing he'd said all day: "No further questions, your honor."
We should note that the cops got their chance on the stand, and Afroman's lawyer, David Osborne, ran circles around them, effectively getting them to admit that the song lyrics were satirical and not literal, and could not be understood in any other way. So, it is no surprise that the jury quickly found for the defendant. Afroman may not get his $400, or his pound cake, or his front door back, but he did score a pretty big moral victory, and one for free speech.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)