Cop Ticketed By Lawyer Loses Court Case

Criminal Justice

Posted Jul 24, 2008, 10:34 am CDT
By Martha Neil

Updated: A police officer in Portland, Ore., who was cited by an attorney for parking illegally in front of a restaurant has lost his court battle over the infraction.

A Multnomah County traffic court judge was sympathetic to the police department argument in court yesterday that officers need to be able to park close to where they eat, while on duty, so they can respond quickly in an emergency, reports KATU, a local ABC affiliate. But, saying that the law needs to be changed to reflect this concern, Judge Terry Hannon upheld the letter of the law--and a $35 ticket--against officer Chad Stensgaard.

As discussed in a previous ABAJournal.com post, it was issued by attorney Eric Bryant. A recent admittee to the bar, he happened to be on hand when the officer parked illegally in front of a trendy Northwest side Asian restaurant earlier this year.

"I tried to represent the best interests of Oregonians. And I believe that Oregonians believe police don't get to ignore the law," Bryant told the Oregonian.

However, police say they plan to seek a new municipal ordinance cutting them some slack on parking that ordinary citizens don't get.

"We've got patrol officers who are patrolling the streets for 10 hours a day in their car," says attorney Steven Myers, who represented Stensgaard at the expense of the police union. "It's almost incomprehensible . . . that those public servants need to drive around at public expense burning gas to find a spot to get the food that they enjoy."

Additional coverage:

Blogtown (Portland Mercury): " Citizen Fines Cop $35 For Illegal Parking"

Updated at 12:45 p.m., central time, to include Portland Mercury blog.

Comments

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Posted by logos - 2 months, 1 week, 5 days, 22 hours, 6 minutes ago

Wow, the court upheld the law even though it didn’t want to. What a refreshing change of pace!
Posted by proper judging - 2 months, 1 week, 5 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes ago

I’m pleased that the judge applied the law to the law enforcement officer. It’s incomprehensible that an attorney would think public servants are somehow exempt from the law due to this fact. The judge got it right - change the law then. A good example of applying the law, rather than making it up.
Posted by neil - 2 months, 1 week, 3 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes ago

maybe cops should be able to cite lawyers for ethics violaions, you know, when the bar looks the other way…

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