The moment of judgment has arrived

On the surface, Ignacio Vazquez and I are polar opposites.

He is an ultra conservative. I am a raging liberal. He is rigid, structural and scrupulous. I am spontaneous, impulsive and non-conformist. He is the son of a cop. I am a thorn in the side of cops.

But on closer inspection, you might see some similarities between myself and the Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney. We are both history buffs. We are both intense researchers. And we are both believers in truth and justice.

Only we have different ways of achieving it.

However, the most glaring similarity between us is also our most polarizing. We are both fierce fighters.

And that fight has now reached its final stage.

Today I filed my reply brief to his answer brief, which he filed in response to my original appeal brief. Now it’s up to a panel of three appellate judges to review the appeal to see if I have grounds for a reversal.

I’ve learned a lot about the law since I was arrested for photographing a group of Miami police officers against their wishes in Feb. 2007.

After spending the last several months preparing my case pro se (lawyerless), I am now considering law school. That’s what spending a multitude of hours in the University of Miami law library researching case law can do to you.

And I guess that’s what having your First Amendment rights trampled on can do to you.

Below are the briefs beginning with my appeal brief and ending with my reply brief with his answer brief in between. If you’re not familiar with legal briefs, the key is to read the “arguments” in each brief beginning with the first one.

CarlosMillerAppealBrief(1)

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StateAttorney’sAnswerBrief(2)

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CarlosMillerReplyBrief(3)

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I am a multimedia journalist who has been fighting a lengthy legal battle after having photographed Miami police against their wishes in Feb. 2007. Please help the fight by donating to my Legal Defense Fund in the top left sidebar, which helps pay for the thousands of dollars I’ve acrued in debt since my arrest. To keep updated on the latest articles, join my networks at Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed.