Despite having just gone through surgery, I will still be required to attend my trial today (Wednesday) against Miami-Dade Major Nancy Perez who arrested me covering the Occupy Miami movement, just another example of the double-standard that applies to police officers because my two previous trials were delayed when officers called in “sick.”
Perez also claimed in a deposition last week that she had no idea whom I was when she arrested me.
However, [**an email**](https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2012/04/nancy-perez-claims-she-had-no-idea-who-i-was-when-she-arrested-me-despite-email-she-received-informing-her/mdpd_homeland_security_email.jpg) obtained through public records listed her as one of recipients of an email from the department’s Homeland Security Bureau warning officers of my presence as I mentioned in [**yesterday’s article**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MDPDs-Homeland-Security-Bureau-Monitoring-My-FB-Page).
The email included my photo where I struck my best Al Qaeda pose by wearing a fedora and flashing a peace sign.
You can read the entire collection of emails here by downloading the [**PST file**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nODBDkA3), importing the file into Outlook, then clicking on “root items.” The link wasn’t working in yesterday’s article but should be working now.
I mentioned towards [**the bottom**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MDPDs-Homeland-Security-Bureau-Monitoring-My-FB-Page) of yesterday’s article, I underwent a hair transplant surgery that has been in the works for months, even before Perez arrested me, then most likely ordered my footage deleted.
Dr. Ricardo Mejia agreed to do the surgery in exchange for me documenting my recovery and results on [**this site.**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/carlosmiller.skinandhairdoc1.com) In effect, to promote him.
I’ve been on serious pain meds since yesterday and have been advised to stay out of the sun. He also wrote [**a letter**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/carlos_miller_letter_0.pdf) stating I should “limit my activities” for at least two weeks.
But whatever, I’ll go into the courthouse in a few hours to face whatever they have in store for me.
**Double-standards**
During my 2008 trial of my 2007 arrest, Miami Police Officer Anthonius Kurver claimed he was sick, which prompted Judge Jose Fernandez to postpone the trial.
This is how I described it in my [**May 5, 2008 article**](http://www.pixiq.com/article/the-saga-continues-camera-shy-prosecutors-force-delay-of-my-trial).
> Miami Police Officer Marvalyn Reid, second from right in the banner photo, was unable to attend the trial because she is on military leave.
> And Miami Police Officer Anthonius Kurver, far right, was unable to attend the trial because he was sick.
> How convenient of him.
Coincidentally, during my 2010 trial of my 2009 arrest, Miami Beach police officer David Socarras also claimed to be sick, prompting Judge Jose Fernandez to postpone the trial.
That is when my attorney, Arnold Trevilla, asked him to recuse himself on the basis that I had just had my prior conviction overturned on appeal on the basis that the panel of appellate judges determined he had “abused his discretion” as a judge in handing me a harsher sentence than sought by the prosecutor on the basis he was “shocked at my lack of remorse.”
Sorry, judge, I will never feel remorseful for photographing cops against their wishes.
This is how I described it in my [**January 12, 2010 article.**](http://www.pixiq.com/article/judge-recuses-himself-trial-will-be-rescheduled)
> Miami Beach Police Officer David Socarras claimed to be sick, just as Miami Police Officer Anthonius Kurver claimed to be sick on a trial date of my previous case.
> Had it been me who was sick, I would have needed a doctor’s note or else be faced with an arrest warrant.
> But police officers have a lot more credibility than me and you. At least in certain courtrooms.
> When asked to recuse himself, Judge Fernandez acted confused, claiming he had not read the appeal mandate, asking if he was required by the appellate court to do so.
> He then recused himself. Otherwise we would have filed a motion to have him recused.
Socarras didn’t show up to the second trial either in which Judge Ed Newman, a former Miami Dolphin football player, [**dismissed the case**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/case-dismissed) without hesitation.
Newman is the assigned judge in this case as well, so I least I know he is much less biased than Fernandez, who before he became a judge, was an attorney for the [**Police Law Enforcement Association**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/who_we_are.php), the South Florida police union.
> PLEA is a multi-ethnic police employee organization whose primary objective is to ensure its membership fair and equitable treatment by their respective Law enforcement Agencies. In order to guarantee this protection, PLEA’s in-house legal counsel provides immediate and efficient legal defense when needed. The Association’s continued success is derived from our reputation. All members of the Executive Board, as well as the Association’s attorneys are on 24-hour call in order to better serve our membership. As a member you are guaranteed the services of the PLEA Board of Directors and its representative to include the services of an attorney, and not an Association Membership Representative.
According to Judge Newman’s [**Wikipedia page,**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ed_Newman) his associations include Miami Dolphins Alumni Board of Directors, the University of Miami – School of Law – Alumni Board, and the Board of Transition, Inc.
Anyway, we plan on asking for a continuance, not on the basis that I am recovering from surgery but that we need to fully prepare for the trial.
But because we have much more investigating to do, including obtaining the full internal affairs reports of Nancy Perez in which she was suspended for three days after she “falsified” and “misrepresented” reports, according to her [**employee log.**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/perez_2917_1.pdf)
We also need to do more depositions because we are just now scratching the surface of the truth.
Eventually, we will find out who deleted the footage. And that is probably why they’ve been bull rushing this trial even though in my last two trials, it took more than a year for the first one to go to court and more than six months for the second one.
Here it’s taken less than three months.
And contrary to how reluctant Kurver and Socarras were in attending my first two trials, Perez seems very eager, according to the emails we obtained, including one that states the following:
> Good morning, FYI Carlos Miller is scheduled to go to court on March 28, 2012, at the Metro Justice Building, Room# 6-6 @ 10:30 a.m. Have a Blessed day!
Did I mention she told my attorney she was a good, Christian woman? Maybe that’s why she thinks she is above the law.
So anyway, I need money and I need it fast.
Many of you have been very generous in donating to my legal defense fund but it hasn’t begun to pay for the costs involved in what this is turning out to be.
My attorney, Arnold Trevilla, has taken on another attorney to help him with this case. I will meet the new attorney tomorrow morning.
But we need at least $5,000 to keep this going. If they dismiss the case, then that money will be applied to the civil suit I plan on filing afterward.
So I’ve launched a Kick Starter campaign to raise $5,000. I’ve been trying to set it up for the past two hours but they are still requiring me to jump through all kinds of hoops, so I will leave you with [**the preview page**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/edit#account-setup) for now because I need to get to bed to be in court by 8 a.m. or else they will put a bench warrant out on me.
Keith Robertson, who sells the [**Zap Rag**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/home18) photographer rights lens cloths and neck badges, said he will donate half of the proceeds to my legal defense fund. You just need to write “carlos3” in the apppropriate section in the order form.
Or you can just donate straight through my Paypal account.
*So if you would like to contribute, please click on the “donate” button below and contribute whatever you can afford.*
Some of you have wondered if I would pay you back if I end up winning big in the civil suit.
I would love to come up with some type of proposal where I can do that but still retain a few thousand dollars to invest in new camera gear if I eventually win a settlement, especially equipment that would enable me to secure my footage online as soon as it is recorded so when they do try to delete it, we have a permanent record of it.
So I would love to hear from my readers as to what kind of proposal would you like to strike by donating to this case. Remember, this is not just about me, but about all of us.
And I’ll put whatever agreement we come up with on this blog so you can hold me to it.
To me, it’s really not about the money but about ensuring these cops think twice before arresting photographers and deleting their footage.
Because if it were about the money, I would have quit long ago and focused on paying back all the debts I accrued from my first arrest in which I maxed out three credit cards, even though I did have significant help from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Unfortunately, justice doesn’t come cheap.
**UPDATE:**
Judge Ed Newman gave us a continuance to depose four more cops when he heard about the destruction of evidence. He wasn’t too happy about that.
What a breath of fresh air it is to have a fair judge for a change.
The last judge, Jose Fernandez, is a former attorney for the Professional Law Enforcement Association, which is the South Florida police union, so he hated me from the beginning.
Nancy Perez was there. She was looking very stressed, never making eye contact with me. She has no authority in that courtroom and it unsettles her.
And the prosecutor looked way over his head. The last prosecutor, Ignacio Vazquez, as much trash as I talked about him on my blog, was a very talented, savvy and aggressive attorney.
I respected him as my adversary.
Also, my attorney, Arnold Trevilla, brought in a young attorney fresh out of law school to assist in this case. He will be doing the research and investigations and seems very eager about this case.
Also, I stood before the judge and explained how I recovered the footage and he seemed impressed.
We are on the verge of nailing them big time.
