It took almost five months, but a Washington man was finally able to obtain footage of his own arrest from the King County Sheriff’s Office, confirming the arrest went down exactly as [__he described it in August.__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/08/washington-deputy-arrests-man-recording-seizing-memory-card-evidence/)
But despite all that time, it doesn’t appear as if the acting prosecutor in the case, an attorney named Renee Wells, actually reviewed the footage.
However, that didn’t stop her from tacking on a charge of resisting arrest to the original charge of obstructing for Scott Shimek.
Had she seen the video, she would most likely have dropped the entire case. That is assuming she has the ethics we would hope for in a prosecutor with the power to strip you of your freedom.
But going by the evidence presented to us, which consists of a recorded call between her and Shimek as well as his own video, we can make a strong case for Wells to be disbarred.
Shimek, who is now a PINAC correspondent, was arrested back in July when he stepped out of his apartment after noticing several King County sheriff’s deputies in his neighborhood, appearing to be searching for somebody.
He had his camera and began recording, but was immediately told to move down the street. First by a deputy standing next to a patrol car, then by a group of deputies walking down the street with a dog.
He began walking down the street, complying with their orders, but continued recording in the direction of the cops with his camera over his shoulder, which angered a deputy named Hall who was standing by another patrol car.
> “You’re under arrest,” the deputy says.
> “For what,” Shimek asks.
> “For obstructing,” the deputy says.
> “I was walking away,” Shimek says.
> “You didn’t walk away fast enough,” the deputy says. “Now get down on your knees.”
Although they were quick to arrest him, they were slow to even file charges against him and even slower in returning his camera, which they still haven’t done.
But they did release the video after we began making some calls as he explains it here:
> The video was released after PINAC members and I initiated a calling and email campaign to King County Sheriff. We did FOI requests for my video, as well as use of force policy. It was only after this phone and email campaign that I learned they FINALLY decided to file the case with the court. Since I had the audacity to demand their use of force policy, they responded by adding the charge of “resisting” to the list. I guess they knew I would be calling them to task on using physical force and drawing a Taser on someone who was not resisting in any way but to continue filming.
Shimek has an arraignment scheduled for December 30 on the two charges given that Wells has assured us she has reviewed all the evidence.
But he needs an attorney and is on a limited budget, so if any attorneys in the area would like to help him with his case, please send me an email at [__carlosmiller@pinac.org.__](https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/12/pinac-crew-member-obtains-footage-of-his-arrest/carlosmiller@pinac.org.)
