In a strange moment of agreement in an otherwise contentious lawsuit, attorneys for SeanPaul “Long Island Audit” Reyes and the City of New York have had a joint motion approved by Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke on Friday.
The motion essentially places limitations on the video footage recorded by either party in the deposition process. Both parties have been at odds as Reyes has increasingly pushed for the use of the depositions of the police officers involved in the lawsuit in videos on his YouTube channel.
Reyes’ channel has become increasingly dependent on these videos, in which he uses the deposition videos to mock and attack police officers who sit for depositions in lawsuits he’s involved in.
Most recently, in an Illinois case, Reyes ran into trouble after he had his lawsuit against the City of Berwyn, Illinois dismissed in mid-January. After the dismissal, Reyes took the depositions from the police officers involved in the case and used them to mock and harass those officers on his YouTube channel.
While Reyes claimed it was a misunderstanding and blamed his lawyer, who promptly withdrew from representing Reyes, the defense argued otherwise. Ultimately, the court ruled that it was clear that Reyes used the depositions in violation of a standing confidentiality agreement and Reyes was forced to take his video using the depositions to mock the officers down.
Since then, on at least one occasion, Reyes has used the depositions of officers in other cases in the same fashion. While he claims it is his first amendment right to make and distribute his mocking of the officers through replaying their depositions for “educational” purposes, the videos have become a popular part of his channel have made Reyes a substantial profit from them.
In the case against New York City, where Reyes is challenging New York City and New York State’s prohibition on recording in police precincts due to a conflict with “right to record laws,” Reyes asked for and was granted permission to film the recent depositions of officers in the case.
There has been an on-going conflict over what Reyes is going to do with the depositions as Reyes has made it clear he intends to release the videos to his YouTube channel for “educational” purposes. Attorneys for NYC, after seeing his previous videos, have objected to Reyes making a profit off of the use of the videos.
The agreement by the parties essentially tables the use of the officers’ depositions until the end of the long-running court case. While the door has been opened for Reyes to be able to distribute his own deposition, he will not be able to use the depositions of the officers involved in the case on his channel until at least the end of the lawsuit.
Once the lawsuit is resolved, the protective order will end, and representatives of the City of New York will have the option to make an application to the District Court to continue the confidential treatment of the recordings post-litigation.
