The Respondent’s Answering Brief was released on Thursday in Jose “Chille” DeCastro’s appeal of his recent Las Vegas conviction for obstruction of a police officer and interference in a crime scene.
DeCastro’s lawyer had previously been granted a motion to overstep the boundaries of the Court’s page length rules in filing his briefing for this case and this is the state’s reply to that extended briefing and 100+ page appendix.
Reading a lot like boiler plate responses, but very effective boiler plate responses, Chief Deputy District Attorney Alexander Chen’s response to DeCastro’s submission essentially decimated the YouTuber’s arguments.
The arguments start with Chen’s assertion that while DeCastro was not arrested for filming, therefore his first amendment rights were not violated, there are still time and place limits to the first amendment.
Essentially, because DeCastro claimed to be press, it affords him no other special rights when it comes to crime scenes or anywhere else. During traffic stops, for example, the first amendment does not give a member of the press to interfere with that stop in the course of their journalistic duties.
Based on numerous rulings, the First Amendment right to film can be restricted in order for police to take reasonable steps to maintain safety and control to secure crime scenes and accident sites.
While Officer Borque couldn’t tell DeCastro to move on just for filming, an argumentative and insulting DeCastro refusing to move to a safe distance was an example of where limits on the First Amendment would apply.
Attacking DeCastro’s idea that the laws were “unconstitutionally vague,” Chen wrote that NRS 197.190, one of two laws DeCastro was charged with breaking, was recently upheld as constitutional in February of 2024 by the Nevada Court of Appeals.
DeCastro’s further assertions that he was a “well known journalist” and “known by police to be non-violent” cannot carry any more weight than or special treatment than any other member of the public.
What was found by the court was a direct example of a violation of the law as written. Officer Borque encountered a man interfering in his traffic stop, who was insulting and argumentative and refused to comply when asked to move away so he could conduct the stop in a safe manner. No restrictions were put on filming other than moving to a reasonable distance away for everyone’s safety.
Addressing DeCastro’s claims that Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman was “biased” against him and should not have the ability to sit in judgement over, Chen wrote that by Nevada law, all judges are presumed to be not biased. DeCastro simply screaming “bias” without evidence is not sufficient to disqualify Zimerman from the case.
Zimmerman’s order to take the phones from DeCastro, and everyone else in the Courtroom, after receiving reports that DeCastro was filming in the courtroom (which DeCastro later admitted that he had been doing on a recently released video), was well within her rights.
DeCastro could have had the ability to film if he had put in a request to film much like Our Nevada Judges did in advance of the proceedings. The general ban on filming applies at all times within the courthouse, including the “break time” DeCastro is now claiming he filmed in, and permission must be obtained in order to do any filming.
Finally, DeCastro’s claims of lack of effective assistance from his attorney fail, according to the Chief Deputy District Attorney, as DeCastro showed no obvious bias or failings on the part of Attorney Michael Mee.
DeCastro’s claims that Mee failed to submit DeCastro’s own footage of the incident fail, as the submission of footage would not have changed the outcome of the trial as the same information was already presented by the bodycam footage as the prosecution.
While DeCastro made the accusation of bias and ineffective counsel, much like with the rest of the accusations he made in the appeal, an accusation without evidence to prove his claims is not enough to reach the legal standards he needs to be successful in his arguments.
In a bit of good news for DeCastro, PDocs of https://thepublicdocuments.com/ recently reported that DeCastro has had another day taken off his current jail sentence and will be released from jail on August 2, 2024.
Case Links
The Public Documents of Jose Maria “Chille” DeCastro
https://thepublicdocuments.com/
DeCastro vs. Peter, etc. – California State Superior Court
https://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/index.aspx?casetype=civil (Use case: 23SMCV00538)
DeCastro vs. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67210646/decastro-v-las-vegas-metropolitan-police-department/
DeCastro vs. Mcknight (Federal Court filed in Nevada vs. Ohio)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68308740/decastro-v-mcknight/
DeCastro vs. Wagner (Ironton) – APPEAL
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67862227/jose-decastro-v-pam-wagner/
Feb 14, 2024 Arrest (Las Vegas)
https://municourt.lasvegasnevada.gov (Defendants, DeCastro, Jose, 9/11/74)
Maryland Criminal Complaint by Collin Campbell
https://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/casesearch/inquiry-search.jsp (Use case: D-09-CR-24-000572)
DeCastro vs. State of Nevada (Appeal of March 2024 conviction)
https://www.clarkcountycourts.us (Use case: C-24-381730-A)
DeCastro vs. Evan McKnight, Defendants (Lawsuit against Ironton filed in Nevada state court)
https://www.clarkcountycourts.us (Use case: A-24-888450-C)
Rodgers v. Winfrey (Deboraugh Rodgers Federal Case)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66901243/rodgers-v-winfrey/
Dollarhide v. Dickens (Jason Dollarhide Federal Case)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64862375/dollarhide-v-dickens/
DeCastro vs. Abrams & Peter (Dismissed)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64946355/decastro-v-abrams/
DeCastro vs. Wagner (Ironton) (Dismissed)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63235878/decastro-v-wagner/
DeCastro vs. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department – APPEAL (Dismissed)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67693595/jose-decastro-v-lvmpd/
Wallace v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Dismissed)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67423252/wallace-v-las-vegas-metropolitan-police-department/
Maryland Peace Order by Collin Campbell (Closed)
https://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/casesearch/inquiry-search.jsp (Use case: D-09-CV-24-809545)
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