Remember this guy who was in his car reading a book in a gas station parking lot, waiting for a thunderstorm to pass? Officer John LaValley of the Athens-Clarke Police Department (Georgia) arrested him for not providing his ID just because the gas station clerk was worried that he had been in the gas station parking lot for too long. I did a video on it about 5 months ago. Well now that criminal case has gone to court, and the innocent guy who was arrested (John Choe) won. But it’s not over yet.
Details / Ruling: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com/2025/09/17/arrested-for-reading-a-book-during-a-thunderstorm-he-wins-in-court/
My prior video on this: https://youtu.be/GCLi4SFtBJM?si=z5Hq8xv0X6UJ4m4r
Athens-Clarke Police Department: https://www.accgov.com/200/Police
John Choe’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnChoe/videos
John Choe’s GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/c20db2c3c
John’s civil rights lawyer, Roland Mumford: http://www.mumford.law/
Roland’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UCYgusXH8mDlIAE9g3FQ5QPw
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#lawenforcement #bodycam #lawyer #police #law #legaleducation
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Details / Ruling: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com/2025/09/17/arrested-for-reading-a-book-during-a-thunderstorm-he-wins-in-court/
My prior video on this: https://youtu.be/GCLi4SFtBJM?si=z5Hq8xv0X6UJ4m4r
Athens-Clarke Police Department: https://www.accgov.com/200/Police
John Choe's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnChoe/videos
John Choe's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/c20db2c3c
John's civil rights lawyer, Roland Mumford: http://www.mumford.law/
Roland's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@@MUMFORDLAW
There are two other levels to the story that also applies to other cases like this— training in the prosecutors. If this police officer actually believes he was in the right then we have a serious training problem from senior leaders. Secondly, you have a prosecutor who’s willing to advance the case. Finally, now you have yet another citizen who had a piss poor encounter with the police versus a good encounter. The police officer could have simply checked on the individual had a conversation about what he’s doing. And the officer could’ve shaken his hand and said we’re just here to make sure everyone’s OK. It looks like you are. Have a good trip when it stops raining and you can drive safe safely.
Literally first thing said is that he can leave if they want … How you gonna trespass someone who is asking to leave??
Sad they don't believe in the constitution
A choe what do you call a Chinese lawyer 🤔 sue you 😅😅😅😅!!!!
If Voting actually made a difference they wouldn't let us do it.
That 20k to fight these battles will need to be spent in every county in every state on every topic.
Cops love to solicit a trespass warning that should be illegal
Sue the officer next, he should lose qualified immunity.
He was guilty of being from New York compounded by being not white with uppityness. He's lucky he didn't get aerated.
Man, I would've defended him for pennies up here in NY. I don't do this for the money anymore
If you take a break during a car ride, even if it's raining heavily, It's quite normal to rest at the gas station! I've been standing for 3 hours because i was so tired! Why is this person calling the police? This is not normal!!
Crazy AF the worker thinks the person has to come in the store and say something ?? Dumbass worker along with even more dumbass cops
He was arrested for contempt of cop…
They want his identity, and they are going to get it, and then arrest him because he didn't give it up right away…
Well, if now a gas station is calling on people in the parking lot, is not a "service station " anymore, we should "cancel them". Is sad to see police abusing power instead of using common sense.
Seldom do court findings filter there way down to the agency that made the arrest. So the officers continue to operate under the belief that what they did was legal. The flow of information is up the ladder of the criminal justice system, seldom is it down.
Nice to see racism is still alive and well in Georgia. The domestic terrorist and the gas station clerk cold see that man was Asian, so that meant he was not welcome there. That is how they want to make America great again.
not normal behaviour … oh the irony of that statement coming from someone demanding an ID for reading. Can't make it up..
I would have skipped the lawsuit. Any officer threatening me with arrest for constitutionally protected activity, is going to face instant justice via the second amendment, and state stand your ground statutes. Simple as that.
There is absolutely no way in hell I would begin to tolerate violations of state and federal law as well as violations of my constitutional rights. Absolutely no way.
She didn’t say trespass him just to have him leave so their lying to this man who already said if him being there was a issue he would leave so the police escalated this from the start and caused it.
A good cop after hearing what he said would’ve been makes sense okay well where are you headed and helped him.
Not say this isn’t normal.
I’ve driven from NY to Georgia and yes it’s a tiring drive especially in the pouring rain can’t see makes you more tired so yes it is normal !!
Officer Cavaliers looks like a dirt bag. I heard he allegedly hangs at the tip of a con Dom 😅
I hate when the cops go ahead and go oh your trespassing and you’re like I just got here though and they’re still like on that stuff. I hate that stuff that that stuff happens a lot here in Florida where they say oh your trespassing and then they just pretend like you’ve been trespassing when you’ve just gotten there That’s a very annoying thing they do in Florida
When cops ask you are you okay means they are planning to beat, rape and murder.
Crack!
Ya know there is a reasonable articulable suspicion when they just keeping saying ID!
I'm pretty sure they had his identification when they ran his Lexus's plates
My son said that cop touched his penis
WOW!
"it's not a normal behaviour"
Well dumb police officer. . . in this weather, this circumstances IT FUCKIN' IS NORMAL BEHAVIOUR
Protect that PENSION
Serve that EGO
I was told that they are hiring anyone who wants to be a cop because the smart people knows better to want to be cops in nowadays time. Leaving them with horrible people in law enforcement
Solicited a trespass, violated the guys freedom, and had a problem with where he was from, as if that had anything to do with it, and yet they will keep their jobs without any retraining, punishment or anything