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Charges dismissed in Arizona Iced Tea arrest outside Fayetteville liquor store - Fayetteville Observer: Local News
Alright, this was unconstitutional... now what? Can we get to the bottom of why a guy dressed in normal clothes can arrest you just by saying he is a cop? If he had punched this guy out, would he have been defending himself or assaulting an officer? Is saying that he's an officer all it takes for someone to simply do as he says?
Charges were dismissed Thursday against a man whose confrontation with an ABC officer outside a Fayetteville liquor store went viral on YouTube nearly two years ago and became known as the Arizona iced tea case.
Christopher Lamont Beatty, 28, of New York, was charged with trespassing and resisting a public officer after the incident at the ABC store on Morganton Road on April 27, 2013. Beatty refused to give the officer, who approached him in the parking lot, his can of Arizona brand iced tea.
On Thursday, Cumberland County District Court Judge Lou Olivera agreed with defense lawyer Allen Rogers' motion to dismiss the case based on a lack of reasonable suspicion for a stop.
Olivera ruled the stop was unconstitutional, and therefore, all evidence gathered from the stop was inadmissible. He referred to the legal metaphor "fruit of the poisonous tree," which is used to describe evidence obtained illegally according to law.
"I'm astounded this is finally over," said Beatty, a former staff sergeant with Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division.
The case had been repeatedly delayed over the last 18 months.
Alright, this was unconstitutional... now what? Can we get to the bottom of why a guy dressed in normal clothes can arrest you just by saying he is a cop? If he had punched this guy out, would he have been defending himself or assaulting an officer? Is saying that he's an officer all it takes for someone to simply do as he says?