Post by KC on Sept 1, 2006 0:00:52 GMT -5
Sept. 01, 2006 - The grass may be greener on the other side. But the key question for Craig Kenney is, "Who owns it?"
Specifically, who owns the grass that Web photographer Kenney stepped on in Chatterleigh Aug. 23 about 7:30 a.m.?
He has 90 days in jail and a $500 fine riding on the answer.
If the grass belongs to Baltimore Lutheran School, as a Baltimore County official says, county police had the right to arrest him - even if the 60-year-old Kenney claims he was singled out to intimidate neighbors protesting against the school.
He calls it "a clear case of harassment."
If the grass belongs to Baltimore County, as another county official claims, police shouldn't have touched him. He was within his rights.
In any case, Kenney was arrested by county police, taken to the Cockeysville Precinct in handcuffs, chained to a pipe and held in shackles for nearly an hour and a half before he was taken to Towson and charged with criminal trespass.
Four and a half hours after his arrest, he was released on his own recognizance, with an Oct. 2 court date.
At 7:30 Aug. 23, Kenney had been standing in front of Baltimore Lutheran on the east side of Concordia Drive trying to photograph about 25 neighbors spread out along the west side of the street quietly displaying protest signs.
If there had been a sidewalk in front of Baltimore Lutheran, Kenney wouldn't be looking at jail time and a fine. But there is no sidewalk and that's what complicates the situation.
Kenney is the freelance photographer for the Web site mounted by neighbors of the school opposed to the 27,000-square-foot tent the school recently erected and the impact that the rental of the tent and of the school's playing fields to outside groups will have on the neighborhood.
The demonstrators knew they were to stay off the grounds of the school. Knowing that could be an issue, Kenney says he purposely stayed on the curb after he crossed to the school side because "there was no question it belonged to Baltimore County," he said.
But he acknowledges that his feet "possibly" touched the turf.
He had in his pocket a copy of the Maryland statute - Maryland Transportation Code 21-506, on the Doctrine of Reciprocal Rights - that he felt allowed him to be there.
Kenney's version of what happened is that a police officer approached him and told him he could not be there, whereupon Kenney pulled the document out, and the officer said, "OK" and left.
Shortly afterward, two officers approached Kenney from the rear and one asked him, "Who are you with?"
"I'm working for some of the community members, taking pictures," Kenney replied.
"You are under arrest," the officer immediately said, and they handcuffed his hands behind his back and put him in a police car.
That was the sole communication he had with the police, said Kenney. "Trust me, if I had been told to leave, I would have left," he said. "Life is too short to be dragged off in handcuffs."
Of course, that is exactly what happened.
Police spokesman Bill Toohey offered a different version of the incident.
Toohey said he was told Kenney was asked to move three times before he was arrested, and that he was between two and five feet onto the school grass.
After making inquiries, police had been advised by the county that it was school property, Toohey said, and the officer was acting on that belief.
Although Baltimore Lutheran headmaster Randall Gast said he had nothing to do with Kenney's arrest, police were acting on Gast's request to keep demonstrators off school property.
Kenney pointed out last week that he was not a demonstrator.
"I was clearly a member of the press providing content to an Internet Web site," he said.
But the next day, a county official stated that the grass Kenney allegedly stood on belonged to the county, not the school, which means he was not trespassing.
"The county owns a 25-foot right-of-way on either side of the center line for the 24 feet of paving on the road," said Don Rascoe, deputy director of Permits and Development Management.
The charge would be dropped if that was true, Toohey acknowledged, but it will be up to the State's Attorney's Office to sort it out.
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=659&NewsID=743614&CategoryID=1840&show=localnews&om=1
Specifically, who owns the grass that Web photographer Kenney stepped on in Chatterleigh Aug. 23 about 7:30 a.m.?
He has 90 days in jail and a $500 fine riding on the answer.
If the grass belongs to Baltimore Lutheran School, as a Baltimore County official says, county police had the right to arrest him - even if the 60-year-old Kenney claims he was singled out to intimidate neighbors protesting against the school.
He calls it "a clear case of harassment."
If the grass belongs to Baltimore County, as another county official claims, police shouldn't have touched him. He was within his rights.
In any case, Kenney was arrested by county police, taken to the Cockeysville Precinct in handcuffs, chained to a pipe and held in shackles for nearly an hour and a half before he was taken to Towson and charged with criminal trespass.
Four and a half hours after his arrest, he was released on his own recognizance, with an Oct. 2 court date.
At 7:30 Aug. 23, Kenney had been standing in front of Baltimore Lutheran on the east side of Concordia Drive trying to photograph about 25 neighbors spread out along the west side of the street quietly displaying protest signs.
If there had been a sidewalk in front of Baltimore Lutheran, Kenney wouldn't be looking at jail time and a fine. But there is no sidewalk and that's what complicates the situation.
Kenney is the freelance photographer for the Web site mounted by neighbors of the school opposed to the 27,000-square-foot tent the school recently erected and the impact that the rental of the tent and of the school's playing fields to outside groups will have on the neighborhood.
The demonstrators knew they were to stay off the grounds of the school. Knowing that could be an issue, Kenney says he purposely stayed on the curb after he crossed to the school side because "there was no question it belonged to Baltimore County," he said.
But he acknowledges that his feet "possibly" touched the turf.
He had in his pocket a copy of the Maryland statute - Maryland Transportation Code 21-506, on the Doctrine of Reciprocal Rights - that he felt allowed him to be there.
Kenney's version of what happened is that a police officer approached him and told him he could not be there, whereupon Kenney pulled the document out, and the officer said, "OK" and left.
Shortly afterward, two officers approached Kenney from the rear and one asked him, "Who are you with?"
"I'm working for some of the community members, taking pictures," Kenney replied.
"You are under arrest," the officer immediately said, and they handcuffed his hands behind his back and put him in a police car.
That was the sole communication he had with the police, said Kenney. "Trust me, if I had been told to leave, I would have left," he said. "Life is too short to be dragged off in handcuffs."
Of course, that is exactly what happened.
Police spokesman Bill Toohey offered a different version of the incident.
Toohey said he was told Kenney was asked to move three times before he was arrested, and that he was between two and five feet onto the school grass.
After making inquiries, police had been advised by the county that it was school property, Toohey said, and the officer was acting on that belief.
Although Baltimore Lutheran headmaster Randall Gast said he had nothing to do with Kenney's arrest, police were acting on Gast's request to keep demonstrators off school property.
Kenney pointed out last week that he was not a demonstrator.
"I was clearly a member of the press providing content to an Internet Web site," he said.
But the next day, a county official stated that the grass Kenney allegedly stood on belonged to the county, not the school, which means he was not trespassing.
"The county owns a 25-foot right-of-way on either side of the center line for the 24 feet of paving on the road," said Don Rascoe, deputy director of Permits and Development Management.
The charge would be dropped if that was true, Toohey acknowledged, but it will be up to the State's Attorney's Office to sort it out.
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=659&NewsID=743614&CategoryID=1840&show=localnews&om=1