United States v. Gileno
United States v. Gileno
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Gary A. Gileno was convicted after a bench trial of failure to comply with a lawful directive of a federal officer in violation of
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
A. Appellant
Appellant self-identifies as a citizen journalist. In this capacity, he attends public hearings, films the hearings using his video camera, and posts the recordings on his YouTube channel. Appellant believed he had a right to record these meetings under the Brown Act (Cal. Gov. §§ 54950-59463). He was also a part of the group, We the People Rising. On August 24, 2017, Appellant and other We the People Rising members went to the Courthouse to videotape the Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission hearing (Hearing) being held there.
B. CSOs
At the time of Appellant's arrest, Officer Kerry Tripp, who was employed by Inter-Con Security Services, was Lead CSO at the Courthouse. Officer Michael MacBean, Senior Lead CSO for the United States Marshals Service, Central District of California, supervised the Courthouse security. On August 24, 2017, he was the acting district supervisor and was requested to assist with security on that day.
C. Events Leading to Appellant's Arrest
1. The Security Line and Officer Tripp
Officer Tripp testified that a Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property sign was located at the entryway of the Courthouse.
Appellant then told Officer Tripp that he was attending the Hearing, where recordings were allowed because it was a Brown Act meeting.
Officer Tripp testified that the "PHOTOGRAPHS PROHIBITED" sign did not expressly prohibit bringing a camera into the Courthouse; however, photographs were not allowed and cameras and video recorders take photographs. Officer Tripp also testified he was not aware of any mandatory rule requiring CSOs to order members of the public to take cameras outside the Courthouse.
2. Officer MacBean
Appellant walked over to Officer MacBean at Officer MacBean's request. Appellant had his video camera out. Officer MacBean told Appellant three to four times to turn his camera off and that if he wanted to enter the Courthouse, he would have to put the video camera in his vehicle. At this point, security screening stopped because people were paying attention to Appellant, a crowd in the security line began to get involved, and Appellant's actions caused an obstruction of the entryway into the Courthouse. Appellant and Officers MacBean and Tripp all testified that Appellant then pointed his video camera in Officer MacBean's face, and Appellant admitted that he began recording Officer MacBean.
Officer MacBean testified that while individuals could bring devices, such as cellular phones that have video recording capability, into the Courthouse, CSOs instruct those individuals that they cannot record or videotape anything once they are inside the Courthouse. But the only reason to bring in a camera was to take photographs or video; therefore, there was no reason to bring it into the Courthouse.
D. Appellant's Witness Hvidston Brought in Her Video Camera.
Robin Hvidston, the director of We the People Rising, accompanied Appellant to the Courthouse on August 24, 2017 to attend and record the Hearing. Hvidston was ahead of Appellant in the security line. She gave her purse and video camera bag with a video camera inside to security to inspect. After security checked her belongings, she went straight to the Hearing. Security did not flag her camera, which was red. Hvidston sat in the front row of the Hearing and began recording the proceedings.
Appellant was found guilty of violating
II. LEGAL STANDARD
This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to
This Court reviews the magistrate judge's legal conclusions de novo and findings of fact for clear error. United States v. Rodriguez,
III. DISCUSSION
A. The Directive to Remove Appellant's Camera from the Courthouse was Lawful.
1. The Directive was not Unconstitutionally Overbroad.
Appellant contends the directive of Officers Tripp and MacBean to remove his camera from the Courthouse was unlawful because it was unconstitutionally overbroad. He maintains that because CSOs are not given a "foundational policy" regarding the scope of their discretion, CSOs have unfettered discretion to restrict expression and videotaping at public hearings.
Section 102-74.385 regulates both conduct and speech. U.S. v. Stansell,
*916Stansell,
In Stansell, Federal Protective Service officers arrested protesters at a federal building after they failed to comply with instructions to move away from the doorways of the building. Defendants appealed their convictions for violating § 101-20.304 (predecessor to § 102-74.385
Here, as in Stansell, the regulation, as applied to Appellant was not unconstitutional. While the Ninth Circuit EDP does not expressly ban stand-alone still or video cameras, it does expressly prohibit individuals from taking photographs or filming without prior approval. Officer MacBean testified that CSOs prohibited still and video cameras because their only function was to take photographs or video; therefore there was no reason to bring them into the Courthouse. The magistrate judge also noted that while no court was in session, judges and their staff were working in the Courthouse on that day. The CSOs had to ensure the safety and privacy of both the judges and staff and make sure they were not photographed or filmed without their consent. They did not have or exercise unfettered discretion.
2. The Directive was not Vague.
Appellant argues the directive was vague because the "PHOTOGRAPHS PROHIBITED" sign did not clearly convey that Appellant could not bring his camera into the Courthouse.
"Under the void-for-vagueness doctrine, a penal statute must 'define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.' " Id. at 615 (quoting Kolender v. Lawson,
The directive was reasonable given the circumstances and therefore was not vague. The magistrate judge properly found that Appellant was on notice that he could not bring in his camera. The "PHOTOGRAPHS PROHIBITED" sign should have at least signaled to Appellant that there were likely filming restrictions. Even if Appellant did not interpret the sign in that manner, however, CSOs told Appellant several times that cameras were prohibited. Appellant understood the CSOs' instructions, as is clear from Appellant's *917exchange with both CSOs regarding whether the Brown Act gave him the right to bring in his camera despite their directive.
Officers Tripp and MacBean did not arbitrarily or selectively enforce the camera prohibition. Officer Tripp testified that the security line began to back up because he had to continue to engage with Appellant. Appellant's witness Masonis testified there was a "commotion" surrounding Officer MacBean and Appellant. Appellant's, Officer Tripp's and Officer MacBean's testimony all corroborate Appellant was arrested after the CSOs told Appellant several times that photographs and cameras were prohibited in the Courthouse and after Appellant began recording Officer MacBean. (Even if the Brown Act had provided an exception, Appellant could not have thought he was permitted to photograph Officer MacBean.)
3. The Directive Prohibiting Cameras in the Courthouse did not Violate Appellant's Constitutional Rights.
Appellant argues that prohibiting cameras in the Courthouse deprived him of his constitutional right to film the Hearing. He maintains that under Leigh v. Salazar,
The Government contends that even if the Courthouse had been transformed into a limited public forum for the purposes of the Hearing, the rules against photography and filming were reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that were applied in a content-neutral manner.
The Court conducts an independent review of the facts as to issues arising under the First Amendment. Berger,
The government can restrict free speech on its property. The nature of the forum determines the extent to which the government can constrain free speech. Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Def. and Educ. Fund, Inc.,
Judicial and municipal complexes are not public fora. Sammartano v. First Judicial Dist. Court, in & for Cty. of Carson City,
*918Here, the camera prohibition was reasonable because ban served a legitimate security need.
The camera prohibition was also viewpoint neutral. Officers Tripp and MacBean testified that they always enforced the no camera and video camera prohibition. Officers Tripp or MacBean testified that they were not aware of Appellant's political beliefs. Neither party offered testimony or other evidence at trial that indicated there was any discussion related to politics. Both Appellant and the officers' testimony focused on their discussion regarding the camera prohibition and the Brown Act-nothing more.
Additionally, Appellant's access-to-film-government-proceedings argument under Salazar fails. In Salazar , the Circuit agreed with a photojournalist that she had a valid First Amendment claim when the government restricted her access to observe government horse round-ups. Salazar,
B. Preemption and the Brown Act.
Appellant argues that the CSOs' directive does not supersede the Brown Act under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because the purpose of the Brown Act is unrelated to the purpose of § 102-74.385. See U.S. Const. art. VI, cl.2.
The Government asserts that "by regulating activity on federal property, Congress appear[ed] to have intended on taking over that sphere and preempt any state legislation that would purport to govern conduct on federal property." The Court agrees.
In any event, under the Ninth Circuit Media policy, individuals can bring still or video cameras if they receive prior approval.
C. Appellant's Arrest Was Not Retaliatory
Appellant argues the directive was unlawful because it violated his Fourth Amendment right against retaliatory arrest. However, this is an appeal of a criminal conviction and a retaliatory arrest, or Bivens, claim is a civil action for damages. It is not an appropriate claim on this appeal. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics,
D. Mitigating Circumstances Considerations Do Not Apply to Convictions.
Courts consider mitigating circumstances when imposing a sentence, not when determining whether to convict a defendant. See
IV. CONCLUSION
Appellant's conviction and sentence for violating
A photo showing the sign and its location at the entryway was admitted.
A photo of the "PHOTOGRAPHY PROHIBITED" sign was admitted.
Appellant testified Officer Tripp immediately began yelling at him that Appellant could not bring his camera into the Courthouse.
On October 15, 2015, Appellant and another group member, Tressy Capps, went together to the Courthouse to attend a transportation meeting. Both Appellant and Capps testified that they began filming as they entered the Courthouse and none of the CSOs ordered them to turn their cameras off or put them away. Officer MacBean testified that the general policy and procedure regarding cameras and filming was the same in 2015 as it was in 2017. He inferred that because the video depicted CSOs allowing individuals to bypass security, a different photo and filming policy must have been in place on that day. The magistrate judge noted that Appellant did not offer any evidence to show what the camera and filming policies were on that particular day or whether the CSOs realized Appellant and Capps were filming.
Appellant's video recording of his exchange with Officer MacBean was admitted.
The magistrate judge admitted a photograph taken of the Hearing that captured Hvidston filming in the presence of more than one CSO.
The magistrate judge properly found Appellant's actions caused a disruption and security screening stopped to deal with the situation. Appellant's colleague Hvidston was allowed to reenter after she put her camera away, suggesting Appellant would also have been allowed to reenter the Courthouse had he complied.
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/uploads/news_media/camera.guidelines.pdf (retrieved Sept. 28, 2018).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Gary A. GILENO
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published