That’s why qualified immunity needs to be abolished now.

And when we get reviewed a finger is almost always pointed. The evidence is that the investigating officer was trying to do the complaint at a favor. The regular updates (even though supposedly not requested) reek. The reliance on the complainant’s investigator reeks. Further, in my life I have been told by three LE departments and a prosecutor the same thing about civil action pretty much removes the situation from criminal court.

So you’re claiming that they used good judgement? -- No, I’m not excusing them. Bad morals would suffice to explain, and bad morals are not a thing you want from anyone in ANY position of power.

@@Relkond Who are you directing that question to?

@@mattrondeau7466 I think Eric is in CA,, many of them are confused...

freezing bank accounts also issue, i think he can sue the depart for that as well

Was he actually arrested?

​@Kenny Phillips yes, he was booked at an Indiana jail but due to heart problems wasn't extradited to California but was told that he would be charged and be available to travel to California

Werefrog of Assyria, how is this a false arrest? the car was supposed to be completed in a year. 22:50 from 2017 to 2023 is how many years? also, the final payment from the buyer was for a completed car. when cops went to that shop, there were no completed cars there

​​@Gavno Nadoroge because the guy failed to pay for the car and thus got put at the bottom of the line. Are you stupid? He paid a deposit to get on the list, he didn't lay the complete amount when it was due.

did he sue for damages/losses?

This was the part of the story that bugged me also because I don’t think a sheriff could do that by themselves they would have to have a judge do it. How did this get past the judge? You would have to have been a judge in Indiana I would guess unless the man’s bank is in California.

This is how it works if you're a wealthy person in the US. You are self entitled and law enforcement kisses your a$$.

​@@dpcrnJudge attends the same country club - that is how it got past the judge.

This issue and others like it need the root problems addressed and funded . oversight ethics and accountability.

Its called Omerta; they learned it from the Mafia

That, and the ability to LIE under oath, are part of their 'training'.

That’s what the lawyers from the department and the union told them to say whenever they get handed a difficult question. You can’t lie. You can’t refuse to answer (unless you’re pleading the fifth). So what can you do? Well, legally they can’t try to force you to answer a question if you say you don’t remember what the answer is, so abuse tf outta the good ‘ole “I don’t recall” card if the answer would land you or the department in legal hotwater! 👌

You have to remember where they are from.

I used to live in Iowa, a state that allows cops to read prepared statements and police reports during examinations, and answer no other questions, after one too many cops couldn't keep their stories straight on the stand. The court is perfectly find with the police reading what they wrote at the time, and not answering any other questions posed by counsel, that aren't covered in their statements. Iowa's judges are basically telling its citizens, "the police lie so much that we needed to help them keep their lies straight."

We should all be glad tho that these cops didn't refer those funds to their Civil Asset Forfeiture friends.

There was a court order issued by a Kangaroo Kort.

Go crypto.

I think the buyer's pet assistant DA is the one that actually did the freezing. Which is probably why she didn't speak to the investigator.

😂

I tell tell buyer you just forfeited your purchase and any money put down on the car..

Sadly this is the nature of an unfettered capitalist society. If you have money you are above the law and or can make up laws to favor you. When people say the US is the best country in the world , I point to things like this . This should make normal citizens sick.

He filed two false police reports.

Officer so many Times making false statement and dangers of making false statement

Honestly, sounds like false reporting and lack of due diligence in verifying the complaint.

It’s scary and disgraceful to see the law be permitted to get twisted into whatever personal agendas one has, whether it’d be to sit on your ass all day or invent an excuse to retaliate against someone you have personal beef with, so long as the accusers offer “the correct” statements to get the results they want. Don’t like the political candidate a civilian is supporting with a sign on their front lawn? Wait outside their home until the civilian is physically present, arrest the civilian on the spot, then write an affidavit claiming the civilian was “threatening”, “combative”, “aggressive”, and “belligerent” as a way to obfuscate the _real_ reason why you arrested them and brought them before the judge. Then the judge would be inclined to go along with “the official” narrative and sentence the accused to jail for “threatening” an officer.

That’s is what is known in the business as lying.

They knew from the onset that they were wrong.

@@schmidtythekidd to paraphrase the movie Clear and Present Danger, "I have no recollection on that matter, Senator."

​@@jame3shook depends what the definition of is, is

Qualified Immunity.

@@JonBrounyeah :(

If I was the car builder I would return payments that had been made and refuse tovbuild the buyer a car.

​@@tonytrott6318 car "contractor"

​@@JonBroun Qualified immunity is for civil cases. It does not apply to criminal. It's also the most blatant "judicial activism" the court has seen, writing law from the bench.

But in the end, they still look complicit and incompetent.

But not in any way that sticks to them ​@@kg4gav

Either way they look bad

Qualified immunity…… gives government licenses to knowingly break laws and suspend rights…..

@@thomasmyers9128 While it could be argued that is how it is interpreted, that is not the purpose of Qualified Immunity. Qualified Immunity applies to mistakes, not knowingly breaking the law.

@@concernedcitizen1874 … totally agree…. Same with forfeit laws… it’s for drug dealers organized crime… anyone making money illegally…. I can’t count how many abuses Not little things like someone’s vehicle (5k to 75k)…. But cash… 150 to 200k(smaller amounts too the blue crooks aren’t picky) … and up…. 2 that come to mind… 1 was a 20 year vet… sold his house…,didn’t trust banks .. could easily prove, which he shouldn’t have too, didn’t matter, they wanted to play let’s make a deal… or you can sue us…. The other was a man (Indian) going to buy a little store… he owed several stores.. Zero criminal history…. Same “ let’s make a deal”…. Both were 6 figure sums… Never fails give them common sense uses of something and they abuse it …. and use it the way never intended… Qualified immunity was for accidental things As soon as they got court approval… they’ll knowingly stomp on peoples rights… I’ve seen many videos where they brag about it. That isn’t what it was meant for…. So time for it to go…. Good Samaritan Laws covers enough …. If your in L.E. You should know the constitution…. Bill of rights…. And main court cases about searching, seizures, stopping, detaining etc… it’s only your job… and how do you take an oath… if you don’t know… It’s that important of a job…. Act like it…

@@concernedcitizen1874 That's not how it's used, and it's quite clear, Steve has covered numerous such cases.

@@thomasmyers9128 Thankfully there are 4 states that outlawd asset forfeiture and the Supreme Court will be having hearings on it laer this year.

Quite common

And not just quite common, but historied. There is a reason why there is a cliche of the crooked sheriff siding with the murderous cattle baron. There is even a famous incident of a rich untouchable monster being shot by half the town, but there being not a single witness, all because the cops couldn't do a thing to him.

If this case didn’t have “Batmobile” or some other comic book reference, I would have clicked on another video and LOL’ed at whoever this guy is.

I think it became national news because of Steve Lehto.

It happens all the time, but since most are not the batmobile, "small businesses" & not wealthy clients, no one hears about em.

Have to make sure he can't pay his lawyer.

It's actually quite easy to do, all it takes is a warrant and banks have to comply immediately by federal law.

Just borrow a judges rubber stamp.

Corrupt Justice Dept & fellows involved ...seems born corrupt not fulfilling their Job Description

@@sittingindetroit9204 You mean call Rent-A -Judge.

who's Steve?

Also a civil rights violation, maybe multiple violations.

Yup...

No "evidence" of police corruption, government is not liable for incompetence......if the victim gets anything it will be for convenience of the government hoping it will go away.

@@sittingindetroit9204 Well, Leishman did a decent job of making a case that he was an idiot rather than a crook (under the direction of a crooked sheriff). While this is probably enough to raise reasonable doubt and skate on criminal charges, I think that a civil suit would stand a decent chance. AFIK batmobile guy hasn't filed a suit. I can hardly blame him if he has no faith that the system will help him.

If i was the builder i would cancel the deal ( provided he was smart enough to give the ability to do so inthe contracts ) Return the guy's money and never take business from him again. All those california law officers, prosecutors involved should be fired and banned from law enforcement and /or law practice.

My sweet summer child. I bet you believe that the US is a democracy as well.

@@ScamallDorcha Never crossed my mind, since I watch it from outside. And even though I was born in summer, I'm betting I was born long before you, yet Still I believe there is Justice in this world.

But the issue here is that the provider benchmarks were meaningless; as he would change the vehicles at will. A customer vehicle could be at 80% on Monday, and at 40% on Tuesday, yet the provider was asking (and accepting) money because the car production had reached a certain benchmark. Certainly a troubling business practice (the report describes it as 'bizantine'), unless it is not very carefully specified in the contract. So I understand the police and DAs thinking that it was worth researching it: - Your car is at 80%, give me money! - Here is the money, which one is my car? - Any of these could be (points to a lot of cars, all of them are well under 80% completion) - None of those is complete enough, where is MY car? - Well, you lost your turn and I sold the one I had for you to X (it turns out X has not received the car, either) I mean, there are issues on the sheriff part (the whole civil/criminal issue debate, the fact that the buyer had a more direct access to the sheriff) but I am not a big fan of the builder, either.

California sheriff should have tossed in a cell.

California has a track record of overreaching on all kinds of fronts. They have even went so far as to try and tax people that have moved out years earlier!

It's a moral hazard, as usual, if those involved are not held accountable.

California, by virtue of them being better than the rest of us hick states, has jurisdiction over most of the globe.😊

I don't understand why the California deputies arrested him. They were out of their jurisdiction and the local police did not have probable cause. Nor did they have a California warrant. The Logansport Police would be setting themselves up for a wrongful arrest if they arrested him. I just hope the Indiana builder deducts his costs from the buyer's deposit.

Except they are not obligated to protect him.

He can file in Indiana. He may also just add his costs to the price of the car. The buyer can then either pay the extra or forget his deposit.

I may be wrong, but I think the institute for justice is on his case

​@Schmidty the Kid we don't have a Justice system only a legal system

@@JohnS-il1dr that comment has layers

@@JohnS-il1dr We do have one. It's just that you spelled it wrong. It is the Just Us system.

It's not really the judge's fault. The search warrant was to find evidence of specific crimes. The judge wasn't to know that the evidence didn't exist.

What red flags? The judge was presented the case by the sheriff’s department which at the time alleged a fully assembled car had been given to one person over another. The judge does not have the defendant's story. The judge does not have the full case. Some sheriffs from California with warrants from California want to get warrants in Indiana. Other than a cursory check that the sheriffs were actually sheriffs on a case, the judge does not need to know any more.

@@minhduong1484 The judge should look at the testimony (affidavit) from whomever that applied for the warrant. If the story laid out, or the person's credibility isn't up to par, the warrant request should be rejected. They can hold hearings and demand more evidence or many other things. Sadly, most warrants simply get a glance over and are signed off regardless; the judge expects the (future) defense attorneys to find any issues. There's no consequences for judges that don't do their job. No accountability anywhere in the judicial system.

Two of you do not understand how the legal system works. One of the main tasks of the judicial branch of government is to scrutinize the actions of the executive branch. When a police officer applies for a warrant (search or arrest), they file an affidavit of probable cause. In that affidavit, the filing officer has to lay out what their pc for search or arrest is. It is a signed and sworn affidavit. I have submitted literally thousands in my career. One of the first things any reputable judge will do is ask several questions of the affiant as to how they arrived at this point- ESPECIALLY if it is an agency that has no jurisdiction in that area. In this case, the statement that was sworn contained false affirmations. In other words, they lied. (This can be further evidenced by the fact they doubled down on the car builder and threatened to arrest him and did not allow him to consult his attorney while they were searching his property) After there was return of service on that warrant and the facts came to light, the agency with jurisdiction in Indiana should have investigated those deputies. Understand that when they left their jurisdiction, they became ordinary citizens- warrants or not. They had no power to execute a search without the commissioning authority in Indiana. So, again I say, that should have waved huge red flags to that judge. And we see the truth here- some rich douchebag got upset because he didn't make his payment on time and got sent to the back of the line. He tried to get the city police in his hometown to press charges. They declined, along with the DA initially. Then he tried to file a suit and the case was dismissed. He threw a tantrum and went and got the sheriff, whom he had deposited money into his coffers, to go after the car builder. The sheriff, being the politician he is, obliged his donor and sent his goons to make this man's life hell. The judge that signed the warrant has power and responsibility to scrutinize affidavits brought to him/her before and after warrants are signed.

And I see the last comment before my reply. You are exactly right- most judges don't waste time with reading the affidavit. But, it is their responsibility. I can understand in cases where the judge has a rapport with the officer. I've gotten numerous phone warrants that way. However, that was after years of reputation building and solid testimony in their court.

"Who you know, not what you know...."

Greed

Bingo. Biggest organized crime family on the planet.

San Mateo is corrupt like most the Bay Area. These people can have it all but as soon as they don’t have to money to tell you what to do the world is over 👹

The actions of so many LEOs and the leadership of departments fit the definition of a Gang and should be treated as such by the citizens of our nation. Granted there are a few who try and do good, but become corrupted, pushed out or they seem to have an accident and die somehow

@@paulharvey1947 don’t forget to add the T word into that!

what you thought governments were fair to its people?

And who authorized the bank to freeze his account? Not to mention did he then have the money to pay his employees and his employees to be able to pay their bills that month while his account was frozen? And what other hardships did the idiot that froze his account cause. And did they find out why his entire account was frozen. And who authorizes the freezing of ones account? Is a judge involved in that? So many questions.......

Birds of a feather and all that.

Government corruption,waste and incompetence is a common thing once you take the blinders off.

The buyer refused to pay his due on schedule as required in the contract. Nor was he responding to emails. At that point he was moved down the list. When he finally answered and sent his money, the builder refused to move him back up the list. That is when he got all pissy. As I understand, he still hasn't paid the total amount owed on the car, only the stage amount.

A crucial detail - the buyer refused payment and did not reply to the maker for eight whole months before getting moved down the queue.

But not impatient enough to pay on time. He paid late, only when he lost his production allocation slot due to non-payment then tried to Karen it back, then escalated far past that when he didn't get his way.

Not only that but the buyer was told already it was a civil matter by the police and specifically it was a civil matter for a court in Indiana by a California court.

I doubt they will be as quick to work with California police from now on.

I certainly hope not.

You are giving the investigator the benefit of the doubt here. An understanding of the usual procedure suggests that there would have been at least an informal investigation, and an understanding of why the situation wasn't pursued by the police or local court. It seems likely that they went ahead with the case as a personal favor because strong-arm tactics usually work, regardless of the legality of the situation.

@@1djbecker Yeah, first step of an actual investigation would have been seeing what has already been attempted to rectify the issue. Skipping straight to making up affidavits and trying to act like you have grounds to search things is a blatant violation of due process.

I'd be OK with LEOs and government officials being held to the same standards we are.

More likely: Head of three different task forces, which generally means at least a decade of experience to get one, deftly utilizes the local criminal court system, but incompetently fails to investigate anything, openly discusses an undercover sting, etc. Or! Experienced cop does favor for megadonor pal of his boss to execute megadonor's desire to harass someone he's mad at over not getting preferential treatment from a business owner who dares not know who he is.

HINT: They didn't. They asked questions and the news reporters asked harder questions. That is why there was a report.

"Who are you?" "San Mateo Count Sheriffs" "And where is that?" "California" "GTFO my property :::slams door:::"

@@alanmcentee9457 These people were never punished, never removed, were never stopped, and they WILL do this again to other people. Just standing on a box saying "You're a Bad Man!" and waving your finger, is NOT "Standing up against Tyranny". No, standing up would be REMOVING all these people from their jobs, BANNING them from getting those jobs anywhere else, and if need be ARRESTING and putting TREASON Charges against them for daring to attack the General Public, who they serve, protect. Of, By, FOR the PEOPLE. Not THE GOVERNMENT.

​@@TalonPro they were there with a local warrant and the local sheriff department because the interaction was imterjurisdictional.

@@Jirodyne I agree with you except for the treason part. Treason has a pretty narrow constitutional definition which this does not fit. However, there are surely plenty of other criminal charges under which the public officials involved in this could be prosecuted. But I will be very surprised if this actually happens.

I think Leishman decided it was better to look incompetent than criminal. My guess is that what really happened is the sheriff told Leishman to nail the batmobile builder any way he could, then the sheriff threw Leishman under the bus when the SHTF.

And to think that this guy is now in charge of the county's narcotics task force. Yikes!

@@yankinwaoz Maybe he was sampling the evidence?

I was born in Walnut creek California, so do not take my comment as unhinged hate for cali. Do you expect them to do anything? I would be shocked if they did anything to anyone.

@@grbenway true, but it will never happen if people stop trying.

Not really. The Batmobile builder just deducts his costs from the buyer's deposit. Now the buyer can make a lawsuit in Indiana if he wants to. Then he can sit for depositions and explain why he wasn't answering his emails from the builder. He may not have caused all the problems, but it was his insistent pressing the issue that kept it going.

Qualified immunity will not allow them to be sued. Government officials cannot be held responsible for incompetence.

​@@sittingindetroit9204 Yeah I don't think you can get qualified immunity for operating outside the state in which you are a police officer, and qualified immunity doesn't protect police from everything. Just ask the mother of two who got a seven and a half million civil rights violation lawsuit win

@@sittingindetroit9204 use to be back in the 1990's when i lived in CA the first law in the CA penal code stated you can not break the law to enforce the law! don't know if they the state repealed it

@@aaronself2411 Can you name another case that gave precedence for the actions that these guys did? The mother can.....

He could be an adherent of a religion that discourages law suits, as the Mennonites do. He has a Germanic name that shows up only in small numbers in Pennsylvania and Indiana, so maybe that's the reason.

He would have to sue the buyer and might be able to name the sheriff and head investigator as parties.

​@@OmniscientWarrior unfortunately, the ex-sheriff and the deputy would likely get themselves excused by way of qualified immunity.

​@@MikeDCWeld they would likely just investigate themselves and find no wrong doing

He needn't worry about the length. Many U-tubers many longer ones weekly.

It's a moral issue already in my mind that we live in a society that Allows this to happen. This was no accident , no oopsie. This was a mean spirited rich buyer. Period.

@@davepirtle9790 Soon we will be required to address him as "My Lord" and avert our eyes in his presence.

...and that would be the tip of the iceberg. A six month investigation? Is that more in taxpayer dollars than the price tag on a replica Batmobile? How much is a lawsuit against the Sheriff and the DA gonna run?

Governmental incompetence at its best

"Given the opportunity" meaning if they don't they won't have a job ;)

Police can travel across state lines and retain jurisdiction sometimes, granted that's either following a active criminal in pursuit, or deputization by the local sheriff.... Clearly not relevant here, but if the cops had some belief from their superiors in communication with local law enforcementhad Got authority to be deputized for the jurisdiction, the individual officers could have been acting in good faith, the department as a hole no... But there is a hypothetical here where they are in the right as far as they know and as such are immune from direct consequences (excluding the superior)

@@jaykoerner but why four deputies...I had LEO family members who would fly cross country to bring violent felons back to our state for prosecution or jail. They usually went alone but biggest case, they would be two.

"If I take one more step, this is the furthest I've ever been from the Shire." Sam Gamgee

The problem I see is how often these coos spent other peoples money on their stupidity. I imagine they do that all the time to think this was a good idea

This, exactly. Just think back, for one example, to how Billy the Kid became an outlaw: a sheriff acting on behalf of one business interest murdered Billy’s boss who was a business competitor.

It was silly a 100 years ago. Its amazing how often rich elites used the courts to push their weight around in the 19th century.

That's because courts and legal systems are run by people. ordinary, every day people just with some extra or specialized training. Chaos and competition are unavoidable when human beings are involved.

@@dstarfire42 That doesn't mean people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions. Abuse of power is unjust and should not be tolerated in this country. Hold those responsible accountable for their actions. It's what happens to regular citizens every day.

I am reminded of the musical, "Eat Sh!t, Bob!" by John Oliver.

To be fair the seller maker of Batmobile likely has bad communication skills, bad written contracts, and maybe is jerk. I know some genius people who have no common sense. If you seem like crook that's a dumb way to be. Compare to having clear communication and clear contracts. If 10% of people refuse to be clear then they risk arrest. Just saying cops should be geniuses and detect if someone is just ahole or criminal is a hi demand of govt employees. I was govt employee. Humans are lazy dumb morons. So no the cops will never all act genius. . . .... The other tool is buyers investigate before sending money. It's not healthy for peolle to think they can send money with no investigation and then police will help undo their dumbness.. . . I'm not saying cops did great, saying they'll always be this way humans suck, and if you're a businessperson who let's confusion be how you operate you deserve to be arrested occasionally. Cops probably arrest 99% criminals, 1% innocent aholes, it's never gonna get better than that, US policing is better than past or say Italy or France, it'll never be better humans suck.... With tech now post2000 we could all just record every minute of discussion so defend ourselves, but we all are lazy so choose to risk 1 in 10000 chance a dumb cop will see us as worse than we are.... I'm just spitballing, but y'all are overestimating how humans will do good jobs. My doctor messes up, cops mess up, my contractor on house messed up, cops mess up, humans suck, to then demand cops be good is unlikely... My lord 1800s policing was awful, but now we expect good policing, so skip contracts or clearness..... Imagine sending money to a Chinese company and things go bad then daring to say I'm a smart man who investigated, no you're a lazy buyer who caused a mess .. yet with 2 americans we blame the police only .... . Or I'm wrong just throwing out ideas....

I bet you not only never heard of the Eleventh Amendment, you have no idea what Article Four of the Constitution is.

Paul welcome to the channel. The fact he is an attorney with his own network helps plus I suspect he subscribes to a service like lexis nexus or law search service that provide updates to all cases. I'd love to know what services he uses, I signed up for a test on one myself.

And that is the rest of the story????

I would suspect the local Police good 'ole boys and the local Court staff as the gossips... remember they had to have the locals involved to get the backup of Indiana law procedures.........

they dont do this. And in fact being arrested even if proven innocent can have a huge effect on your life

In my experience, arrests without convictions don't matter. I was arrested once and it's had no effect on my life at all.

The cops should have been fired for blabbing about why they were there.

The judge and ag should get reprimanded that issue the warrant in that state. The ag should have made a call to the California ag on the case first.