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Michael Picard
The seized camera kept recording — and caught the troopers inventing the charges.
What happened
On September 11, 2015, near a Connecticut State Police DUI checkpoint in West Hartford, Michael Picard held a sign warning motorists about the checkpoint, filmed, and lawfully open-carried a holstered pistol on a valid permit.
Trooper John Barone grabbed Picard’s camera, told him "it’s illegal to take my picture," and seized the camera and pistol. The seized camera kept recording while Barone, Master Sgt. Patrick Torneo, and Sgt. John Jacobi discussed inventing charges — "We gotta cover our ass" — and settled on tickets for reckless use of a highway by a pedestrian and creating a public disturbance, backed by what the lawsuit says was a fabricated story about motorist complaints.
Picard’s charges were dismissed, after more than a year. State Police internal affairs had exonerated the troopers.
The lawsuit
Picard v. Torneo et al., filed September 15, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (No. 3:16-cv-01564) with the ACLU of Connecticut, claimed First Amendment retaliation for his protest and recording, and an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment.
The outcome
In a settlement announced February 21, 2020, the State of Connecticut paid Picard $50,000 — roughly $1,800 for every minute he was detained, as the ACLU framed it. The settlement came after a federal court let the case proceed, despite the internal-affairs exoneration.
The video
The recording below — released by the ACLU of Connecticut — is the troopers’ own conversation, captured by the camera they seized.
Sources
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