FULL STORY — Only at Nikkiflixs
Christopher Sharp
Baltimore paid — and apologized — after officers deleted a citizen’s recordings.
What happened
On May 15, 2010, at Pimlico Race Course during the Preakness Stakes, Christopher Sharp recorded Baltimore police arresting and beating a female friend.
Officers seized his cell phone and deleted the videos he had recorded — along with personal videos of his young son — before returning the phone.
The lawsuit
Sharp v. Baltimore Police Department was filed August 31, 2011, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (Case No. 24C11005636), with First and Fourth Amendment claims over the seizure and destruction of his recordings. He was represented by the ACLU of Maryland and Wiley Rein, and the U.S. Department of Justice supported the right-to-record position in the case.
The outcome
The April 2014 settlement totaled $250,000: $25,000 in damages to Sharp and $225,000 reimbursing counsel’s fees and costs (Wiley Rein donated its fees to the ACLU of Maryland).
The department also issued a formal written apology, adopted a comprehensive new policy affirming the public’s First Amendment right to record officers and barring confiscation of phones for recording, and committed to training all officers within a year, with annual refreshers.
Sharp’s own footage does not survive — it was deleted by police, which is the heart of the case.
Sources
FULL STORY — ONLY AT NIKKIFLIXS · BUILD 152