Videographer of alleged Melvin Jones beating could be charged with illegal wiretapping

Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011, 9:15 PM Updated: Thursday, August 11, 2011, 10:25 AM

By Stephanie Barry, The Republican

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanAttorney Jared Olanoff, left, speaks to the press as his client Melvin Jones III, of Springfield, looks on following his appearence in Springfield District Court for a pretrial conference Wednesday morning. He was arrested by four Springfield police officers on Nov. 27, and the arrest was caught on videotape.

SPRINGFIELD – The amateur videographer with the colorful vocabulary who memorialized the alleged 2009 police beating of Melvin Jones III during a traffic stop may be charged with illegal wiretapping.

One of four police officers disciplined for the incident on Nov. 27, 2009, Michael Sedergren, has filed an application for a criminal complaint against videographer Tyrisha Greene. Sedergren, who was suspended for 45 days, claims it was illegal for Greene to videotape him without his consent.

Greene made a 20-minute film that included Jones, who is black, being struck repeatedly by a white officer with a flashlight while a group of other white officers stood by without intervening. The video also included an expletive-filled commentary by Greene, 29, who sounded alarmed by the scene that unfolded on Rifle Street.

Police reports were that Jones, who had a criminal record, grabbed one of the officers' guns as they tried to arrest him. Jones disputed this and a Hampden County grand jury rejected allegations that Jones behaved aggressively toward police. Medical records show bones all over his face were broken and he was partially blinded in one eye.

Unedited video: Arrest of Melvin Jones III, November 27, 2009 Uncut video from the night of November 27, 2009. <b>WARNING:</b> Strong language.

The officer at the center of the controversy is now-retired patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, a lightning rod when he was on the police force with a past history of allegations of police brutality.

Asher was fired from the police force a day after he received a disability pension from the state. He also faces criminal charges in Chicopee District Court; his trial is pending.

Three other officers, including Sedergren, were disciplined in connection with the incident. Sedergren did not appeal his suspension but filed his own complaint against Greene in District Court in late July, alleging improper interception of wire and oral communication.

A so-called "show cause" hearing during which a clerk-magistrate will vet the alleged evidence against Greene is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Chicopee District Court.

Greene has been a reluctant witness, according to court records, and could not be reached for comment. However, her lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly, said Sedergren sought the complaint under a state law aimed at organized crime-fighting tactics.

"Even a cursory review of the law would show that the Legislature took the time to insert a preamble into the statute showing that it is specifically aimed at organized crime prosecutions," Kelly said. The law specifically prohibits secret audiotaping without a person's consent.

This is a Springfield Police Department booking photo of Melvin Jones III taken after he was allegedly beaten by four police officers last year.

Police Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Sedergren filed the complaint personally, not on behalf of the Police Department. "If officer Sedergren feels his rights were violated under the law then he has the opportunity to make his case in court, just like everyone else," Delaney said. A lawyer for Jones – who was charged with shoplifting, domestic battery and drug trafficking on separate occasions since the 2009 incident – contends Sedergren can be heard on Greene's videotape calling Jones a racial expletive. "They're really just trying to intimidate and silence her, but whether she's charged or not (the tape) can still be used in court," said attorney Shawn P. Allyn, who represents Jones in a civil rights lawsuit against the police in U.S. District Court.

Ann Lambert, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union's Boston office, said although the ACLU opposes a "big brother" society, the law is designed to combat secret audiotaping of conversations, not amateur videographers, which are rampant.

"Just the fact that you're unaware of it doesn't make it illegal," Lambert said. "It doesn't sound like there was anything secret about it at all."

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