Charges against Jo Scott Dismissed After Police Officer Lies Under Oath

In yet another feeble attempt to silence sidewalk counselors, on March 19, 2009 Planned Parenthood took these surveillance pictures of Ken and I in front of their abortuary at 7155 E.38th Ave., Denver , Co.

The following day, March 20th a squad car parked at the curb where I was sidewalk counseling and watched me for about thirty minutes at which time two more squad cars arrived at the scene. I was approached by one of the officers and told that I was going to be sited for “being in the street” on March 19th. The officers showed me the above pictures of my supposed infraction.

So, this is what happened. As Ken and I were getting into our van to leave Planned Parenthood when a woman with two small children stopped and told us that she was lost and asked for directions. We walked over to her car and Ken gave her directions. She drove away and we got into vehicle and left the area.

The Denver Code says, “Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway”. Ken and I were not walking anywhere except to help a young mother in distress.

In Denver traffic court the defendant is not allowed to get discovery until the day of the hearing. Discovery is the evidence that the state has against you. When I arrived at court I was asked if I was prepared for the hearing. I told the clerk that I was unable to prepare because I wasn’t provided with discovery. The clerk was sympathetic and said that it doesn’t make sense to her either. She allowed me to see the discovery at that time. Only the original ticket was provided in the discovery packet.

Judge Thompson advised me as to how the hearing would proceed, then called officer Rick Beall to the stand and placed him under oath. She asked questions to establish the date, time and place that the incident took place. Then the questioning was turned over to me. I asked the officer if there were pictures taken of the event and he answered yes. The judge interrupted the proceedings and ordered the officer to go get the pictures. Court was recessed until he returned.

Officer Beall returned with six photos, two of the day in question. Judge Thompson only admitted the two pictures taken on the 19th into evidence. The photos were given to me for review. I asked officer Beall if he was at Planned Parenthood on the day the pictures were taken. He testified that he was. I was stunned and repeated the question and again he answered yes. Every time I hear a police officer lie on the stand I’m totally blown away. You’d think that I’d be used to it by now. He was lying and I thought that if he would lie so easily, about something so simple to disprove, there was no sense in giving him the opportunity to further spin his tale. So I dismissed him.

Judge Thompson gave me time to testify. I told the judge that there was no officer at Planned Parenthood on the 19th and that I had witnesses in the room that could testify to that fact.

Judge Thompson called Terry Sullivan to the stand and placed him under oath. Terry told the court that he was not at Planned on the 19th but that he was there on the 20th and observed officer Beall issue the citation to me. At that point the Judge realized that it is stated on the ticket that it was served on the 20th and she dismissed the case because the state was unable to prove when the ticket was served.

So, is this much-a-do about nothing? I think not. I was found guilty of violating the bubble law just under a year ago. I was sentenced to six months in jail suspended with the stipulation that if I’m convicted of any crime in the year following the sentencing date I will go straight to jail. Today’s farce was initiated by Planned Parenthood in the hopes that the traffic violation would have triggered the six month sentence.

It was interesting to see just how many people in the court house knew about my case. A city attorney came and spoke with Terry Sullivan and he knew all about my tiny little traffic infraction, hmmm? An interpreter was needed for the case before mine. When that case was over the interpreter came over to me, gave me a hug and thanked me for standing for life. This is traffic court, how did she know who I am, hmmm? A swaggering homosexual walked in with a smug look on his face just to watch me go before the judge, hmmm? My case was the last case heard today.