UPDATE PLEASE SEE THE NEW FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE DIARY AFTER THE FLOP
Well as luck would have it someone filmed video (at the 1:26 to 1:38 mark) of me being escorted out of the bookstore by two police officers because of the false police call made by Phil Boyce which caused me to be falsely imprisoned (from a civil tort point of view) against my will for approximately 15 minutes.
And yes I will sue. Nobody has the right to call the police with bogus claims and try to use the police as your own personal Brownshirts.
The owner of Book Revue did absolutely nothing wrong. This needs to be made very clear. NEITHER DID THE police. I spoke with the book store owner today personally and he wants everyone to know the following:
"I would like to make our position at Book Revue clear as regards Sean Hannity, Marc Levin and the event here last Saturday night. Both of those gentlemen are welcome here.Always have been and always will be.So are Rosie O'Donnell, Jane Fonda and Cindy Sheehan. We are merchants. We sell books, we don't take political positions in our professional capacity as booksellers. Our personal political views are just that-personal. We are not in business to take sides and we certainly do not want to get caught in the crossfire. We provide a forum and we sell books. To my knowledge, no one on our staff made any comments about anyone on Saturday night.I have spoken to each of them and no comments were made. We are all aware that our personal politics are our own business and are not to mix our personal beliefs with our professional lives."
I personally think we need to admire people who don't bring their political views (whatever they are) to their businesses. This is a family owned bookstore with a stellar reputation and the fact that they are equally accommodating to Sean Hannity and Cindy Sheehan is something we all should accept, liberal or conservative.
First let me clear up some loose ends. We live in a society of laws and although street justice and raw emotions are a part of us, I remained respectful and very calm and cool under a tense, pressure filled situation. I'm my own harshest critic but I handled myself superbly, maturely, and lawfully.
Second, many of you asked, What did Dave accomplish? The answer is a million times more than I ever thought I could and I'm only getting started. Now almost all of the credit in the world goes to Phil Boyce for a braincramp meltdown but nevertheless, here is what I've accomplished so far.
A. I'm exposing Boyce and Hannity for their true colors.
B. I'm exposing the Hannity audience for their true colors.
C. The next time Faux News claims Democrats can't handle questions, we can all laugh because they are afraid of a 6 foot 3 oaf whose 30 pounds past his better days.
D. I have an iron clad claim against them which they caused by their utter stupidity, malice, and meanness.
Now here's what stupid would look like.
A. Trying to go back into the store after Boyce has committed the tort. Is it really worth it of me? Of course not.
B. Not reaching a gentleman's agreement with the store owner. The store owner did NOT kick me out. We just agreed mutually that I would not go back in that evening. The tort has already happened, why do anything to undermine it?
C. Not cooperating with the cops. The cops received a call and I was the subject of the complaint. They do NOT know at the time that it's a bogus phone call made by a Brownshirt trying to censor someone's speech. They do NOT know at the time that the store approved of my presence and that no one had asked me to leave. The cops had EVERY right to escort me out of the store to question me as humiliating as it was for me. They got the truth and I was let go.
The claim of false imprisonment.
I was detained against my will for 15 minutes because of Boyce, who was actually or apparently operating under the direction of Sean Hannity and WABC Radio. I had NO CHOICE to leave. False imprisonment can be for 5 seconds. In my case it was 15 minutes. It's a rock solid case.
Next, I don't believe in spray and pray legal theories. I stick to the claims I have, not the ones my raw emotions wish could be there. I do not get to decide whether Boyce should be arrested for I am not the police. I know the elements
Where I am at
- I have counsel within the firm I work for, am doing all the grunt work myself, and I'm gathering all my information, some of which I can't share with you because it's part of classified legal research. The tort of false imprisonment has a 1 yr statute of limitations in New York so I'm in no rush to file the summons and complaint and serve Hannity, Boyce, and WABC. The S + C will be filed on my timeline and they will be served on my timeline. You will all learn about it right after it happens (I promise) but not before. I have done a lot of the work that needs to be done. I will be thorough.
- Legal actions are different from political actions. There are damages involved for falsely imprisoning someone and humiliating them. Those are compensatory damages. I have an idea what they're worth here but in reality, that's up to a jury. There are also punitive damages and making bogus phone calls to police when the police could have been out there doing something else to protect the public is something our society wants to discourage. Only a jury can put a dollar figure on that.
- Legal actions involve reason. If the lawyers at WABC have brains and realize the situation, they may want to come to a reasonable and mutual conclusion to the matter. If we reach an agreement that's fair, I won't pursue it further. However, this is a unique case because it is very public already and going to get more public. 99.9% of the time you don't broadcast lawsuits or your legal intentions. Thus, the circumstances of a settlement could include creative solutions but from my point of view, it would also have to include some admission of wrongdoing/personal accountability on their part.
- Legal Offense Fund - I still have to think this through. I appreciate the support and suggestions but since I would actually do 95% of the legal work, this raises red flag ethics issues to me. I have to sort these out first and have yet to do so.
This is where we stand. I'll answer questions in the thread but I am working.