SPPD, What the ? were you thinking?

Submitted by mplscrimewatch, buzz.mn contributor on Thu, 12/13/2007 - 11:36pm.

I have been following this story all day as it developed and it just gets worse and worse, for the cops that is.

First you have the case of Martin Treptow, a guy who was involved in a road rage incident with Landon Beard(he says unbenownst to him at the time) an off duty Robbinsdale Police Officer. The incident happened in Coon Rapids, off of the officers' patch. Treptow, who had his wife and two kids in the car at the time, has a concealed carry permit. Officer Beard tells a different story. For more details, there is this story in the local paper; 2nd amendment adovocate Joel Rosenberg's blog as well as at Shot in the Dark.

Next, you have a story surface which appears to attack the credibility of Mrs. Treptow as a witness. The story concerned a traffic incident involving Mrs. Treptow in St. Paul, 7 years ago.

When Fox 9 News Reporter Tom Lyden tried to investigate this story, his cell phone provider was served with an "administrative subpoena" for his records.

Now Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher has gotten involved, alleging that the affidavit used to get the records was falsified and raising the question of whether the Minnesota "shield" law which protects journalists from revealing confidential sources has been violated.

They always say, it's not the crime that gets ya, it's the coverup. Now we may have more than one crime and at least two coverups. And counting.

A couple of things: It

Submitted by abrothman on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 5:31pm.

A couple of things:

It appears that it was not an administrative subpoena, but a sealed warrant. That means a judge signed off on it.
Lyden went on quite a hunt for dirt on the witness, Mrs. Treptow, but not for information on, say, Officer Beard, the alleged aggressor.
Why? Could it be because Officer Beard is married to a Fox9 employee? Might not that little gem be worth mentioning from time to time?
Mrs. Treptow was a victim of domestic violence in a previous relationship. It appears that certain records of her otherwise-public past were indeed sealed by a court to protect her safety. WHERE IS THE NEWS VALUE in outing her?

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Thanks

Submitted by mplscrimewatch on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 6:01pm.

I had forgotten the piece of the puzzle about the Fox 9 employee. Yes, that makes this even more complicated. Didn't know about the sealed warrant, that sounds different from what was being said yesterday but maybe it was what Fletcher found out demanding answers and being sheriff, rather than being a blogger or even a reporter.

I am not a lawyer and I don't understand how messing with Treptow's reputation or his wifes' was meant to impact a Grand Jury process. The media/cops can try Treptow all they want, at the end of the day, the Grand Jury will decide if a crime has been committed and if so who committed it? Right? Or did I miss something from this complicated case?

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