Too Much Free Time

Too Much Free Time

by Mike Masnick





Man Busted For Speeding Via The Internet

from the photographs-and-the-internet dept

People often seem to think that if they got away with doing something illegal when it happened, they can write about it and show pictures online without anyone tracking them down. In the past, for example, we had stories of a woman arrested for indecent exposure after she posted photos of herself appearing nude at a bar and of the kids who were arrested after posting a video of them firebombing a warehouse. However, it still is a bit surprising to find out that someone got arrested for speeding in the same manner. Raekwon writes "A young Croat who posted a photograph of himself speeding on a motorbike on the Web was tracked down and fined by the police. The 28-year-old, identified only as D.M., took a photo of his speedometer showing 170 km (100 mph) on a back road in northern Croatia and then put it on the Web site of his local municipality. Police found him three days later." The article also notes that the police discovered his motorcycle was illegally imported and not registered. So, as a public service reminder, if you must do something stupid and illegal, please wait until after the statute of limitations to post images of it online. However, one of these days someone is going to claim that the photos were faked. Now, that will be an interesting case...

36 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. Speeding?

    by Anonymous of Course - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 10:15am

    A speed of 100mph isn't all that fast for
    a motorcycle. They should have given him
    a reward instead of a fine!

    How embarassing would that be.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 10:55am

    Just a hint for Reuters: 170 km/h (km is a distance) - journos...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. DURRRRRRRRRR...

    by WTF??? - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:04am

    Stupidity (unfortunately) is not a crime.

    You're free to go.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:07am

    hmmm...wonder if that would get 5th amendment coverage in the states...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Stupid is as stupid does

    by Topher3105 - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:08am

    God bless them each and every one of them.

    To the first post, I guess you top 200km/h on your motorbike every day. Sign you donor card recently? Although at those speeds, I doubt anything would be left of you to donate.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Uh yea...

    by Photoshop Guy - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:10am

    On the lies of what you mentioned at the end of the article... why doesn't anyone say the photos were altered? There's no way you could prove that they weren't and for the sake of the court case you could alter the picture and then make a psd that makes it look like you altered it to what it is now... wouldn't be too hard depending on what the picture is of and what needs to be altered. I'd even set my date back so the created on date of the psd file corresponds to the one on the original file... You'd have one hell of a time proving anything against that in court.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Re: Uh yea...

    by Photoshop Guy - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:11am

    sorry... not lies... lines... on the lines of... as in regarding... sorry ^.^

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Re: Uh yea...

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:17am

    well, depending on the crime being commited in the photo, i have a feeling it'll be most likely beyond the skills of the average "computer user" (i use the term loosely...).

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. Re:

    by Jorge - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:17am

    It would make sense that it would be protected against the 5th amendment. Also, the evidence was not seized with proper warrant or probable cause. Sounds like he would have a case against the state if it were in the USA

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Already been done.

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:21am

    "However, one of these days someone is going to claim that the photos were faked. Now, that will be an interesting case..."

    Already been done with R. Kelly.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. by STJ - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:21am

    Well, what you do is put up a test photo with something completly stupid. I have a 95 geo metro, 3 cylinder. Put a picture of it at 150 mph(which the highest it shows is like 90). See if anyone comes knocking.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Re: Re:

    by dork hunter - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:24am

    Nothing you said makes any sense at all.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:25am

    "hmmm...wonder if that would get 5th amendment coverage in the states..."

    No, it doesn't. The fifth amendment says that you do not have to incriminate yourself. However, you wave that right when you choose to incriminate yourself by posting the pictures online.

    Basically, the fifth amendment says that if you had the photos but kept them secret, you would never have to give them to the police if you didn't want to.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  14. by TurboEnzo - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 11:44am

    I heard awhile back about a police officer making a video of a street race he did against some kids, then posted it on the internet and got busted.

    Police arnt innocent either!!!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  15. now that everything is fixed in croatia...

    by croati - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:00pm

    dont the cops there have anything better to do? find some war criminals or something?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  16. Re: Stupid is as stupid does

    by Anonymous of Course - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    Sorry to let you down but no. I have however
    gone very very fast at Louden. I love my suicycle
    and never want to smash it up.

    I don't have a donor card, that's for fresh meat.

    I hope you've filled on out though, with the superior
    intellect you posses it would be a boon to science.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  17. Re:

    by Bruce - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:23pm

    km/h Kilometers per hour, you fucking idiot.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  18. Pictures...

    by Dan - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:25pm

    that's lame... Is his face the picture? Is the outstide street and environment also photographed speeding by at the same time? There's no way that will hold up in court. How petty are cops that they have to go after someone like that??? I can understand the firebombing arrest.....It shows them committing the crime....the picture described in the article shows a speedometer.... PETTY CRAP.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  19. Re: Police races kids

    by Dan - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:26pm

    But.....did he win the race?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  20. I doubt they would bother.

    by Rob - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:36pm

    They already have him with an unregistered, uninsured, and untitled vehicle which he hasn't paid any taxes on. If it doesn't meet state safety and emissions requirements, it gets even better.

    They have pretty strong circumstantial evidence for the speeding, but if it went to court, the prosecutor would still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the photo wasn't faked. They almost certainly can, but what's the point? They probably have enough on him to take his bike, take his license, fine him, and make him pay sales tax, excise tax, import tax, interest, and penalties.

    If he's a first offender and has a good lawyer, he may be allowed to plead to the speeding ticket and keep his license.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  21. Re:

    by @Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:45pm

    100 mph (m=miles is also a distance)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  22. by Count Porkula - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:47pm

    Topher3105, You obviously have no experience with motorcycles. My '05 R1 will get up to 200 km/h before you finish reading this sentence (7-8 seconds). In less than 1/8th mile - shorter than many freeway entrance ramps - these bikes can easily reach those speeds and be back down to 60 mph - safely. It is not unusual to hit these speeds - briefly - on a bike. These bikes are not as dangerous as you think. Other drivers are the problem 99.999% of the time.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  23. Re: Re:

    by Mikester - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 12:57pm

    km/h Kilometers per hour, you fucking idiot

    You're the idiot. Anonymous Coward was pointing out the mistake in the article, "170 km" should have been "170 km/h"

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  24. Re: km vs m

    by mAm - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 1:10pm

    yeah, kilometers are a measure of distance and so are miles
    so kilometers/hour is still a speed
    your point?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  25. check this url out

    by mAm - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 1:20pm

    http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/handcuff.asp

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  26. Count Porkula...

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 1:26pm

    "These bikes are not as dangerous as you think. Other drivers are the problem 99.999% of the time."

    Right. So the dead guy wiped across 400 yards of asphalt among scattered shards of steel and rubber can rest easy with the thought that it wasn't his bike, but the 2002 GMC Envoy that pulled out in front of him, that was dangerous.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  27. Other Drivers

    by Justin - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 1:47pm

    Yes, 99% of the time with any type of car it is someone elses mistake for the person on the bike/car to have a accident... I know

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  28. Re: Count Porkula...

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 1:47pm

    No.. He won't rest easy..

    He'll Rest In Peace.

    Big difference....

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  29. by Nobody - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 2:29pm

    If the guy is in a USA jurisdiction, then the 5th Amendment won't apply for reasons stated by others above.

    What will apply is the Corpus Delicti rule ("body of the crime" rule) of criminal prosecution in the USA. The CD rule simply says that an unsworn confession outside of court cannot be the sole basis of prosecution for a crime without any other extrinsic evidence that a crime was ever committed.

    If you tell police "I robbed the Main St. Bank yesterday", you can't be prosecuted for bank robbery unless some other evidence exists that the Main St. Bank was actually robbed yesterday.

    In this case the only evidence that speed law was even violated is the confession. Therefore no prosecution, at least in the USA.

    If someone else observed the incident and came forward, then a prosecution could occur, and the confession would be good evidence against the speeder guy.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  30. Re: Other Drivers

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 3:13pm

    "Yes, 99% of the time with any type of car it is someone elses mistake for the person on the bike/car to have a accident... I know"


    You're deluded. Unless it's a no-fault state, precisely 50% of the time it is someone else's mistake.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  31. by Tony - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 5:15pm

    " Its not the speed that will kill ya, it's the stoppin' "

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  32. Re: Re: Re:

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 6:59pm

    What you say is true, but it was pretty ambiguious the top parent.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  33. Re: I doubt they would bother.

    by Anonymous Coward - Jul 19th, 2006 @ 9:48pm

    emissions...in croatia?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  34. Re: Re: Count Porkula...

    by howard - Jul 20th, 2006 @ 12:36am

    He'll Rest In Peace.


    Pieces.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  35. Re:

    by Charles Griswold - Jul 20th, 2006 @ 11:18am

    In this case the only evidence that speed law was even violated is the confession. Therefore no prosecution, at least in the USA.


    To quote the article:

    The 28-year-old, identified only as D.M., took a photo of his speedometer showing 170 km (100 mph) on a back road in northern Croatia and then put it on the Web site of his local municipality.


    Sorry, but taking a picture of yourself comitting a crime and posting it on the internet goes a bit beyond mere "unsworn confession." He made an (implicit) public confession and then provided photographic evidence.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  36. Stop Speeding

    by eniram - Oct 31st, 2006 @ 7:51am

    There is a website in the US gathering data on speeders, which is freely available to police, or insurance companies. stopspeeding.com

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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