Charges in 1st paparazzi-law case tossed
LOS ANGELES — A California law aiming to crack down on reckless paparazzi has failed in its first legal test, as a judge threw out two charges against a photographer accused of chasing Justin Bieber on Highway 101 through the San Fernando Valley.
Paul Raef was the first person charged under the 2010 law, which Judge Thomas Rubinson of Los Angeles County Superior Court said was overly broad.
Delivering his ruling Wednesday in a Van Nuys courtroom, the judge said the law is problematic because it covers news-gathering activities protected by the First Amendment. He said lawmakers should simply have increased the penalties for reckless driving rather than targeting celebrity photographers.
Hypothetically, Rubinson said, wedding photographers or even photographers rushing to a portrait shoot with a celebrity could face additional penalties if charged under the new law.
Despite the two charges being dismissed, the 31-yearold Raef still faces misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and failing to obey a lawful order. Police said he didn’t pull over when an officer signaled him.
Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office, said lawyers there were considering an appeal. Prosecutors realize there is a “delicate balance between the First Amendment protections and public safety,” Mateljan said.
Appealing is a risk for the city attorney, because if Raef wins, the case would set precedent, said Raef’s lawyer, David Kestenbaum. As of now, the ruling applies only to Raef’s case.
Prosecutors said Raef, a freelance photographer, drove well over 80 mph as part of a “pack” of six vehicles chasing Bieber on July 6. The singer was easy to spot as he drove a chrome Fisker Karma, a hybrid sports car that costs more than $100,000.
Raef cut his Toyota RAV4 across lanes, drove on the shoulder and forced his way into lanes despite having no merge room, all of which led other drivers to brake or swerve, prosecutors said.
Kestenbaum said this should have been an ordinary traffic case all along, because reckless- driving laws already allow people to be held accountable for their behavior on the roads.
“You can’t single out a single part of society and say that person can be punished more because of what their occupation is,” Kestenbaum said.
The law makes it a separate crime, punishable by six months in jail and a $2,500 fine, to violate certain traffic laws “with the intent to capture any type of visual image, sound recording, and other physical impression of another person for a commercial purpose.”
On its own, reckless driving carries only 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The law “was written with input from entertainment law firms in Los Angeles, signed by a governor who used to be — or I guess now is again — an actor,” Kestenbaum said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law in 2010. It was sponsored by then-Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, now a Democratic member of Congress from Los Angeles.
The California Highway Patrol cited Bieber for speeding in the July 6 chase, which was reported by about a dozen witnesses, including Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine.
Zine said Bieber seemed to be going 100 mph, though the CHP charged him only with going 80.
Police said they tried to pull over both Raef and Bieber, but only Bieber stopped. He was cited for speeding and released.