A Coweta County man used police bodycam video in court to protest what he considered an unlawful arrest.
A disorderly conduct case against Karl McCarthy was dismissed after a judge learned the man was arrested while exercising his right of free speech, Channel 2 Action News reported.
The September arrest followed several days of protesting with a handmade sign outside a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop off Highway 16 in Newnan.
McCarthy was angry about poor service and expressed himself using an expletive on the sign, his attorney told the court.
The deputy’s bodycam video showed McCarthy offer to change the expletive on his sign, but instead he was arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing.
McCarthy was jailed, but the deputy later admitted he had no grounds to arrest the man.
The general manager of the Harley shop told Channel 2 the deputy was just trying to protect employees from an enraged man whose behavior inside the store was much more threatening.
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