PA man cleared of felony charges
The major charges filed against Joseph Grabko, who is 18 years old and autistic, were dropped yesterday by Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr., according to today’s Patriot-News. Earlier this month, Grabko was charged with the unauthorized recording of a police officer’s conversation.
On June 8th, Grabko and his brother, 25-year-old Pete Grabko, came upon a fatal accident; Peter Grabko stopped to take photographs and was asked by police officers to stop, as the dead driver’s body was still in the car. Joseph Grabko began to record the ensuing conversation between his brother and a police officer and, when asked to hand over the tape recorder, refused. The Swatara Township (PA) police did not know of Joseph Grabko’s being autistic until after he had been arrested and charged with a felony, and the two young men’s mother contacted the police.
Grabko pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge before District Judge Michael Smith, who ordered him to pay a $25 fine, and all other charges were withdrawn, Marsico said.
Marsico said he consulted with Swatara Twp. police before dropping the charges. He considered the nature of Grabko’s violations, the harm caused by his actions and his disability, he said.
I am relieved that Joseph Grabko has been cleared of the charges.
I hope the police have learned something about autism.
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POSTED IN: Crime, Legal Issues
11 opinions for PA man cleared of felony charges
Laurentius
Jun 28, 2006 at 11:34 am
Just as well, I am not better myself, the other day there was an incident in our street where the riot squad were out to arrest a guy who had apparantly stabbed someone. Well I was out there with my video camera, until I got asked to stop filming by a WPC.
Yep it was a bit tactless to record the guy (who it seems had stabbed himself aswell) being ushered into an ambulance under police guard, but I tell you papparazi do worse and they are pros.
My worries round here would be more of whether the
guys mates would want to beat me up for filming or whether someone would nick my camera than what the “Polis” might do.
Brett
Jun 28, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I can’t help wondering what would have happened to Mr. Grabko if he hadn’t been autistic, if he were just a ‘regular’ citizen arrested for the same offense. Would the felony charges still have been reduced to a disorderly conduct charge in consideration of only “the nature of Grabko’s violations and the harm caused by his actions” if there were no ‘disability’ involved?
If so, then this makes sense. If not, does this mean we expect the legal system to provide special treatment for autistics who break the law?
I’ve written before about how law enforcement (and other first responders) need to be familiar with the communications challenges when interacting with autistics, but this question goes beyond that.
If an autistic person breaks the law, should they be subject to the same consequences as a non-autistic person?
laurentius
Jun 28, 2006 at 2:44 pm
well it depends whether the laws are just or not, and personally constitution notwithstanding I don’t reckon the USA is anywhere I would want to spend any time without diplomatic immunity and a private army.
Its not so much the law perhaps cos you inherited that from us, but the attitudes of law enforcement and the judiciary.
I refer you all to John Locke anyway, who was around before the fathers of the revolution, being grounded himself in the foregoing events of the English Civil War, which was somewhat more fractious, pernicios and pervading than your own.
Daisy
Jun 28, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Look into the book “Dangerous Encounters: Avoiding Perilous Situations with Autism”. It’s a great resource for parents, caregivers, and law enforcement. Its subtitle is “A streetwise guide for all emergency responders, retailers, and parents.”
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 29, 2006 at 6:43 am
Thanks for the book title, Daisy.
Brett, I want to take up your question more fully in a post—-could you send the links to where on 29marbles you wrote about law enforcement?
Laurentius, I gather our Founding Fathers (some of them) kept their Locke close by……. not that it’s not fractious and pernicious over here still…..
Brett
Jun 29, 2006 at 6:54 am
Kristina, I posted about it on 29 Marbles in Avoiding unfortunate situations: Autism and law enforcement.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 29, 2006 at 8:25 am
Thanks, Brett, I remember reading that—-
Brett
Jun 29, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Saw this quote on my Google homepage, thought it appropriate to the thread:
“The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.” — Frank Zappa
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 29, 2006 at 3:30 pm
This is off-topic but Jim was just talking to me about getting some Frank Zappa for Charlie to listen to in the car.
On topic, it has been helping Charlie to listen to music—esp. of a jazz and blues nature—in the car. We started to do this after I had to pull over a few weeks ago because Charlie was having a major tantrum. Someone driving by called the police and while they understood, it was very scarey.
Ian Parker
Jul 1, 2006 at 4:04 pm
“We started to do this after I had to pull over a few weeks ago because Charlie was having a major tantrum. Someone driving by called the police”
I’m a bit ambivalent on this one. On the one hand, in a world of Amber alerts it is gratifying to know that someone noticed and cared. On the other, you never know who will be responding and how they will react.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jul 1, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I still don’t know what I felt. I understand why someone called but the first question I was asked was “someone said someone seemed to be having an argument”—-the first thing I said was simply “my son has autism and he is having a tough day.” I have an autism magnet on my car and I think I need to get one of those stickers that says “autistic child in car.”
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