Atlanta Settles Cell Phone Video Lawsuit

Marlon Kautz said he was trying to record Atlanta police doing their
jobs when they started yelling at him and snatched his camera. Its
something he'd done before for his group, CopWatch of East Atlanta.

"I was pretty scared," said Kautz. "I was trying to remain calm
because I know in a situation like this, the police are blatantly
breaking the law and violating my rights."

In April of 2010, Kautz saw police dogs searching for drugs at a
store in Little Five Points, so he got out his cell phone and pressed
record. But this time he got a confrontation he wasn't expecting.

"They told me that I wasn't allowed to record them and that I needed
to stop," said Kautz. "One officer took his hand and physically
grabbed the camera."

The video survived on the cell phone, but Kautz said it's terribly
corrupted because police almost ruined the video when they tried to erase it.

"If there hadn't been the video it would have been another case of my
word against a police officer," said Kautz.

So, Kautz sued and he won a $40,000 judgment from the city of Atlanta
. He said he hopes police will learn from their mistake.

"If you see police messing with someone on the street, take out your
phone and record what's going on. That really sends a message to
police that the people are paying attention to the work they are
doing and we want them to be on their best behavior and not violating
people's rights," said Kautz.

Atlanta police wouldn't go on camera to discuss the lawsuit but
released a statement to CBS Atlanta News.

"This matter was referred to our Office of Professional Standards for
investigation and all three officers were disciplined. Two of the
officers received oral admonishments for failing to take the
appropriate actions, and a third for failure to supervise. Commanders
have made it clear that Atlanta police officers in the field should
not interfere with a citizen's right to film them while they work in
public areas," said police spokeswoman Kimberly Maggart.

Kautz plans to spend some of his award on new camera equipment for
his CopWatch program.