The police came to Mr. Pechonis’s door to arrest him. He did not resist in any way. Once he was in handcuffs the police proceeded to swarm his home without showing a search warrant. That kind of intimidation tactic is outrageous and arguably actionable.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor apparently agreed with Mr. Shea’s point enough to issue a restraining order against the State Police from taking any action against Ms. Jean until that and other arguments can be aired more fully.
Attorney Shea also commended a local Worcester TV station (Channel 3) for broadcasting a portion of the tape thereby seconding Ms. Jean’s actions in posting the tape to the Internet. There are reports that other Web sites have now posted the tape as well, but we can’t confirm that with links yet.
