Charlotte activist sues CMPD officer for defamation and calling them ‘anarchist’

A law student and activist has sued a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer for defamation, saying the incident resulted in them being punished with a higher bond in another state and being banned from the University of North Carolina’s campus.

Jamie Marsicano — a Charlotte activist and a student at UNC’s School of Law — says CMPD Maj. Brad Koch spoke with investigators in Georgia in March and referenced criminal charges that were previously brought against them during protests in Charlotte in 2020.

At the heart of the issue is a question of whether the criminal case was effectively expunged from Marsicano’s record. Their lawyer says it should have been automatically erased from court records under North Carolina’s Second Chance Act following prosecutors’ dismissal last year.

CMPD issued a statement Tuesday defending Koch, who has been with the department for 30 years. The department says at least one charge in criminal case does not appear to have been expunged.

Marsicano was an organizer for Charlotte Uprising, a group that led police brutality protests in 2020, and one of two activists who turned themselves in for charges related to the local protests over George Floyd’s killing by Minnesota police. CMPD charged them with assault on a government official, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

CMPD says while expungements were automatically applied to cases after Dec. 1 2021, this was not applied to charges dismissed before that date. The agency said some of the charges against Marsicano are still available in court records.

The Observer could not verify via court records whether the charges were expunged. Reporters found no trace of the assault on a law enforcement officer charge, indicating it may have been expunged.

In March, Marsicano was arrested during a “mass raid” in Atlanta under “dubious circumstances,” according to a draft of the lawsuit, shared with reporters this week.

Tim Emry, one of Marsicano’s lawyers, said they were attending a music festival in the Weelaunee Forest “Stop Cop City” when police officers arrested several people.

Those arrested were accused of vandalism and arson at a construction site a mile away from the music festival, according to reporting by Democracy Now. The Atlanta Police Department claims those arrested are accused of throwing bricks, flaming Molotov cocktails and fireworks at equipment and police, the Observer previously reported.

The evidence police used to arrest Marsicano was mud that stained their pants, Emry said. They were charged with domestic terrorism.

The lawsuit claims that the state of Georgia “vigorously sought” to keep Marsicano and others in jail and says prosecutors contacted CMPD to obtain information about Marsicano.

“Individually and as a CMPD official with access to police records, (Koch) proceeded to speak ill of plaintiff and fabricate a narrative about plaintiff’s character,” the lawsuit alleges.

Emry cites a public bond hearing in Georgia that quoted Koch as telling authorities Marsicano is “a known anarchist,” with a history of “violent confrontations with police officers,” making them “one million percent likely to commit future felonies.”

Koch referenced an expunged criminal charge when speaking with these investigators to paint Marsicano’s character in “a violent and twisted light,” the lawsuit claims.

CMPD officials refute this and say Marsicano’s charges were dismissed, not expunged, making criminal court records publicly available at the county clerk’s office.

The department confirmed Koch spoke with officials in Georgia about Marsicano, but said he had a right to do so.

“Even if the matter had been expunged, an expungement order does not prohibit an officer from speaking with another law enforcement agency about that officer’s independent recollection of the event,” CMPD said in a statement ahead of the lawsuit filing.

Prosecutors in Georgia used this information to oppose bond for Marsicano, Emry says. Marsciano was required to wear an ankle monitor and surrender their passport after being charged in Georgia. The lawsuit says they have suffered physical, mental and reputation harm.

“I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD since getting out of jail going through this,” Marsicano said at a press conference Wednesday. ”This is trauma that I’m gonna have to navigate for the rest of my life.”

Marsicano is asking for a jury trial and compensation for damages and for their attorney fees.

Expungement in N.C.

The lawsuit focuses on a claim that Koch in his capacity as a CMPD officer had knowledge and access to an expunged criminal charge and that he violated Marsicano’s rights by revealing this information to officials in Georgia.

The Observer has confirmed Marsicano’s 2020 Charlotte protest charge has been dismissed but was unable to verify via court records that the case was expunged.

An expungement removes a criminal conviction or a criminal charge from a person’s record and seals or destroys the court’s record of the arrest, charge, and/or conviction, according to an explanation by the North Carolina Judicial Branch.

Expungement law allows for some court officials, including judges, to access records related to the charge but it prohibits law enforcement from doing so except for employment and certification purposes.

As of Dec. 1, 2021, cases that are dismissed will automatically be expunged from a person’s record, according to state law. Prior to the change in law, a person had to petition the court to expunge these records.

The lawsuit refers to the dismissed criminal charge as the “2020 charge” and does not specify its exact nature. It says Koch was involved and that he elbowed and shoved Marsicano.

The Observer previously reported on protest-related arrests resulting from an incident captured on video, showing protesters wrestling with Koch on the ground. Marsicano was one of two activists who turned themselves in to CMPD after charges were filed.

Two years later, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney dismissed the charge, Emry says.

Because of the arrest in Georgia and Koch’s comments, Marsicano’s law school education has been interrupted and they were prohibited from returning to campus, Emry said.