Fred Marlow IV thought his troubles with the law were over when the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office in September moved to dismiss a year-old criminal case stemming from an argument he had with Gresham police while video-recording them along a city street.

In November, the city of Gresham agreed to pay Marlow $7,500 to settle any civil claim he could have sought in civil court for alleged police brutality. Marlow suffered cuts and bruises during his arrest.

But within a few days of receiving the settlement check from the city, Marlow learned the prosecutor's office was reviving the criminal case against him. Last week, he was arraigned on misdemeanor charges of interfering with police and resisting arrest. Marlow pleaded not guilty and plans to go to trial in February or March.

'"Can you tell me how this is possible?" Marlow, 28, wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "They payed me to settle, and then they are trying to charge me with a crime again? I don't get this justice system."

Marlow's question was rhetorical. Marlow's attorney had already told him that despite the district attorney's initial decision to ask a judge to dismiss the case, the statute of limitations for prosecuting him hadn't run out.

Marlow's troubles began about 4 a.m. Sept. 2, 2014 -- when he was awakened by the sounds of what he describes as explosions and armed men in helmets and camouflage gear surrounding a house in the 2900 block of Northeast 23rd Street. Marlow, who lived nearby, says he had no idea what was going on, but he grabbed his iPad and began video-recording the action from across the street to document if something went wrong.

Marlow later posted his 1:21-minute video to YouTube. It has drawn more than 177,000 views.

It begins with one of the officers turning his attention toward Marlow, saying "Hey, go inside, you're going to be arrested for interfering. You understand?"

Marlow responds back: "No, I can be out here."

"You're interfering right now," the officer says.

"No, I'm, I'm, I'm, it's not past curfew," Marlow responds.

The officer again tells Marlow to leave and grabs at Marlow's iPad with his hand. A voice can be heard over a loudspeaker saying that the police are serving a search warrant. The voice says: "All neighbors, stay inside and away from windows."

After Marlow says "Hey, this is on iCloud," an officer tells Marlow: "You're under arrest, dude."

Marlow hired Lake Oswego attorney Craig T. Johnson to represent him.

"This case from the beginning was totally bogus," Johnson said.

Police were irritated with Marlow's video-recording even though he was standing a reasonable distance away on public property, the attorney said.

In June, state lawmakers passed House Bill 2704 after a series of people faced charges of interfering with police after they used their smartphones or other devices to record police. The bill clarifies Oregon law to specifically say that video-recording police from a public vantage point is legal. That's something the ACLU of Oregon and some cities have been saying all along.

Days after Marlow's arrest, police spokesman Det. John Rasmussen said Marlow was arrested for ignoring police commands to stay back and not because he was video-recording police.

Tom Cleary, the senior deputy district attorney who oversees misdemeanors, said his office doesn't prosecute members of the public for simply video-recording police from a safe vantage point. But it has filed criminal charges in cases in which the person creates a disturbance and is disrupting police activity, Cleary said.

Regarding Gresham's decision to pay Marlow, Cleary noted that the city is a separate government agency and his office doesn't have jurisdiction over it. Cleary said his office asked for dismissal of the original charges because an essential witness wasn't available.

Refiling the charges shouldn't come as a surprise, he said.

"Taking a look at this behavior, it is concerning not only for Mr. Marlow's safety, but for the safety of the community and the safety of the officers," Cleary said. "I think that needs to be addressed. ... It is important when a situation is unfolding that citizens follow the directions of police."

Johnson said his client has been through an ordeal -- a trial on the original charges was postponed five or six times because of problems with an ill prosecutor or lining up the schedules of police who were going to testify.

A judge approved the dismissal on Sept. 10 and the city sent him a $7,500 settlement check on Nov. 10.

But now, Johnson said, "we start all over again with this thing. It's a great expense and it's really a frivolous case. ... I see the DA's office and the police talk about lack of money, and they're dealing with this case like it's a murder case."

Marlow has set up a fundraising page to help him pay his legal fees. In the last round -- before the criminal charges were reinstated -- he raised $2,350.

-- Aimee Green

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