Charges were dismissed Thursday against a man whose confrontation with an ABC officer outside a Fayetteville liquor store went viral on YouTube nearly two years ago and became known as the Arizona iced tea case.
Christopher Lamont Beatty, 28, of New York, was charged with trespassing and resisting a public officer after the incident at the ABC store on Morganton Road on April 27, 2013. Beatty refused to give the officer, who approached him in the parking lot, his can of Arizona brand iced tea.
On Thursday, Cumberland County District Court Judge Lou Olivera agreed with defense lawyer Allen Rogers' motion to dismiss the case based on a lack of reasonable suspicion for a stop.
Olivera ruled the stop was unconstitutional, and therefore, all evidence gathered from the stop was inadmissible. He referred to the legal metaphor "fruit of the poisonous tree," which is used to describe evidence obtained illegally according to law.
"I'm astounded this is finally over," said Beatty, a former staff sergeant with Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division.
The case had been repeatedly delayed over the last 18 months.
"There's an unfortunate culture in this community in relation to civil rights. Where a police officer, like Mr. (Rick) Libero, can order someone to hand over his can," Rogers said.
Beatty, who performs as a rapper under the name Xstravagant, was being videotaped for a music video in a parking lot outside the store, which is across from Cross Creek Mall.
The video of his arrest has since drawn more than 1.5 million views on YouTube. Some who viewed it questioned why Beatty was taken into custody, whether his constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure were violated, and whether he had been racially profiled. Beatty is black; ABC Officer Rick Libero, who arrested him, is white.
"I clearly disagree with the decision," Assistant District Attorney Charles Scott said. "It's (a reflection of) what's going on in many parts of the country. If you arrest or attempt to arrest people, there appears to be great anti-police sentiment in certain quarters." (how about some cheese with that whine, counselor?)
The video shows Beatty talking to the camera while holding the canned iced tea beverage. Libero approached him and asked to examine the can.
"I had reason to believe that it may (contain) alcohol," Libero said from the witness stand.
North Carolina law makes it illegal to have an open container of alcohol in public areas, such as the parking lot, and illegal to consume alcohol in those places.
Libero told the judge he was suspicious from the way Beatty was carrying the can.
"There was absolutely nothing but Officer Libero said he held the can in a suspicious manner," Rogers said.
Libero told Carol Hodges, a lawyer for the prosecution, that he asked the defendant if he could hold the can. "Mr. Beatty was still being evasive about the can," he said.
Rogers said his client held the can within six inches of Libero's face, and there was no evidence of a smell of alcohol. Neither was Beatty's speech slurred, he added.
"No more than a hunch," he said.
Beatty refused to hand it over, Libero said, and declined to depart the premises when he was told "multiple times" to go.
Libero stopped Beatty from going inside the ABC store and told him that he was trespassing, he testified.
"It was an investigative stop, your honor," Rogers said. "This is a former soldier, and there's no history of anything like that."
Afterward, out in the hallway, Rogers laughed as he tried to hand his client a can of Arizona iced tea as a joke.
Beatty declined, saying, "There's too many cops around here now."
Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at futchm@fayobserver.com or 486-3529.
