Census worker Russell Haas has come to expect a little resistance when he goes door to door to count the residents of the rugged communities near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. He didn't expect to get arrested.
An attempt to get one resident, a county police officer, to fill out Census forms landed Haas in the back of a patrol car with a trespassing charge.
When the case goes to U.S. District Court on July 22, Hawaii County Deputy Prosecutor Roland Talon will argue that Haas overstepped his authority by opening the resident's unlocked fence, entering his property and refusing to leave until he had been asked several times.
"There were other measures that he could have taken which would not have risen to the level of him trespassing onto the property," Talon said in an interview.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Butrick claims Haas is protected by the U.S. Constitution for actions taken in his capacity as a federal employee. Butrick filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case.
http://cbs5.com/watercooler/Census.worker.arrested.2.1788642.html
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