Times photographer pleads no contest to resisting police while covering Nancy Reagan’s funeral
A Los Angeles Times photographer pleaded no contest Wednesday to resisting and obstructing police while he was transmitting photographs of former First Lady Nancy Reagan’s funeral motorcade in Simi Valley in March.
Ricardo DeAratanha entered the plea on the misdemeanor count before Ventura County Superior Court Judge F. Dino Inumerable, who sentenced the photographer to 12 months of unsupervised probation and 16 hours of community service.
If he successfully completes probation, DeAratanha may request the conviction be expunged from his record.
Shortly before noon March 9 — the day the former first lady’s casket was taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for public viewing — a resident of a nearby neighborhood called police to report that a man was sitting in a parked car with the engine running and a tarp partly covering the vehicle, Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Gilman said.
A Simi Valley officer responded and questioned DeAratanha. He was using the tarp to block the sun so he could read the screen on his laptop computer as he transmitted his photos.
DeAratanha got out of his car to talk with the officer and provided his press credentials and driver’s license, Gilman said. The officer said he needed to authenticate the identification cards.
During the encounter, DeAratanha went back into his car several times, despite the officer’s requests that he not do so, Gilman said. Police handcuffed DeAratanha after he retrieved an electronic device from his car in “a very aggressive manner,” Gilman said.
The photographer’s attorney, Mark Werksman, said DeAratanha had removed his laptop from the car so that he could finish sending his photos on deadline while the officer verified his ID.
DeAratanha said in a statement to police that officers had targeted him because of his race. DeAratanha, who joined The Times in 1989, is Brazilian.
Gilman said there was no evidence that race or ethnicity played a role in the incident.
For more news in California, follow @MattHjourno.
ALSO
New evidence in teen’s death may set the man convicted of killing her free
Nation’s biggest healthcare fraud probe nets 301 people, including 22 in Southern California
Land around the San Andreas fault is rising and sinking, new earthquake research shows
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
