Judge reverses ruling in Renton cartoon case

There’s been a legal reversal in the case regarding cartoons that lampoon city of Renton police. A judge has imposed a stay of his own ruling.

The city went to court, seeking a search warrant and the identity of the creator of the unflattering cartoon videos. A judge granted the request.

But now, the attorney for the anonymous person known as Mrfuddlesticks, has convinced the judge to stop the search. Harish Bharti says his client has done nothing criminal.

“The judge granted a stay to us which means the police cannot obtain the identity of the author because it is constitutionally protected video,” said Bharti.

The videos are critical of police and city administrators but the cartoons don’t name any person or even identify a city.

Bharti says the judge who signed off on the search warrant last month didn’t have information about possible conflicts of interest.

“If the judge had known the background information, I don’t know if he would be signing off on it, so my concern is that sometimes certain officers get carried away with the power they have,” said Bharti.

The city is trying to identify the cartoonist and bring a case of cyberstalking. Judge James Cayce is expected to review the case and his stay later this month.