DENVER — The attorney for a United Airlines pilot who was arrested last year for indecent exposure has filed a motion to dismiss the case citing “outrageous government misconduct.”
Captain Andrew Collins was arrested in September after authorities said he exposed himself to the public while staying at the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport.
Collins’ attorney Craig Silverman filed a motion to dismiss the charge in Denver District Court on Jan. 15 alleging “it is certainly not a crime to be naked in Denver in one’s lawful dwelling, which includes lawful occupancy of one’s own hotel room.”
According to a September probable cause statement by the Denver District Attorney’s Office, Collins opened the window to his hotel room and stood fully nude, exposing himself and his genitalia. Collins' room overlooked the hotel plaza and was in full view of the public, the statement says.
Before his arrest on September 20, 2018, Captain Collins had partially opened his hotel room’s curtains, which appeared to have a tinted composition that would prevent viewing inside the hotel window from the outside, according to the motion filed on behalf of Collins.
“Captain Collins was unaware of anybody observing him as he paced and conversed on his phone in what he thought was the privacy of his hotel room,” the motion says.
Body camera footage provided by the Denver Police Department shows officers arriving at Collins’ hotel door shortly before 11 a.m. that day with one officer saying “Sir we’re coming in with or without your permission, so open the door,” to which Collins obliged.
Officers then told Collins he was being arrested for indecent exposure and lewd acts.
“No probable cause warrant was obtained or produced authorizing entry into Captain Collins’ hotel room,” the motion said.
The motion also argues that witnesses chose not to press charges because they did not think Collins realized he was being observed.
“The Denver DA’s Office is harshly pursuing a charge of Indecent Exposure, an allegation which has caused Captain Collins to be suspended from flying, and a conviction for which a defendant may be sentenced to two years in jail and must register as a sex offender,” the motion states.
It was also noted in the motion that Captain Collins has never been in trouble with the law, and that he has three adult sons who are in the United States Air Force.
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