NEW HAVEN — The Federal Aviation Administration and a Clinton father and son were in court Wednesday for a hearing over whether the agency can force them to disclose information about drones shown in YouTube videos firing a gun and deploying a flame thrower in their backyard.
Austin Haughwout of Clinton and his father, Bret Haughwout, are refusing to comply with FAA subpoenas, saying it's none of their business.
"The FAA should not be in people's backyard. The FAA should be focused on making sure that airplanes aren't falling from the sky," said Mario Cerame, the Haughwout attorney.
Cerame says the subpoenas violate his clients' constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizures, and he questions the agency's authority to regulate recreational drones.
The FAA says the subpoenas are part of a legitimate investigation into potential violations of its regulations banning people from operating aircraft in a reckless manner.
An assistant U.S. attorney argued on Wednesday that the FAA regulates anything that is just above the surface of the ground, including hobby drones.
It seemed the judge was leaning towards the FAA. Judge Jeffrey Meyer said with what little bit we've seen on video, there appears to be reasonable grounds for the government to be concerned.
However, the elder Haughwout disagrees. "He's just an individual with a knack for engineering and he spent a lot of time while growing up building and playing with all kinds of different things," said Bret Haughwout.
Judge Meyer asked attorneys for both sides to issue any final questions or comments by next Monday and he said he expects to render a decision in this case sometime next week.
Two years ago, while flying a drone above Hammonasset Beach, a sunbathing woman came after Haughwout, claiming he was she didn't want to be recorded by the camera on the drone. She was later placed on probation for the assault.
The younger Haughwout was arrested last week on charges in connection with child pornography. These charges were a result of a nearly year-long investigation after police seized Haughwout's phone and other electronics after he allegedly assaulted cops as he was turning himself in for a traffic related arrest last July.
