On April 16th, 2019, Officer Batson of the Louisville Metro Police Department initiated a traffic stop on 64year-old attorney Douglas Miller, alleging he was driving 76 mph in a 55 mph zone in Louisville, Kentucky. Notably, officer Batson failed to activate his bodywn camera at the beginning of the stop, meaning the initial moments of the interaction went undocumented. This lapse in recording may raise procedural concerns as many police departments, Louisville included, require body cameras to be activated during all law enforcement interactions. A policy reinforced by public accountability measures following Glick verse Kiff, which underscored the public's interest in transparency during police activity. Okay. I would never do that. Do you have your uh registration, your insurance? Yes. All [Applause] [Applause] right. 1086. I'll be out on soiety checks. [Applause] Do me a favor. Go and step on out for me. Yeah, if you want to. You lied to me. You lied to me. You have anything on you I need to know about? Drugs, guns, knives, the beer bottle under your seat. No, I don't have step on back here. We're going to do some filter soy checks right out here. Stand right there for me. I didn't know if you meant I passed. Okay, walk over to the front of my car. Just stand right there for me. You ever taken one of these before? No. Like I said, I've got one in my car. Like this one? No, it's it's an out the old out sensor. Yeah, this is the new and improved one. So, just going to be take a deep breath in. You're going to hold it for just a second. We do ask people, did I pass those tests? But if you're an attorney, you know, it's not a pass mail test. You have shown some clues of impairment, right? How long have you been on the course? 10 years. Are you going to do this or not? You want me to do? It's your choice. I don't know. Are you willing to do this or not? What are you going to do if I say no? Are you going to risk it? I have no idea. I mean, I've already seen the bottle under your seat that you told me wasn't in there that you were hiding when you were driving, which is tampering with physical evidence, which is a felony. Go ahead and turn around for me. Put your hands back my Look, I'll do I'll do your test. I'll do your test. I I'll take your test. Get on the ground. Roll over right now. 11:35. Start me a car. One fighting. Roll over on your stomach now. Now. You're under arrest. I got you. Get on the ground. Put your hand behind your back right now. I'm not struggling. Put your hand behind your back. Put your hand behind your back. Okay. Put your hand behind your back. You're holding my hand. Roll on your stomach right now. Okay. So, yes. At this point, you are under arrest. And I told you that before. Now you got resisting. Oh my god. Stay right there. All right. I'm not going anywhere. Oh jeez. 11:35. Start. Tell me this is a dream. Tell me this is a dream. Oh, you bloody my nose. Just stay there. I'm not going anywhere. Quit cleaning up. You got blood. You bloodied my nose. Oh god. Oh god. Please save me. Save me. I'm not going anywhere. You don't have on me. Yes, I do. You haven't been compliant the whole time. Please. You're hurting me. Stay there. Please. You're really hurting [Applause] me. Oh god. Please. Please stop. Stop. Quit moving. Stop resisting. I'm not resisting. You're killing me. He's already cuffed. He needs to go in a car. Okay. I I'm already coughed. Oh, please stop it. Okay. Oh, please stop. Just relax. God almighty. Do not move until I tell you to. Okay. I'm not I'm not Oh. Oh my god. You don't have a bad seat, do you? Can I stand up? Nope. Just sit tight, man. I told you I'm filming. I'm not doing any Where are you? Quit moving. Don't need to be checked out. Be right back. Quit moving. No, I just burps. He just needs to go in a car. What's that? He needs to go in somebody's car. All right, roll over to my side. There you go. After stopping Mr. Miller, Officer Batson had him perform sobriety tests and then asked for a breath test. When Miller didn't immediately agree, Batson ordered him to turn around. Although Miller said he would take the test, Batson grabbed him, threw him against the car, and took him to the ground. He placed his hand around Miller's neck while calling for backup, falsely claiming Miller was resisting. A tow truck driver arrived and helped handcuff Miller. Despite Miller not fighting back, Batson pinned him down with a forearm to the neck. When another officer arrived, he pressed his knee onto Miller's neck. Body cam footage shows Miller was not resisting during this time. In his report, Batson claimed Miller pulled away and tried to walk off. He admitted using strikes and pressure techniques, but did not mention grabbing Miller's throat. His supervisor backed this version, labeling Miller's behavior as active aggression, which the department defines as a real and immediate threat. Yet, the video doesn't support that claim. In a later interview, Batson repeated that Miller was resisting and denied choking him, saying his hand was on the chest, not the neck. However, the video clearly shows his hand around Miller's throat. According to the US Supreme Court Graham v. Connor, 1989, officers can only use force that is reasonable based on what's actually happening, not what they claim later. In this case, the footage tells a very different story from the officer's reports. Uh, no. The second car. Ow. Oh, God. You're killing me. God almighty. Go and have a seat for me. No. This is the 93. [Music] Just make sure you keep your camera on with him. So, we're good. Perfect. Just wait on EMS and we'll get him down to the book. Thank you. [Music] He's an attorney. He's an attorney. Yeah. My camera's on. Yeah. Can you write a tow slip? Yeah. So they can get that car you out of here. Uh Sergeant Keller should be on his way. Okay. Cuz we're going to have to do paperwork on him. Oh yeah. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can or will against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with an attorney prior to and during any questioning. If you choose to answer any questions or make any statements, you can stop at any time. Do you understand your rights? Okay. Thank you. I uh I just meanded him, so we're good. Whatever he says now. Beautiful. Thank you. You good? Yeah, I'm good. out. Okay. Yeah, we got to do an air on him. Good. He's bleeding and well, he's being charged resisting, too. So, good. He's been burning, so Oh, great. So, what the hell happened to you? We ended up down there. He didn't want to go in cuss. Is the car being towed his or is that something else? Uh, that's his. Okay. Yep. All right, man. Well, I'll hang here till Keller gets here with him. Yeah. But yeah, we're going to have to do an error on him because he's got some cuts and everything on his face and teller's going to handle that. Closed hand strikes and all that. Yeah. Yeah. Officer Batson acknowledged he'd need to file a report after using force, including punches that injured Mr. Miller. LMPD policy states officers must only use force that is reasonable, and choke holds are banned unless deadly force is justified. Deadly force is only allowed when there's an immediate threat of serious harm or when stopping a violent felony suspect. In this case, Miller was unarmed, not threatening, and didn't resist, making Batson's actions likely a violation of policy. As I mentioned before, under Graham vers Connor, excessive force is judged by whether a reasonable officer would act the same based on the crime's severity, threat level, and resistance. Since Miller was stopped for a minor offense and didn't fight back, a court could find the force used against him unconstitutional. Sergeant Keller later backed Batson's version, despite the body cam footage suggesting otherwise. I'm going to need my camera, so might as well get it. You okay? Uh he he's being charged resisting. Um closed hand strikes to the head. Um he's got some cuts on his face. Yeah. He's an attorney. Oh, is he? Yeah. He says he is anyway. I I don't know him. Yeah. But anyway, I stopped him for speeding. Okay. He's hiding a beer bottle under the seat when I get up there. Right. For some unknown reason, just bone dry and he said he' been drinking, did SFSTs, uh starts playing games on the PBT, you know, I'm like finally just Okay, forget about it. you're under arrest. Go to cuff him. He pulls away. All right. Take him to the ground and he's still just trying to not give me his hands. Get up, stand up, roll over, you know. So, all right. Couple uh I think a knee to the body and couple strikes at the head. But I think the cuts came from falling to the ground. Yeah. Falling to the ground here. All right. Well, I'll get pictures of him, get pictures of you before it gets dark. I'd like to snap a picture of the car. Okay. All right. I'll do the car first. First, I'll work my way back just in case they take off with the car. [Music] Let me do your hands. All right. Did K9 have to have to help you get him cuffed? He's already cuffed when I got here. All right, I got you. All right. Yeah, you helped me. Did really? Yeah. Yeah. He came and sat on me and dropped my cuffs. Really? I need to get his information then. Thanks. We get him out and get him pictures. What's that? Get him out and get pictures of him. [Music] All right. Would you like to go to the hospital or not? I don't I don't know. I'm an attorney. I'm not going anywhere. What? Well, you should have You should have got handcuffed the right way then. Huh? You should have got with the program and got a handcuff the right way then if you're not going anywhere. You already resisted. You already resisted. So, you weren't here. No, but I trust my officer. You want to loosen this up? Especially when when you're intoxicated and he's not. Have you ever been arrested? No. Have you ever been in handcuffs? No. Okay. Well, that's how they feel. Okay. It's not killing you. Check this video. We're going to watch it. We're going to see it. I'm telling you. Well, you're intoxicated. Want to bet? Huh? You want a bench? So, you're not intoxicated. You haven't had anything to drink. That's what you're saying. I didn't say I wouldn't have something to drink. Okay. Well, I didn't say you were drunk. I said you're intoxicated. No, I can tell you are. I smell it. We'll see. We'll see. So, you haven't had anything to drink? I didn't say that. What did you say? You said you weren't under the influence. One drink is under the influence. Really? Where's it written at? You're a lawyer. You tell me. I know what the law is. Okay. You feel a little better now? Yes. All right. Good. Now, would you like to go to the hospital or not? [Applause] I don't I don't think I need to go to the hospital. You don't think you need to go to the hospital? No, I don't. Okay. All right. Hang tight. Hang tight. All right. Turn and face the police car, please. Thank you. All right. So, other than your face, do you have any other complaints of pain? Just my wrist. Your wrist from the handcuffs or the wrist from what happened? Handcuffs. Handcuffs. Okay. All right. You sure you're okay? I mean, you okay? All right. Hang in there. Okay. Have a seat back in there for us, please. Mr. Miller took both breath and blood tests. Both showed he was under the legal alcohol limit. He later revealed he suffered serious injuries, including a ruptured artery in his leg that left him unable to walk for weeks along with bruises and black eyes. Despite this, Miller was charged with DUI, resisting arrest and other offenses. He later pleaded guilty only to speeding and all other charges were dismissed. While the criminal case was still ongoing, he filed a civil lawsuit which is still pending. Sergeant Keller and other supervisors supported Officer Batson's actions, claiming he followed policy. However, body cam footage and Miller's condition suggested otherwise. In 2023, the Department of Justice found that the Louisville Metro Police Department had a pattern of excessive force and poor accountability. The DOJ specifically cited Miller's case as an example of unjustified neck restraints used when he was already handcuffed and not resisting. The report criticized not only the officers involved, but also LMPD's lack of oversight, showing that force incidents were often poorly reviewed or covered up. In response, the city entered a court enforced agreement with the DOJ to reform its policies. These changes included banning prolonged pressure on the neck and stricter rules for reporting and reviewing force. Miller's arrest reflects the broader failures the DOJ uncovered, unjustified violence, ignored evidence, and a system that protects officers instead of the public. On January 8th, 2024, law student Joel Martinez in Anthony, Texas, lost his keys in a junkyard, and was working with a locksmith to gain entry to his vehicle when he was approached by a deputy with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. He refused to provide it, stating that he was not legally obligated to do so. At that point, he informed the officer that he was a law student, likely indicating his understanding of his rights and the law. Hello. How you doing, brother? Doing good. All right. Right. Uh, I lost the keys in the junkyard over there. Okay. So, I called them to come and get the to come open the gate. No, the key. No, the car. The car is the one that lost the keys. Oh, like you went into the property and you dropped the keys. Yeah. Uh, I was in there doing, you know, like regular junkyard stuff looking for my parts. Uh, when I was leaving is when I found out they didn't have my keys. They let me go in, look for them all over the 30 acres of cars they have. Okay. Didn't find them. So, they just grabbed the tractor and moved it moved the car outside so I could cause them blocks. That's for Yeah, cuz we got a call with a a gentleman with your description. That's why on the property. Were you the only one on there? Yeah. Well, I was here and the car was closed so I couldn't get out. So, let me understand. Is this car's yours? I just bought it. You already bought it? Yeah. Okay. But they closed the gate behind you or what? Yeah, they they just move the car here and they close the gate. Okay. What's your last name, brother? Uh, just Martinez. I'm sorry. Uh, I don't want to give any I didn't find any information. I'll just give you my first name. H. Well, I need your info, man, cuz I'm talking to you, brother, cuz you're the person that they called on. So, I'm not going to give my information right now. Okay. Why not? I'm just asking you because you're the person they called on. I I need to find out who you are. And you're telling me one thing. So, I got to call the property manager and ask him that if they were the ones that allowed you on the property. Yeah, that's that's the investigation. Yeah. Yeah. So, I need your name, brother. You could just call the the property man and and I do. You mind if I see it? I do. Okay. Why is that, brother? I I'm not legally provided to give you the full name. I'll just just leave it at the last name. Bro, since I'm investigating what's going on in this property and you're the one that matches the description, I need to know who I'm talking to. You know, if if you want to take this further, you want to complain, you want to whatever. If you fail to ID yourself, I'm asking you lawfully to see who you are. If you want to impair my my my investigation, that's fine. That's on you. Okay? But I don't think you want to take it to that extent, brother. For giving me your name and date of birth, okay? So, I'm going to warn you now. I'm going to warn you now, brother. You don't give me your ID or your full name, I'm going to arrest you for failure to ID. Okay? Cuz this is I'm investigating, brother. That's all I'm doing. Okay. Okay. Okay. All I need is your name and date of birth, brother. That's it. I'm not asking you. I'm not And I'm a law student in here too. So I'm not asking you for blood stamp on investigation. Paul calls are not are not reasonable articulable suspicion to suspect a crime under Florida versus J. But I'm not here to argue with you. I'm not here to argue. I'm here to defend my right. So I'm asking for and it's not impeding your investigation cuz it's not a physical or it doesn't or it doesn't my ID doesn't you're in law school. You're a law student. Yes, sir. Now you're making it bigger than it is because all I'm asking is for your name and date of birth. Dude, you you have to identify yourself, man. Like you're making Texas is more, like you said, all you got is your neighborhood. You're making this bigger than it is, brother. That's okay. We go on our way, man. All I have is Martinez. Okay. My name is not going to help you in your investigation, first of all. Yeah, but I made contact with you. Contact is not enough reasonable suspicion for you to identification. You're not being placed on arrest or anything, brother. Okay. I'm investigating. Okay. Okay. But are you asking for my identification or I'm asking you for an even date of birth? That's all I'm asking for. Asking right. That's it, brother. I'll don't answer questions. What's going to happen is, dude, I'm gonna place you under arrest for failure ID. Okay? And that's going to be on you, not you, brother. Already said that he's going to be under arrest. Yes. If I don't give you, brother, despite this, the deputy continued to insist, eventually attempting to arrest Martinez. The situation quickly escalated when the deputy accused Martinez of failing to identify himself. Martinez maintained that he was not under arrest and that the deputy had no probable cause to demand his identification. The officer's insistence on arresting Martinez, despite his clear legal standing, raised questions about the legality of the entire encounter. The deputies proceeded to search Martinez's vehicle without his consent, a move that may have violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The search was justified by the officers as an inventory search, a practice permitted when vehicles are impounded. I'm going to read your Miranda car so we can impound it. Yeah, it seems he just purchased it. No, no, you're staying right there cuz you went in my unit. All right, go and take a second there. First time on the back of the car, man. You see you're a lawsuit and bro, you'll see when we get to the station. You'll see when you get to the station. That was in his wallet. Yeah. Impound it. Yeah. Impound the vehicle. It's his. So he can tell this guy to take off. He doesn't need a beer. All right, Mr. Martinez, before we go to the station, I'm going to read your rights. Okay. With these rights in mind, you wish to talk to me. No, I don't answer questions. Okay, perfect. I'm going to take them to the to the station. Okay. Hey, uh, what's up? Searching your car. Do you have keys on him? No, there's no keys. Supposedly, he he was telling me that he lost them inside. He just bought this car from inside. He was in there looking for parts and he dropped the keys in there. So, he's waiting he was waiting for a locksmith to start the car. So, um I need to call the owner to see if it if it's true. So, what you want to do? You want to impound it or what? This car? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. However, since the arrest was likely unlawful, the subsequent impoundment and search could be deemed illegal. As the interaction unfolded, Martinez's legal knowledge became clear. He repeatedly pointed out that his rights were being violated, stating that the arrest was unlawful and that the officers had made a mistake. After some time, a supervisor arrived on the scene and reviewed the situation. The supervisor concluded that although the arrest was illegal, the detention itself might not have been. So, I'm the supervisor here. I was just made aware of what happened. Yeah. Um, so I don't think he qualifies for any crime. Okay. Does it qualify for a crime? I'm going to go ahead and release action. Yeah. It did not constitute a crime. Look at what he did. Look what the [ __ ] over here. Oh, the lights working. Uh, my belongings. Let me go there. Yeah. Like I said, I just got here and I was just brief the incident. So, I'm trying to get all the facts of what happened. Yeah. What happened? Walk me through through what happened. Okay. So, I sunk and you seen how big it is. I lost my keys in there. Some cool parts of it. Yeah. Lost them. Couldn't find them. They gave me a chance. It was like they closed at 5. It was like 4:30 and I was like, "Please let me find." They looked and they picked me up on the truck. He said, "Hey, the alarms are going to activate automatically. You need to get out. What about your car?" Cuz it was parked inside the property. So the owner or one of the employees gave me three choices like, "Okay." Or we can get a tractor or one of the forklifts to move your car right outside and like if you can move my car right outside so I can call the lock be fine. The locksmith got there. We did everything right. And then I just see a patrol and like whatever. I get down. He's like, "Hey." Like, "Oh, we got a call." And you that you were inside the property. And then they say, "Okay, what's your name?" "What?" He's like, "What's your last name?" Arthus. And he's like, "Okay, what's your first name?" Like, "I'm not going to give it right now." Like, "Okay." He's like, "Why not?" "But I'm not going to give you my name out cuz I'm not legally required to give it to you right now. I'm a law student." I let them know, too. An MSU criminal justice major. Not on this call or a college is not enough reasonable articulable suspicion to articulate a crime because RA is only based on the facts. No, the officer, right? Mhm. You're asking if you ask me what's your name, I just say I don't answer questions. But if you demand me my ID, give me your ID or I'm going to arrest you or give me your ID. I'm going to arrest you. I that's enough. That's all I need. I can get that on the phone and be like, "Okay, that's enough. Show it to my attorney. That's enough for litigation." If you threat me with the rest, I I'll give you my my wallet. I'll give you my ID right now. Like, no. Turn around. Push me right into the car. Boom. Put your phone down. Set it up on the windshield. Put your phone down. Grab me. Set me up. He arrestes me. makes fun of my studies, makes fun of everything. Like, okay, you think it's funny now. When we were over there too, I told him, "Call your supervisor. You don't need a supervisor. Just turn around and put your hands." I this all this could have been safe if people would have called you. They also searched my car without without consent. Of course, searching it, I understand the deputy made a mistake. But when it's a when it's an unlawful arrest, that makes an unlawful search. It's an unlawful It was this this whole thing was unlawful. The moment he put his hands on me, that was unlaw. He became this whole situation became unlawful. The deputy made a mistake. That's going to be addressed. Of course. Well, where's the deputy? He said he was going to be here. But I want to meet with you. Okay. Well, I give you my side. I would like to hear the deputy side right here. Okay. If that's fine. Um, I'll pause your car. There's your property. I have your stuff right here. Your phone, your wallet, your earpods. Yeah. Can you handle something? Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I have the videos here. I have I believe you. I'm not I don't As far as us, my understanding, someone called Mhm. and said that there was suspicious activity. I get it. It's not a crime. It's not. But that's enough reason to detain someone. Not detain. It's enough reason to make contact. when you're legally detaining someone, that's already a cease of someone's person because you temporarily are ceasing that person under your authority. Cuz if you tell me I'm detained, I can't walk off, right? But if someone calls and say, "Oh, I saw this guy that looks like like me right now uh jumping off a fence." That is not that's enough for you to say, "Hey, you're matching a description. Where were you?" That's that's a consensual encounter. You don't you don't go and say, "Hey, you're detained because we suspect you of trespassing." Because suspicion is based on the facts known to the officer, not to the not not to the That's enough for what? That's enough for So the detention was off. What are you saying? The detention was the fellow in the arrest was done. Ultimately, the supervisor decided to release Martinez without charges, acknowledging that the officers had acted improperly.