hey what's up how's it going what are y'all doing nothing I'm walking to my house huh I'm walking over here to my grandchild School shop okay just do me a favor come over here have a seat both of you have a seat for what have a seat for what is he still good hey oh man let's move inside screen set them up I don't feel pulse [Music] welcome back to the civil rights lawyer Channel new body cam footage just released out of Raleigh North Carolina where I once worked as a prosecutor showing police officers encountering detaining and using Force against Daryl Tyree Williams on January 17 2023 that use of force involving multiple uses of tasers by multiple officers resulted in the death of Mr Williams what I want to focus on is not the actual tasing part you know how that goes but rather whether it was constitutional for him to have been detained and handcuffed in the first place nobody had reported a crime rather the officers were allegedly engaged in what they called proactive patrols of business parking lots in a location they claim has a history of repeat calls for drugs weapons and other criminal violations this is an important constitutional issue when did the seizure take place when were Fourth Amendment protections first triggered here well it depends on the facts and in this case the footage hello hey how you guys doing you guys okay all right we're just checking on people you're the only car in the parking lot with the lights on the only one that's got people for somebody to come out okay you guys are good okay all right yep upon arriving officer Robinson requested over police radio for additional officers to assist with patrols of the area officer D.L Aquino arrived shortly thereafter after parking officer Thomas initially approached one vehicle on foot and checked on the occupants according to them officer Robinson went to a second vehicle that was occupied by two people one in the driver's seat and one in the front right passenger seat the person in the driver's seat was later identified as Daryl Tyree Williams we're good [Music] all right here all right that's fine this is what I believe to be the important part I'm going to switch to the second officer's body cam footage to show a better view of what actually happened the official police report for this incident which I'll post at the blog and Link in the description says this upon approaching the vehicle the passenger opened the door and officer Robinson observed an open container of alcohol and marijuana in the car and requested Mr Williams and the passenger to exit but if you watch the footage from the closest officer's body cam is that really what happened even though hey what's up how's it going what are y'all doing nothing I'm walking to my house huh I'm walking over here to my grandma okay just do me a favor come over here have a seat both of you have a seat for what have a seat for what yes the passenger opened the door but why did he open the door a uniform police officer walked up to him with his flashlight shining in the car's tinted window it appears that a marked police cruiser is actually blocking the car from leaving according to the police report the alleged crime suspected was observing an open container of alcohol and marijuana in the car it doesn't appear that the cop could see that before the door was open moreover the report states that the car door opened first and then the officers saw those items also it wasn't just the passenger who opened the door the cop grabbed the door and pulled it all the way open while still shining the light on the guys in the car so you would have two different scenarios for these types of police encounters one consensual encounters which are theoretically voluntary in nature meaning that the suspects are technically free to leave at any time and this does not trigger Fourth Amendment protections for them and then you have secondly official detainment or an investigatory detention it's sometimes called which does in fact trigger Fourth Amendment protections so for a lawful detainment to occur officers must have Reasonable Suspicion of a crime that did not exist here according to the report until after that car door was opened so if the occupants in the car were already detained prior to the officer observing the open container and marijuana then they were being illegally detained from the very beginning so the issue here over whether that's the case is a factual one as a general matter police officers are free to approach and question individuals without necessarily affecting a seizure a person is seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only when the officer by means of physical force or a show of authority has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen that's from Terry versus Ohio such a seizure can be said to occur when after considering the totality of the circumstances a court concludes that a reasonable person would have believed that they were not free to go and to leave the appropriate question is whether that person would feel free to terminate the encounter that's from Florida versus Boston U.S Supreme Court what do we look at when we're weighing these facts this issue well courts have said this the number of police officers present during the encounter whether they're in uniform whether they've displayed their weapons or whether they've touched the defendant or in this case their car whether they attempted to block his departure or restrain his movement here the car was blocking it appears from their body cam footage the departure of the suspect's car whether the officer's questioning was non-threatening whether they were treating the defendant as though they suspected him of illegal activity rather than treating the encounter as routine in nature this would make a very good case that they were detained from the very beginning have a seat I have a seat 10 37 years one more thing we're not doing nothing though all right that's fine face the car okay you grabbed the other one again [Music] don't move okay okay do you understand I do I have I have knives thank you [ __ ] keep both of your hands on the floor if you don't if you can't listen to my instructions I'm gonna put you ink on it I'm not trying to see stuff are you serious no I got one in my jacket pocket in my jacket pocket [Music] relax man relax excited us this whole time chill out [Music] I need someone to check me for probes check you out yeah pretty sure I got hit with one I might be out on the ground I got crossed by one at least [Music] hey is he still good hey oh man push him inside I don't feel pulse position what's all that about foreign the other car I saw that was two girls so I came back over here and they tried to dip let's search this what happened with this guy driver yeah he wouldn't sit down according to the police report this is how officers are claiming it turned into a use of force during the investigative detention officer Robinson located a folded dollar bill in Mr Williams pocket containing a white powdery substance consistent with the appearance of cocaine officer J.R Scott arrived as officer Robinson was examining the contents of the dollar bill based on the contents of the dollar bill officer Robinson made the decision to arrest Mr Williams for possession of a controlled substance when officer Robinson attempted to arrest Mr Williams and told him to place his hands behind his back Mr Williams became combative and resistant subsequently officers requested additional police assistance including the need for an immediate response officers Thomas Aquino and Scott assisted officer Robinson as he attempted to handcuff Mr Williams and take him into custody Mr Williams continued to resist their efforts and was able to overpower and pull away from them those are their words from their police report then that led to Mr Williams is being tased multiple times you can watch the raw footage of that incident at the original body cam links which I'll post in the description this sort of thing is happening more and more multiple officers tasing someone all shouting stop resisting or give me your hands or something to that effect anytime violence is used against anyone you're running the risk that someone you're dealing with has pre-existing problems that may cause them to die was that the case here at one point Mr Williams mentions that he has a heart problem perhaps that's what happened here I don't know but my larger Point here in this video is that we shouldn't have made it to the point of going through the gram factors and determining whether or not the tasing was excessive or unnecessary here very likely it was based on what I've seen but it was entirely unnecessary because it was unjustified from the very beginning they had no reason to be looking for Mr Williams here nobody had called the police on him nobody had alleged that crime had even been committed these cops were just out looking for problems sure they could objectively go the trespassing route but I see no evidence that any of these businesses had complained to the police about trespassing especially about these particular individuals and remember Reasonable Suspicion has to be particular to the individual the individual person the suspect not categorical and certainly not based on race and so on as always thanks for watching Remember freedom is scary it's not about whether the person deserved it or whether you personally like or dislike something or someone it's about protecting constitutional rights if you want yours you have to protect everyone's even if it scares you see you next time foreign [Music]