In Newton, Iowa in 2022, disgraced police officer Nathan Winters falsely arrested Tayvin Galanakis, a completely sober college football player for DUI. A local kid, Noah Peterson, was outraged and calmly criticized the Newton Police Department, as well as the Newton Mayor, during a city council meeting. The ignorant and corrupt mayor ordered his arrest, in violation of the First Amendment. The Institute for Justice took on his case, filed a lawsuit, and just scored a huge win for free speech. I got the chance to speak with Patrick Jaicomo, Senior Attorney with the Institute for Justice about Noah’s case.
This is Part 2 of the update on the viral video arrest of Demetrius Kern from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, which I originally covered in July of 2023, along with Mr. Kern’s attorney, Chris Wiest. Mr. Kern had been falsely arrested and charged after he was almost hit by a police cruiser driven by Officer Carly Lewis, whose video deposition was featured in Part 1 of this update. That arrest was primarily at the direction of Officer Lewis’ supervisor, Sgt. Naftali Wolf, whose video deposition is detailed in this video.
Here is the main brief by Mr. Kern’s attorneys that I walked you through in the video, using the video deposition excerpts they actually cited in the brief:
If you want to go further into the weeds, here is the motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant Wolf’s lawyers (to which the above brief is responding in opposition):
As I mentioned in the video, as of this date, the Court has not yet ruled on the pending motions. Which means that the case is just hanging in limbo with nothing happening, until such time as there is a ruling. The ruling will decide whether or not the lawsuit gets dismissed, or whether it proceeds to a jury trial. This is fairly unusual for a delay of this length to occur in federal court – though sometimes does happen).
At around 1:45 a.m., the Grand Prairie Police Department responded to a 911 call. But because of a dispatch error, officers went to the wrong house. The homeowner, Thomas Simpson, woke up to his dogs barking, armed himself, and stepped into his garage—only to be met with officers who, according to him, never announced they were police. Within moments, shots were fired, and Simpson was hit in the leg.
16 year old Konoa Wilson ran for his life after being suddenly shot at by another teenager at the Sante Fe Train Depot in San Diego, California. Police officers were nearby – on the other side of the building – when the shots rang out. The teenager narrowly survived being shot by the other teenager, but as he fled through a corridor, he had no idea that in moments, he would encounter a police officer who would end his life.
Derrick Williams was fast asleep in the apartment he had been living in for about a month (which was leased by a friend/Uncle) when he heard a commotion outside his bedroom. It was the Chesterfield County (Virginia) Police Department, who had just opened the front door and sent in a police K9 to find him and violently attack him. But it was a mistake. He had done nothing wrong. His friend/Uncle’s ex-girlfriend had come by earlier to collect some belongings, saw him asleep in the apartment, and called 911, believing he was an intruder of some sort. Instead of realizing that Derrick was not an intruder, they just went full send with their attack K9, to bite first, and ask questions later. Now a lawsuit has been filed. But the cops are asking for qualified immunity, claiming they did nothing wrong.
In Alaska, the Anchorage Police Department shot and killed Kristopher Handy, following several 911 calls by a neighbor alleging a domestic disturbance and that Handy had a gun and was waiting for law enforcement to arrive. By the time they arrived, Handy, who had gone back inside the apartment, emerged from the apartment holding a shotgun in one hand. Officers opened fire, killing him. At their initial press conference, the APD said that Handy “raised the longarm towards the officers” prior to deadly force being used. But then neighbors produced surveillance footage showing that Handy did not actually make any movement towards raising the shotgun prior to being shot.
Here’s the raw footage showing the moment he was shot – a view not captured on the officers’ body cams, at least one of which was covered:
Seven years ago, in Fort Collins, Colorado, the Fort Collins Police Department slammed this girl to the pavement. The obviously-unnecessary use of force was caught on video. A lawsuit was filed. The officer was denied qualified immunity. He appealed to the 10th Circuit. In a published opinion, the 10th Circuit found that the officer indeed used excessive force – a Fourth Amendment violation – but, since the plaintiff wasn’t able to point to a similar prior case finding a similar violation, that the officer gets qualified immunity. The remaining claims against the city were just settled for $300K.
An Alabama police officer is now on leave while authorities investigate a viral video showing her tasing a handcuffed man. She tells him to lay down on the front of the vehicle. She puts her taser on his back and tases him, as he screams. She then asks him, “Do you want it again?”
Police officers arrived at a gym on a noise complaint. The gym owner expressed his displeasure at the officers’ presence. As they started to detain him, he went back into his gym and told the officers they could not enter. But they did enter and tased him and took him to the ground, and arrested him. Here’s the issue. The Fourth Amendment does not allow police to go inside your home and arrest you without a warrant. But what about your business? Did they need a warrant under the Fourth Amendment to arrest this gym owner?
You’ve seen videos of cops executing warrants at the wrong home before. It’s a nightmare scenario – one of the most dangerous encounters we can have with our government. Police want the ability to come into a house with a team of men dressed and equipped like soldiers. But they also want to do so in an environment of total immunity, so that they can’t be sued when they make mistakes or act recklessly.
This just happened in Joliet, Illinois, where law enforcement invaded the wrong home. It also recently happened in my client in West Virginia. They came home to find cops on their surveillance footage walking around in their home, guns drawn. What happens when they invade the wrong home? Can you sue them, or can they get away with it?
