Tag Archives: fourth amendment

Blows a ZERO, Gets Arrested Anyway – WINS in Court (part 2)

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Nathan Stephens was arrested on a fake DUI in Kentucky. It was all caught on bodycam, which shows him blowing a zero on the breathalyzer and also passing all the field sobriety tests, and then him being arrested anyway. Nate knew he wasn’t drunk. Officer Bell of the Grayson, Kentucky Police Department claimed he could smell alcohol on Nate. He agreed to a breath test and blew a zero – no alcohol in his system. Nate then passed all of the field sobriety tests, which Officer Bell admitted, initially telling Nate he would not be going to jail for DUI because he had agreed to take the tests. But then, after Nate said he would have sued the officer had he arrested him, the two cops covered up the bodycam and had a private conversation, ending with them then changing their mind about arresting Nate, and throwing him in the back of the police cruiser, handcuffed.

All of this we covered in the last video – Part 1 of this story: In this video, I’m going to tell you everything that happened next, including what happened when it went to court, as well as the latest update from Nate’s lawyer (as of yesterday).

Blows a ZERO, Passes FSTs, Gets Arrested Anyway – WINS in Court

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Nathan Stephens is into fitness and bluegrass. He doesn’t drink. But after a teenager backed into him in his neighborhood, a local cop with the Grayson (Kentucky) Police Department accuses him of being drunk – which he wasn’t. Nathan takes a breathalyzer test and passes. He blows a 0.00 – no alcohol in his system. He then performs the field sobriety tests and passes (which the officer admits). Yet somehow, Nathan still gets arrested for DUI and is taken to jail. How does that even happen?

The Citation / Police Report:

The raw footage showing the unedited field sobriety tests:

Cops Use Drug Test Kit on Innocent Man’s Prescription Pills

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Bryan Getchius is on a road trip, headed back to Florida, where he works. He gets pulled over by the Greenwood County (South Carolina) Sheriff’s Office. It begins as a routine traffic stop. They ask him if he has anything illegal in his car. He knew he had nothing illegal, so he consented to the search. They search his vehicle and they find his perfectly legal IBS medication that is prescribed to him. Despite having all legitimate markings, the officers claimed it was fentanyl – or maybe cocaine (they didn’t know), but they really wanted to arrest and charge him anyway. It would take Brian 1 year, 4 months and 28 days from the date of his arrest, to clear his name. And at no point during that period of time was Brian ever in possession of any illegal controlled substances.

The lawsuit:

ComplaintDownload

Content Creator Arrested Exposing Town’s Sewer Disaster

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This well-known content creator (Michael Bowman) goes deep into the hills of West Virginia, where locals are upset about a small-town sewage disaster (Worthington, WV). They ask him to come document what’s happening. So he does. He drives there and he begins to document what they show him. And it’s terrible. You have raw sewage basically coming into people’s homes and going other places it shouldn’t be. It’s literally forcing people out of homes they’ve lived in forever. This is a failure of their local public officials. So Michael goes to a public meeting seeking more information. But it doesn’t go well. The public officials aren’t interested in discussing this ongoing disaster that is harming their constituents. But he doesn’t give up. The next day he comes back and tries again, and ends up getting arrested.

The “police report” slash charging document:

The dismissal order:

BowmanGrantedMTDDownload

SWAT Raids Wrong Home Looking For Guy They Already Arrested (3 Months Earlier)

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On June 14, 2023, the United States Marshals Service listed Joshua Smiley on the “15 Most Wanted” list. He was the 26 year-old male suspect in an August 2021 shooting death of a man in Mobile, Alabama. On June 20, 2023, about a week after Joshua Smiley was put on the most wanted list, he was peacefully apprehended in Avon, Indiana – a suburb of Indianapolis. It was no big deal. They found him in just a couple of days, called him out, he came out and was arrested with no issues. It was a success. So why did the US Marshals raid Cathy George’s home in Sandy Springs, Georgia three months later?

GA-Botched-Raid-Amended-ComplaintDownload

Cops Arrest Man on His Own Property After Karen Neighbor Hears Gunshots

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Zebulon likes to shoot guns on his property in rural Macon County, Tennessee. His neighbor doesn’t like hearing Zebulon shoot his guns because it “agitates” him. So he calls the cops and tells them he heard gunshots on Zebulon’s property. He admits that he didn’t see shots fired into the air, but “assumes” they were fired into the air. Then the cops go onto Zebulon’s property, where he’s busy mowing his field. They tell him they aren’t there to take his gun. But actually, that’s exactly what they do. Then, while standing on this man’s property, holding his gun that they claimed they weren’t there to take, they demand to see his ID, even though he told them he didn’t fire any shots into the air, or do anything illegal. But he doesn’t want them there and invokes his Fourth Amendment rights, asking them to leave. But these cops brag about the fact that they could care less about the Fourth Amendment.

Cops Use AI to Jail Innocent Grandmother for 6 MONTHS

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Imagine there’s a bank heist committed in Fargo, North Dakota. Cops pull a grainy photo of the suspect off a surveillance camera. They run that photo through AI facial recognition software, and it matches with an innocent grandmother down in Tennessee (who has never even been to North Dakota). Imagine they just run with that AI match and issue an arrest warrant, without performing an actual investigation into whether the AI is correct… Angela Lipps was arrested at her home in Tennessee, jailed and extradited to Fargo, North Dakota. She sat in jail for months, with nobody even bothering to check and see if she was the actual suspect they’re looking for (she wasn’t).

37 Days in Jail For Posting a Meme on Facebook

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In America, we don’t jail people for political speech. Yet Larry Bushart spent 37 days behind bars simply for posting a meme in a Facebook group. Perry County, Tennessee Sheriff Nick Weems sent cops to Larry’s home to intimidate him over a Facebook meme he posted. But he wasn’t intimidated. He knew his rights and didn’t back down. So then the sheriff obtained an arrest warrant that he knew was false and had Larry arrested and then put in jail for over a month. Only after national public outrage did county officials drop the charges and set Larry free. But now Larry’s out for justice and he’s being helped by FIRE, a national nonprofit First Amendment advocacy organization, who has now filed a civil rights lawsuit on his behalf. I got a chance to talk with Larry’s lawyer about the case – what actually happened, why it was so egregious, and how you can help.

DONATE to FIRE: https://www.fire.org/donate

The lawsuit:

BushartComplaintDownload

Shoplifting Arrest of Dementia Patient at Walmart | FINAL UPDATE | City Paid How Much??

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In a Walmart in Danville, Kentucky, 66 year old John Hardwick (who had been diagnosed with dementia) was mistreated by Walmart employees while on a grocery shopping trip with his wife. They callously mistook John’s confusion (due to his dementia) for attempted shoplifting, and then called the police. But the police were worse. Officer TJ Godbey punched this vulnerable man 6 times, which was caught on video. And then he, along with Danville Police Officer Ben Ray, arrested John. A lawsuit was filed, which I covered about a year ago. That case has now been settled, with the government claiming the high road. But there’s something they’re not telling you, and they can’t be allowed to cover it up, and escape accountability.

My prior videos on this incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwxui4wNYls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehNXmlsfmdY https://youtu.be/7PgRk7TDKTc?si=trHZhLi_9-q3yPpP

My prior video on Danville Police Department’s other dementia victim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPQL9Ehgc7U

Online Petition: https://www.change.org/p/demand-dismissal-of-officer-tj-godbey-and-suspension-of-his-accomplices

Media Report: https://fox56news.com/news/local/settlement-reached-in-danville-arrest-of-dementia-patient-city-promises-reform/

Danville (Kentucky) Police Department: https://www.danvilleky.org/174/Police-Department

Danville PD’s Facebook (ouch, only 1 star): https://www.facebook.com/p/Danville-Police-Department-100083547963107/

The town’s public statement on the settlement:

Cop Mocks Homeless Woman, Breaks Her Leg at Hospital – Taxpayers Pay $1.2M

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On March 10, 2022, Lexington KY police officers responded to a report of a “disorder” at St. Joseph Hospital. The call was dispatched to LPD officer Myles Foster and officer Daniel Helo. The caller was a hospital employee reporting that a 61 year old female was being “disorderly” and was refusing to leave Emergency Room #3. The 61 year old female was later determined to be Linda Trapp, a homeless woman. Rather than help her, within 21 seconds of meeting her, Officer Myles Foster threatened physical force. He would make good on that threat shortly afterwards, violently breaking her left leg. Then the nurses and emergency room physician would do nothing to help Linda Trapp, leaving her in agony for another 18 hours.

Police Practices expert witness Ryan Wilfong’s report on the incident:

Ryan H. Wilfong Report – 12-17-2024Download