how's it going man how's it going pretty good I live here I don't live here okay I'm from Georgia and I see you up what you guess I'm trying to get in my room alright you just come from the Hammerhead 2:30 yes alright make sure on me all I'm doing is at the bar yeah cooling I know you come around time y'all are deep alright I ain't gonna lie to you please why why y'all bloody up man my toe's bleeding my toe just my toe I was rescuing you or anything like that my man listen I just came from here and that Park's hot I ain't doing nothing wrong I don't wanna get beat up I don't wanna get jumped I don't wanna do nothing wrong you got them right you see my foot here here my give my phone I got no phone I got no man I'm in my swimming trunks no boss you jump in me no go ahead please sir I'm sorry I swear to God here I swear to God I'm sorry won't you just set that down all y'all y'all but look I got nothing I got nothing no weapons I got a cigarette I know it's funny but listen no something else that truck over there listen listen I was at the bar okay cool they got my credit card everything's good I got a lot of money I make $100,000 a year okay I'm not from here I'm from Georgia I come here from my niece she lives on the island her residence is online all right I got all that my phone whoever I get to I'm drunk you damn right DUI I I shouldn't have crossed this mother you got it right my wife she left me at the bar alright anyways closing time 2:00 I know that three I guess you guys got somebody walking up I'm sorry whatever you want to do I ain't got no weapons I promise you I got a machine gun on you I've been chain gang 10 years I done 10 years of prison okay Georgia State Penitentiary you got an ID in the car it's in my wallet do you mind if I grab it real quick do whatever you do okay any weapons or anything I just got this and I'm a happy mother what's all the liquid here did you throw up did you piss you got them right through up no no probably probably sweating I got it I got it man don't reach in there I got you hey don't go reach in I ain't doing I got you I got you hang tight right there for me 3:30 hey just come right here come right here and then you can talk there's my wife there's my wife yeah you leave her alone anyways I go leave right my wife went throwing up should I leave from here you goddamn right I shouldn't I ain't gonna lie to you officer you see that's cool man you just stay here alright I'm talking to you my stomach I did 9 years in prison officer okay what you go to prison for I I went to prison for theft by taking I stole scrap metal did I need school clothes this year my mom my mama was smoking crack did I need school clothes come on now but you got OK I get OK of course I get anyways I went changen I come home I went changen pro violation I come home am I on Parole now no am I on probation now no am I married yeah I've been married 3 years that's my wife okay I get that EWW we come down here you see the black motherfucker this ain't a Confederate flag I was on the beach we got a room 3:30 I don't know my wife got sick she went throwing up I'm over chilling them black motherfuckers over there y'all seen them they big football motherfuckers you goddamn right son they're the bouncers they said hey they're security I was leaving going to chase my wife okay she come back to our motel they went to say and hey we gotta get him going we gotta I was hey I'm good with I'm cool with that whatever motel this is my side job club my wife left an hour ago that's what I'm trying to get back to but you got my debit card my credit card and so many other cards who whatever bartender that was at that club why are you trying to drive I don't want I wasn't trying to drive but my wife man you were parked in the median over there listen listen listen the truck sucked the man man listen listen listen I was parked there you my wife left an hour and a half ago I was like hey card we got too many people we got too many here these black dudes seen this Confederate flag on my stomach I was 7 I'm 31 now officer your bartender's got my wallet my wife's then left I'm trying to leave with my wife and you trying to get your stuff back you goddamn right OK that's my wife look how pretty she is did you end up getting your stuff back or no no until the bar close until they come over and say I make I make $52,000 a year y'all wanna lock me up lock me up we'll bond out you just said you made $100,000 a year no I've been there two years I made 122,000 oh in the past two years okay by the Grace of god there you go by the Grace of God alright he's got I'mma talk to you OK you won't let me out let me out so what I'm saying is listen so I go leave I go leave goddamn right you you disrespecting white folks listen I am a white folk he's got some things for so I I gotta talk to you real quick okay yes that's my wife over there I got you based on some of these events tonight I believe that you're impaired what I gotta do but I got a motel I got you but I gotta make sure that you're safe to operate a motor vehicle from you motor vehicle here to there I get you that you don't wanna drive however you were just caught driving from there to there from there to there you wanna do whatever you wanna do so I got it I respect that so listen to me I just listen to me listen to me you're right I'm going to now ask that you conduct standardized field sobriety exercises to determine I got a list of exercises I'm gonna have you do if you choose to 30 minutes I got you does that make sense so I got some questions can they beat me up and tell me I gotta leave cause I'm gonna ask you some questions I can't figure out flag on myself listen to me I need I need I need you to focus here I understand what's going on over there I'm sorry we're gonna work on that in just a minute however right here I got something I need to work on okay whatever you're working on alright I mean compared with you okay how much would you say you had to drink tonight bartender said uh we're 30 minutes from closing I got your debit card keep something back I'm sorry I got your debit card sir I was like okay my wife's throwing up I gotta find her on a scale of 1 to 10 1 being completely sober 10 being blackout drunk as drunk as you've ever been to be honest what would you rate yourself right now hmm I'm saying because blue lights of course reality okay sir she's good they're talking to her right now oh my God alright listen when they see a Confederate flag they turn up boy hey man I'm just having a coffee can I want a house five acres do you suffer from any kind of medical conditions never in my life no medical I got a muscle room we skip all tests I swear to god are you not are you not wanting to perform the I don't want to drive you goddamn right I don't want to drive the only reason I'm not saying the exercises are you because I had 20 black boys on my over there I don't wanna drive they built body slam me inside the club all day I was asking was for my debit card are you want to do exercises if you want it yeah I'll do it but I have you listen I need you to listen to me what I need I will talk to you in just a second I'm gonna have you lean right there don't wanna leave from here no I'm gonna room is that I'm gonna have you follow this wide stimulus with your eyes and your eyes only I'm sorry I want you to keep your head still I'm gonna move it side to side I swear to God do y'all listen well I'm sorry listen to me man I'll let you talk I didn't want to just take my truck I didn't want to leave the motel but you can get when you got 30 black boys looking at your flag you racist I'm sorry sir I didn't mean to be racist whatever y'all want I'll do it I'll shut up all right all right I'll have you follow this officer yes keep your eyes and your eyes open keep your head still okay yes you understand each of these instructions it don't matter what you test you do keep your head still for me OK I do got an awesome truck though sir I don't want I don't want to drive you want me to do what hit me I'll pay that I'll go to court but what I'm telling y'all is alright sir I'm sorry man I shouldn't talk I got a motto here though them black boys don't give a fuck cause they wanted to I was just trying to get my credit card go back to the motel room go to sleep I'm sorry I swear to god officer here's what I have you do OK stand up normal for me now I'mma have you turn and look at these there's two a red and blue light right there it's different red and blue I don't have arms oh don't fall ma'am we're so close we're so close we're walking right here I'm telling you I know I'm I know because you are I'm fully functional I'm fully functional good I'm because you're uh because you're drunk y'all want I'm just gonna make sure you're good and we have you have a seat here real quick whatever y'all want sit down real quick I swear to God whatever y'all with listen I swear to God you got anything on you that's gonna hurt me stab me poke me anything like that I got swim trunks I'm okay there's nothing in your pockets I'm gonna look through your pockets real quick listen whatever you wanna do that's okay what what I'm telling y'all is listen I'm listening to you you ain't got screen it was about 12 o'clock I went to that bar my wife okay I got six kids okay six kids at the whole hold on you're good throw up if you're gonna throw up you let me know listen officer you hit that side I'm on your side alright if you're gonna throw up don't look at me I swear to God listen if you're gonna throw up don't look at me you're thinking about throwing up don't look at me Magistrate Bond here I got money alright cool that's gonna bail me out of jail alright yeah you'll be good but what I'm getting in there what I'm saying is what I'm saying is that see that right there you gotta sit right there I'll do whatever you want me to cool sit right here but what I'm saying is my wife don't let her divorce me oh dude that's your between you and your wife that ain't between me I know but right now I'm going to jail crawl up in there yeah you gotta lean back kind of step up officer I swear to God just pick me up well you're all bloody and stuff you got I don't want to get your blood all over me am I my knee yeah don't be kicking me with that alright scoot on in just Scoot Scoot scoot whatever you want I'm alright cool scoot I got a motor here if you want alright cool I'll be right back with you alright listen listen you're good I'll be right back with you alright cool I'll be right back hang tight right there and I'm good I'm good we're good listen I'm 31 what I'm telling you is off I got a motel here uh huh my wife was like hey baby the kids are asleep we got five kids don't want to go to sleep y'all got blue lights on me do you want your wife to take your wallet I want my wife to whoever says listen dude I'm cool with it alright sounds great man put your head in there before it gets I love you shell okay hey just this you gotta stay in the truck I'll crack the door I swear to God but you can talk here you talk listen listen listen to them black boys when they say listen you got my money you got my car your bank card was for the bank that's it I'm with it them black boys listen I swear to God too I swear to God every time I love you I love you I'll get you the black boys jump the fuck out of me son you got you got some more you got alright black boys listen I know we got money listen in my TikTok 3 days bond here but baby I'm bleaching my right knee listen baby I'm sorry listen let me go to sleep yeah you can go to sleep right back here let them all take me to jail Kobe alright man that's my nephew Kobe no I'm closing the door Kobe don't let me go don't let me stay down here move your leg if you don't move your leg I'm gonna force your leg in and you don't want it will you tell my nephew I gotta work Friday I will close your hold on put your leg in the door otherwise I'm gonna do it myself alright I'm closing the door I swear to God I'm on your side yeah he can drive but I'm not driving good God he's a very powerful wasn't he we're not from here he usually never drinks so from 3 hours away he every drinks he is a little happy when he gets drunk y'all he like he like when he gets drunk it's not funny it scares me I get it if you don't stop back it up back it up everybody back up back it up back it up back it up over here hey you can't be breaking out windows no but you back it hey hey if you don't stop back it up back it up you ain't scaring me bullshit no you're good just back it up alright hey man hey man he's trying to break out our windows that's not cool hey no no no we're not trying hey listen kill him and you stop stop take a breath we're gonna make sure he's good just relax just relax is he okay he's fine we're gonna have rescue come look at him alright yeah he's fine he's breathing how about this you can get the back inside or you can go to jail too why am I gonna take you to jail because now you're opposing yeah you can get 25 yards away from me or you can go too yes he's breathing OK relax relax relax relax you trying to act a fool and no so hang tight okay I got rescue coming to check on you just hang tight right here okay do anything crazy hey what's wrong uh he got dunked here uh lost consciousness for about two two and a half minutes got dunked here yeah I'm sorry by us like use of force by us onto the concrete uh complete loss of consciousness for oh wow he's got a gash on his head uh the stuff on his legs were already there yeah so the blood was already there yeah the blood on his legs were already there the head stuff is now yeah he's real real sweaty now almost like excited to hear him type you alright yeah I'm good anyone in there just him none of us we're all good um pretty much well we get him to the back of the car I know they don't call it excited to wear him anymore he's got something else other than alcohol on board um drenched in sweat he starts banging his head against the windshield I don't have bars or anything like that so I go to open the door that's when he kind of push kicks the door into me I grab him he kind of jumps out and I'm taking him out of the car and he just hit the ground um he did go unconscious though for Gordon said two and a half to three minutes I'm gonna say between two and a half to five minutes um a deputy with nine years on the force a handcuffed man who could not break his own fall an arrest report that told a different story than the camera this is what happens when all three collide inside a single body cam three legal questions govern this incident was the DUI arrest lawful without completed sobriety testing was the use of force constitutional under the Fourth Amendment and does falsifying an official report cross into a felony the law has clear answers to all three section 1 DUI arrest Grade B Florida Statute Section 316.193 defines DUI as driving while normal faculties are impaired completed field sobriety exercises are not required for a lawful arrest probable cause is assessed under the totality of the circumstances dhsmv versus Whitley Florida 5th DCA 2,003 confirms that probable cause exists when facts analyzed through an officer's training and experience are sufficient for a reasonable person to conclude an offense was committed erratic driving admission of intoxication odor of alcohol and inability to follow basic instructions each independently supported arrest grade B lawful well supported an issue to use of force Grade F Graham versus Conner 490 US 386 White 989 establishes the controlling standard force must be objectively reasonable assessed against three factors severity of the crime whether the suspect poses an immediate threat and whether the suspect is actively resisting or attempting to flee Acosta versus Miami Dade County 11th Circuit 2,024 adds three additional weights the need for force the relationship between that need and the amount applied and the extent of injury inflicted apply all six factors to this incident and every single one cuts against the deputy at the moment force was applied Merritt was detained for a misdemeanor not a felony he was handcuffed behind his back inside a locked vehicle he was not fleeing he was not assaulting any person he could not break his own fall under gram none of these facts authorize what followed lesson 1 use of force doctrine the constitutional floor is not patience it is proportionality an officer may lose patience and remain within the law an officer may not lose patience and reach for force that is disproportionate to the actual threat a window headbutt by a handcuffed detainee does not justify a ground slam causing loss of consciousness FCU 3 Official Misconduct Grade F Florida Statute Section 838.022 defines official misconduct as a felony a public servant who knowingly falsifies an official record to obtain a benefit or to cause unlawful harm to another an arrest report is an official record there is no ambiguity in the statute the body cam shows Merritt's feet were flat on the floorboard he leaned inward as the door opened he did not lunge he did not kick the deputy braced the door hooked Merritt's arm and slung him onto the pavement the arrest report said the opposite sergeant Murphy's independent review confirmed the footage contradicted the written account Lesson 2 report integrity official reports are the evidentiary foundation of the criminal justice system a falsified report does not only protect the officer who wrote it it contaminates every downstream proceeding the prosecution the defense and the court in this case the truth survived because a public defender reviewed the footage without that review it would not have final grades Deputy Woods Grade F felony official misconduct under section 838.022 misdemeanor battery excessive force on a secured non resisting detainee in violation of the Fourth Amendment terminated shut arrested jury trial scheduled December 2,000 26 Tyler Merritt no grade issued intoxication rendered him incapable of meaningfully exercising his rights he accepted responsibility for the DUI through a no contest plea November 5 2,025 12 months probation resisting charge dropped careless driving dismissed his constitutional protections remained intact regardless of his conduct open question watch what follows the criminal case against Deputy Woods is pending Jury Trial December 2,026 a felony conviction requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that he knowingly falsified the record his defense will argue his written account reflected his perception in a high stress moment the body cam will be the central exhibit the jury will decide which version of events they believe one more question the law does not yet answer if the public defender had not reviewed that footage if no one had compared the report to the recording would any of this have come to light and how many times does it not