foreign [Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers hindering excessive force and vehicle searches and is brought To Us by ABC News 4's Channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on August 20th 2020 Corporal Robert Barrino of the Somerville Police Department initiated a traffic stop on 42 year old grandfather Timmy miles after he drove away from his Somerville South Carolina residence prior to the stop Charleston Police Officers had intercepted a FedEx package containing marijuana that was sent to Mr miles home but addressed to an individual who did not live there and according to Mr miles was not known to him or his family as part of a narcotic surveillance operation officers from the Somerville PD delivered the package to Mr miles's front porch and at least two officers watched the package from a wooded area behind Mr miles's home at one point the officers lost sight of the package and when Mr miles drove away Corporal barono pulled him over on the mistaken believed that he had picked up the package and put it in his vehicle Corporal barono approached the vehicle and the encounter that followed was captured on body camera what I picked up yeah tell me what's going on I'm about to tell you what's going on come on no bro what what's going on let me record this okay we're recording right now so come on out what's going on yeah come on out all right come on don't grab me don't grab me uh well we're telling you giving you law forward if you don't get out you're about to get ripped out of the car we'll go here so don't I got a back problem don't rip me out I'm not trying to do that so come on come on out we'll explain it tell you dude come on step out of the car let me go no I'm not letting you go this is your last chance go oh yeah you got your camera bro what's going on all right what's going on when Mr miles refuses to exit the vehicle without an explanation as to why he was stopped Corporal berno grabs him around the neck pulls him from his vehicle and Strikes him several times in the face we will explore Corporal barono's use of force later in this episode but first it is necessary to discuss the legality of Mr miles's conduct in refusing to exit the vehicle as we have mentioned previously here on ATA courts have generally concluded that officers are not constitutionally required to inform citizens about the reasons they have been detained and although section 17-13-50 of the South Carolina code makes it illegal under state law for an officer to quote refuse to answer a question relative to the reason for the arrest posed by a person who has been arrested this statute does not apply to Terry stops additionally officers typically have the discretion to require individuals to exit Vehicles during traffic stops and for this reason an order to step out of a vehicle is typically considered lawful while South Carolina's hindering statute which can be found in such 16-5-50 of the South Carolina code is limited to interference with arrests under section 16-1 of the Somerville code of ordinances it is unlawful quote for any person to refuse to obey a lawful order of any officer of the police department for the town engaged in the discharge of official duties however if he was charged with violating this ordinance Mr miles could attempt to defend himself by arguing that the order to exit the vehicle was not lawful because the underlying traffic stop was not based on Reasonable Suspicion although it is difficult to determine whether Corporal barono had the Reasonable Suspicion necessary to detain Mr miles without knowing the specific details of what the surveillance officer saw and what they communicated to Corporal baranau given the fact that the package was still on Mr miles's Front Porch he would have a legitimate argument that the traffic stop was not supported by Reasonable Suspicion and that he accordingly could not be convicted of disobeying a lawful order for refusing to exit the vehicle yeah [Music] yeah we have to make sure we're not we don't have anything they lost sight of the box and this car left and stopped it he didn't want to get out we had to extract them it's not there yeah yep uh we got uh Dent Booker's Stone Fortune [Music] it's on the porch still after Mr miles was physically removed from the vehicle the officers realized that the package was not inside it and later determined that the package was still on the porch despite this they continue to detain Mr miles and keep him in handcuffs anybody get it yeah you want to search it what it's hard yeah yeah yeah continue research I mean we'll get a dog get a dog because right now he's gonna say no because I mean he didn't pick up the package so let's get a dog make sure it was following cause we search the car and they already pump the trucks for safety come on man I want everybody car everybody car hey you Brave you Brady without you know you real Brave to be punching on choking people man you're wrong you had nothing to choking and pulling on me like that I would have complied only for you to let me know what the was going on I come out my yard everybody storming me and punch me informed me on the ground that's ruthless that's nuggets and y'all called up Mr miles confronts Corporal barono about his use of force and choking and punching him and states that he would have complied with the order to exit the vehicle if the officers would have just told him what was going on in the 2016 case of Armstrong versus Village of Pinehurst the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals which has jurisdiction over South Carolina determined that quote non-compliance with lawful orders justifies some use of force but the level of Justified Force varies based on the risks posed by the resistance applying this precedent the U.S District Court for the eastern district of Virginia Which is also in the fourth circuit held in the 2022 case of Nazario versus Gutierrez that quote when police lawfully order a driver to exit his vehicle and the driver fuses police may use reasonable Force to remove the driver in reaching this decision the court recognized that quote a key determination in the reasonableness inquiry is whether the resistance is active or passive and noted that quote verbally refusing to exit a vehicle constituted purely passive resistance interestingly we explored the interaction involved in the Nazario case in a previous episode of ATA and I've included a link to this episode in the description down below if you're interested in learning more in the present situation even if a court concluded that Corporal baronel had the legal authority to forcibly remove Mr miles from the vehicle given the entirely passive nature of his resistance Mr miles has a legitimate claim that the type of force employed was excessive and constitutionally unreasonable in the 2008 case of Cleary versus green the U.S District Court in Maryland which is also in the fourth circuit held that an officer did not use excessive force and physically removing an individual from a vehicle when she was spun around and slammed against the vehicle several times times however the court Justified this decision by arguing that the officer ceased the use of force once the individual was in handcuffs and that he did not Punch or slap her implying that such a use of force would be excessive additionally in the 2020 case of Wilson versus painter the U.S District Court for the eastern district of Virginia denied qualified immunity to an officer who delivered a single closed-handed strike to the face of an individual who failed to comply with four orders to exit his vehicle and in a 2021 Case by the same name the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial in support of its decision The District Court noted that no more than 15 seconds elapsed between the First Command X the vehicle and the punch that the officer blocked the driver from exiting the vehicle by situating himself between the open door of the vehicle and the driver and that although the driver did not immediately comply with the officer's orders he did not undertake any threatening or evasive movements now while Corporal barono waited about 35 seconds before employing force and did not appear to block Mr miles's exit from the vehicle he used more Force than officer painter did as he grabbed Mr Miles by the throat and punched him twice instead of once and given the fact that Mr miles did not resist physically or even make any threatening or evasive movements he would have a strong argument that Corporal barono used constitutionally excessive force against him please and I'm paying my taxes you know that's wrong come on man come on get out of the car I went like oh oh this man grabbed me first I said why you grabbing me I gotta write for my rights now come on now you behind me I did the right thing I stopped and then you ordered me to get out the cars [Music] for choking me you going down you ain't had to put your hand on my neck it ain't that serious for whatever you looking for bruh I do not want a search on my call I do not allow search [Music] on my cars yeah they called them you know we thought there was a package it was supposed to be a control delivery gotcha [Music] no all right I appreciate it thank you dude they notify you about sending emails this uh to the traffic stuff [Music] can we get one for blackmail approximately 30 35 complaining uh head trauma nobody notified himself [Music] secure his phone so I could um yeah I did [Music] it's your arrest we'll hand it over rather than tow it this is stuff back behind me with this stuff but he's got a quarter cup and it'll smell that weed in here so yeah he has a couple baggies in the front as well yeah I'll get photos of them [Music] we're gonna charge them at least the car to Mom even though Mr miles explicitly and adamantly denied consent to search his vehicle and the canine unit sniffed the vehicle and did not alert after Mr miles admits to using marijuana for his back problems the officers thoroughly search his vehicle including the contents of notebooks folders and other containers and do not find any illegal substances as we have discussed in previous episodes of ATA the Supreme Court held in the 1983 case of United States versus place that a canine sniff does not constitute a quote-unquote search for Fourth Amendment purposes and in the 2005 case of Illinois versus kabayas the court determined that quote a dog sniff conducted during a lawful traffic stop that reveals no information other than the location of a substance that no individual has any right to possess does not violate the Fourth Amendment however the Supreme Court clarified in the 2015 case of Rodriguez versus the United States that officers cannot extend a traffic stop beyond the time needed to handle the matter for which the stop was made to conduct a dog snip without independent Reasonable articulable Suspicion of additional criminal activity this situation is more complex than the typical traffic stop as there are serious questions about the legality of the underlying stop and Mr miles's apparent arrest and the issue is further Complicated by the fact that the officers failed to request Emergency Medical Services until after the Sniff was completed although they seem to be waiting for EMS to arrive before taking Mr miles into custody when the canine unit arrived still Mr miles would potentially have an argument that his roadside seizure was unlawfully extended to allow for the canine to sniff his vehicle additionally while the legal issues surrounding the dog sniff are murky it is far more likely that the court would determine that the officer's extensive search of Mr miles's vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment although officers are generally required to obtain a warrant before searching a vehicle courts have recognized several exceptions to this rule under which warrantless vehicle searches are considered constitutionally reasonable for instance as the the Supreme Court explained in the 1996 case of Pennsylvania versus LeBron quote if a car is readily mobile and probable cause exists to believe it contains Contraband the Fourth Amendment permits police to search the vehicle although the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held in the 2002 case of U.S versus sheets that the odor of marijuana gives officers probable cause to search a vehicle there is no precedent suggesting that a driver's admission to General marijuana use allows officers to search their vehicle and in this situation it is likely that Accord would conclude that the officers did not have probable cause to search Mr miles's vehicle based on his admission to using marijuana absent any evidence tying that use to the vehicle particularly given the fact that a K-9 unit had sniffed the vehicle and failed to detect any illegal substances other exceptions to the warrant requirement include inventory searches when a Vehicles being impounded and searches incident to arrest which as the Supreme Court explained in the 2011 case of Davis versus the United States is limited to situations where now quoting the arrestee is within reaching long distance of the vehicle during the search or if the police have reason to believe that the vehicle contains evidence relevant to the crime of arrest a court would almost certainly conclude that these exceptions did not apply because the vehicle was not being impounded Mr miles was nowhere near the vehicle and the officers did not appear to have probable cause that any evidence was in the vehicle having already determined that the package was still on the porch that medicine bottle right there also belongs to him I didn't do the trunk yet they're uh I think he said he wants to leave it alone okay once EMS arrived Mr miles was taken to the hospital by ambulance and after receiving treatment he was officially arrested according to a lawsuit Mr miles filed regarding the encounter he was originally charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana under South Carolina state law and disobeying a lawful Order of Police in violation of section 16-1 of the Somerville code of ordinances but both charges were later dismissed however publicly available court records only lists the drug charge which was dismissed on January 19 2021 less than two weeks after the encounter Corporal barano was terminated from the Somerville Police Department due to his actions during the stop according to a so-called separation due to Misconduct Form completed by Department Representatives quote Corporal barano can be seen on video striking the defendant in the face twice and now quoting again another detective can be seen grabbing Corporal barono's arm in what appears to be an attempt to prevent him from delivering more fist strikes to the man's face the form concluded that quote there was no apparent imminent threat or danger to Corporal barono or to the other officers on scene and that now quoting again copper oberono utilizing a closed Fist and striking the subject in the face was not justifiable was not objectively reasonable and was a violation of Department policy and state law on Friday October 29 2021 former officer barono was arrested and charged with third degree assault and battery against Mr miles and on September 1st 2022 judge Ryan Templeton found him guilty after a bench trial sentencing him to time served on August 19 2022 Mr miles filed lawsuits stemming from his encounter with Corporal barono in both state and federal court on June 8 2023 Mr miles voluntarily dismissed the state case likely to continue to pursue his federal case and as of the date of writing this episode the federal case is still pending although the proceedings were temporarily stayed on August 10 2023 due to unspecified now quoting merging familial medical complications for Mr miles's attorney overall Corporal barano and the other Somerville officers involved in this encounter get an F for using clearly excessive force against a non-violent citizen moving forward with Mr miles's arrest after discovering that they were mistaken about the location of the package of marijuana and illegally searching his vehicle in an apparent attempt to find any reason to legitimize his treatment although Corporal barono's violent Behavior was likely both unconstitutional and criminal the other officers ignored and thereby implicitly condoned his conduct or attempted to justify it with one officer even telling Mr miles quote the good news is that you're alive in addition to the egregious use of force against Mr miles the officers continued to detain him in handcuffs after learning that they were mistaken about the basis of the Stop and despite Mr miles's clear denial of consent and the lack of a lawful exception to the warrant requirement they searched every part of his vehicle for anything that could potentially justify arresting him when they found nothing illegal the officers resorted to taking photos of empty plastic bags and a bottle of prescription medication as so-called evidence on the whole this encounter shows an alarming lack of Integrity on the part of all of the officers involved and although I applaud Corporal barono's termination from the Somerville Department I believe an investigation into the conduct of the other officers who played a role in this incident is warranted Mr miles gets a B plus because although he should have complied with the officer's orders to exit the vehicle and apparently admitted to using marijuana he adamantly defended his right to refuse consent to a search of his vehicle and passionately exercised his first amendment rights and confronting Corporal barono about his conduct and taking appropriate legal action after the incident throughout this encounter Mr miles was the victim of both bizarre circumstances and police misconduct and I commend him for both communicating his disdain for Corporal barono's behavior during his arrest and pursuing Justice for his inexcusable treatment in the courtroom however other citizens in a similar situation might benefit from obeying the orders of the officers and invoking the right to silence to help strengthen their case against any unconstitutional or unlawful conduct from the officers let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out my second channel for even more police interaction content [Music] foreign [Music]