(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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After traffic-stop video goes viral, Newton police sue citizen for defamation [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- October']
Date: 2023-10-02
An Iowan whose online video of an allegedly unwarranted police traffic stop generated 2 million views is now being sued by the arresting officers for defamation and invasion of privacy.
The legal claims by Newton Police Officer Nathan Winters and Lt. Christopher Wing are part a counterclaim to a federal lawsuit that was filed earlier this year by Tayvin Galanakis, 19, of Newton. Galanakis is suing Winters, Wing, the city of Newton and its police department, alleging false arrest, civil rights violations and negligent supervision and training.
The officers’ counterclaim alleges Galanakis defamed them and invaded and their privacy when he posted to social media a series of police body-camera videos documenting his arrest and appended to those videos his own commentary on the incident.
In his lawsuit, filed in February 2023, Galanakis alleges that shortly after midnight on Aug. 28, 2022, he was pulled over by Winters and Wing after he drove past their patrol car without dimming his headlights for oncoming traffic.
Video of the traffic stop shows Galanakis telling Winters and Wing he was driving with his high beams on because one of his headlights had a broken bulb. Although Galanakis told the officers he’d had nothing at all to drink, the officers indicated they believed otherwise. “Great, let’s do a test then,” Galanakis told the officers.
After Galanakis’ breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.00, the officers proceeded to place him under arrest. He was taken to the Newton Police Station where he agreed to drug and urine tests. According to the lawsuit, the department’s drug recognition expert administered the tests and at 2 a.m. concluded Galanakis was not intoxicated or showing any signs of drug or alcohol use and he was released.
A few weeks after the incident, Galanakis shared on Facebook and YouTube various versions of the body-camera footage of the traffic stop. To date, the videos have generated more than 2 million views, generating numerous complaints to the city about the officers’ conduct.
As part of his social-media postings, Galanakis made several statements, alleging he “basically got kidnapped then raped by the NPD all night,” and falsely indicating Winters had been “convicted” of domestic abuse for beating up a girlfriend.
Galanakis then sued the officers, the police department and the city. The defendants denied any wrongdoing and filed a counterclaim lawsuit against Galanakis alleging defamation, invasion of privacy and the filing of a false complaint against the police.
In two separate rulings handed down in May and September, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher dismissed a significant portion of the counterclaim, ruling that most of Galanakis’ public statements about the officers were “not actionable in defamation or under other theories,” while finding that “a few statements are sufficiently grounded in fact to state plausible claims for defamation and false-light invasion of privacy.”
With regard to the claim that Galanakis filed two false complaints against Winters, Judge Locher ruled there was only one communication from Galanakis that could be construed as a complaint, and “because Winters does not allege these statements are untrue they cannot be defamatory.” The judge noted that “Winters does not appear to allege that any of them are false. To the contrary, he admits the accuracy of some of them in his pleadings, and others are supported by the police videos posted online.”
As for the city’s complaint that Galanakis claimed to have been “kidnapped then raped,” Judge Locher found that statement was a clear and allowable expression of opinion and rhetorical hyperbole.
With regard Galanakis’ claim that Winters had been convicted of domestic abuse, the judge noted that specific allegation appeared to based on a 2021 protective order that was entered against Winters in Iowa District Court, and which was extended on at least three subsequent occasions.
Galanakis argued that under Iowa law, a protective order was close enough to a conviction to make his statement substantially true. Judge Locher disagreed, noting that a criminal conviction is very different from a civil judgment and carries a higher burden of proof.
Locher’s rulings mean the officers’ counterclaims for defamation and invasion of privacy can proceed, but on a narrower basis, with fewer of Galanakis’ statements being challenged.
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[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/10/02/after-traffic-stop-video-goes-viral-newton-police-sue-citizen-for-defamation/
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