On November 20, 2017 Tiffany Neatrour was released from an inpatient alcohol detox center. She went to her relatives house, some things happened, and later that day she found herself arrested on suspicion of DUI, driving without a license, and false reporting after Seattle Police dispatch received a 911 call reporting a reckless driver allegedly matching her description and driving her car.
The arresting officer in this case was Tom Heller, badge number 7427 of North Precinct Patrol, Second Watch. Officer Heller graduated from the police academy in April 2008, and at the time of this arrest he had already “apprehended, arrested, or otherwise investigated” nearly 450 DUI cases. He is an instructor for the standardized field sobriety tests and has been a Drug Recognition Expert Instructor since November 2016. Prior to being a police officer he spent two years working as an EMT. And Tiffany Neatrour’s jury verdict was clear: Officer Heller got this one wrong.
Neatrour’s attorney – public defender Wissam Itani – fought vigorously for her, challenging the constitutionality of Officer Heller’s arrest and making a wide variety of other courtroom plays. Ms. Neatrour had later admitted to driving, but only after what Itani argued was an unconstitutional arrest, not supported by probable cause. A defense investigator poked holes in some of the testimony that you will hear, and the defense took issue with the warrant that had been issued for Ms. Neatrour’s blood. Nonetheless, the defense motion to suppress pretty much everything was denied.
The defense did get some big wins, though, such as a granted motion to preclude all statements made by witnesses who would not be testifying in court on confrontation clause grounds – including the 911 caller. One of Neatrour’s nieces had since died, and “would likely” not be appearing in court. Her testimony was suppressed accordingly. On top of that, the defense was granted a motion to exclude any mention of Neatrour’s prior alcohol abuse or having attended a detox facility. The prosecution would not be permitted to reference Neatrour’s threats to kill Officer Heller or her statement about having a suspended driver’s license. Specific sections of body worn camera footage were agreed admissible and were played in court. All other footage could not be used or referenced.* The prosecution scored a number of motion practice wins as well, and the case was set for trial. Neatrour refused to accept a plea bargain.
On 2/20/19 a panel of jurors was selected and sworn in and Ms. Neatrour’s trial commenced. Officer Heller and other witnesses testified, and the City rested its case the following day. On February 22, 2019 the jury returned its verdict: not guilty. And that was that. The case was closed. This is Part I of the body worn camera footage in the case. As you watch, keep in mind that some of the footage you are seeing was deemed inadmissible.
*That is not unusual. A defendant’s prior misconduct (“propensity evidence”) is not admissible to show the defendant’s general propensity to engage in criminal activity. See State v. Bowen, 48 Wash. App. 187, 738 P.2d 316 (Div.3 1987). The idea being that such evidence is highly prejudicial, stripping the defendant of their presumption of innocence and possibly leading a jury to convict not because they find the defendant guilty of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt, but because they believe the defendant deserves to be punished for a series of immoral actions,
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Real World Police is proud to be a Sunshine Supporter of the Washington Coalition for Open Government — working to educate, advocate, and litigate the public’s right to know. Want to know more about access to public records in Washington? Visit www.washingtoncog.org.
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Because people are allergic to reading video descriptions on YouTube, this video's description is partially reproduced here:
On November 20, 2017 Tiffany Neatrour was released from an inpatient alcohol detox center. She went to her relatives house, some things happened, and later that day she found herself arrested on suspicion of DUI, driving without a license, and false reporting after Seattle Police dispatch received a 911 call reporting a reckless driver allegedly matching her description and driving her car.
The arresting officer in this case was Tom Heller, badge number 7427 of North Precinct Patrol, Second Watch. Officer Heller graduated from the police academy in April 2008, and at the time of this arrest he had already "apprehended, arrested, or otherwise investigated" nearly 450 DUI cases. He is an instructor for the standardized field sobriety tests and has been a Drug Recognition Expert Instructor since November 2016. Prior to being a police officer he spent two years working as an EMT. And Tiffany Neatrour's jury verdict was clear: Officer Heller got this one wrong.
Neatrour's attorney – public defender Wissam Itani – fought vigorously for her, challenging the constitutionality of Officer Heller's arrest and making a wide variety of other courtroom plays. Ms. Neatrour had later admitted to driving, but only after what Itani argued was an unconstitutional arrest, not supported by probable cause. A defense investigator poked holes in some of the testimony that you will hear, and the defense took issue with the warrant that had been issued for Ms. Neatrour's blood. Nonetheless, the defense motion to suppress pretty much everything was denied.
The defense did get some big wins, though, such as a granted motion to preclude all statements made by witnesses who would not be testifying in court on confrontation clause grounds – including the 911 caller. One of Neatrour's nieces had since died, and "would likely" not be appearing in court. Her testimony was suppressed accordingly. On top of that, the defense was granted a motion to exclude any mention of Neatrour's prior alcohol abuse or having attended a detox facility. The prosecution would not be permitted to reference Neatrour's threats to kill Officer Heller or her statement about having a suspended driver's license. Specific sections of body worn camera footage were agreed admissible and were played in court. All other footage could not be used or referenced.* The prosecution scored a number of motion practice wins as well, and the case was set for trial. Neatrour refused to accept a plea bargain.
On 2/20/19 a panel of jurors was selected and sworn in and Ms. Neatrour's trial commenced. Officer Heller and other witnesses testified, and the City rested its case the following day. On February 22, 2019 the jury returned its verdict: not guilty. And that was that. The case was closed. This is Part I of the body worn camera footage in the case. As you watch, keep in mind that some of the footage you are seeing was deemed inadmissible.
*That is not unusual. A defendant's prior misconduct ("propensity evidence") is not admissible to show the defendant's general propensity to engage in criminal activity. See State v. Bowen, 48 Wash. App. 187, 738 P.2d 316 (Div.3 1987). The idea being that such evidence is highly prejudicial, stripping the defendant of their presumption of innocence and possibly leading a jury to convict not because they find the defendant guilty of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt, but because they believe the defendant deserves to be punished for a series of immoral actions,
~~~
Real World Police is proud to be a Sunshine Supporter of the Washington Coalition for Open Government — working to educate, advocate, and litigate the public's right to know. Want to know more about access to public records in Washington? Visit http://www.washingtoncog.orsg.
~~~
Do you have independently verifiable inside information on a story we are or should be covering? Email tips@realworldpolice.com. Your identity will not be revealed without your consent. Because we receive dozens of tips daily we cannot respond individually to every submission. If we need more information from you someone will be in touch.
Remember: we don't publish footage that has already been published. Please don’t send links to news articles.
~~~
Follow us on Twitter @realworldpolice
I love how her family is all giddy. Apparently this is not their first rodeo with this lady.
Didn't do a very good job at that detox lol
LMMFAO
lol Rehab works.
Oops I forgot to stay sober
As a mother of a child with abuse history I know how much pain this is causing her mom. When my child was using the amount of pain and worry she caused was almost unbearable at times. The day my child got clean was the day I lost my sister to alcoholism. Having your children going through this and back and forth rehabs and in her case detox is unbearable and the sad thing is that we love our children and would never wish this amount of pain that caused them to drink or use so heavily in the first place my sister was caused by the loss of her ex husband my child was the cause of her boyfriend pushing her into it and that is all it took for her to go over the rales
Alcohol is an addiction and America and the world is responsible for this for promoting alcohol since its beginning.
She was drunk…period. wonder if she has killed anyone since this episode.
She'll drive drunk again and kill someone.
Just FYI: She just got out of DETOX
Maybe this got a "not guilty" because the cop is leading the unclear witnesses by clarifying "she" when they thought it was a "he"
Detox worked fantastic! lol
That place looks like a post-apocalyptic junkyard.
You can't pull someone out the house and give um a DUI!!! WTF??? DAMM COPS DIRTY
Think she meant she broke out of detox…ðŸ»ðŸ¥‚ðŸ¾
I took a nap in a oak barrel filled with Jack Daniels.
1:40 that psychotic laugh,
geezuz.
A funny cop that’s hilarious in its own videos
The officer should have felt the hood of the car to see if it was still warm from having been driven.