Tyreek Hill and officer who detained him may have both broken law, legal experts say

Both Miami Dolphins star wideout Tyreek Hill and the police officer who dragged him out of his sports car could easily have turned down the heat that led to the escalation of a simple traffic stop outside Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday, according to several legal experts who viewed videos of the incident.

And while Hill may have broken the law, according to some legal experts, the officer who violently grabbed him and pulled Hill from his sports car may have also violated the football star’s constitutional rights.

Hill was ticketed for careless driving and a seat-belt violation. His tinted windows appeared to be darker than the law permits, some legal experts said, and he also appeared to violate an order to roll down his window.

Angered that Hill refused a command, Miami-Dade Police Officer Danny Torres was seen on police body-camera video yanking open the driver’s side door of the superstar’s sleek coupe, pulling Hill out of the vehicle by the back of his head, pinning him to the ground with a knee and handcuffing him.

READ MORE: Miami-Dade cops release body-cam footage after Tyreek Hill cuffed before game

“When the officer says pull your window down, he already had a right to stop Tyreek,” said Miami defense attorney Rod Vereen. “When the second officer said, ‘Get out of the car,’ that’s when it started going too far. You’ve got to give someone an opportunity to comply. He used more force than is objectively reasonable under the circumstances. You know excessive when you see it.”

READ MORE: Miami-Dade cop who cuffed Tyreek Hill had previous disciplinary issues, report says

The incident appeared to have been handled far differently from a similar incident in May when golf superstar Scotty Scheffler, who is white, was arrested on his way to a tournament for disobeying a police order and driving off while dragging the officer. Scheffler, who was in Louisville, Kentucky, for a golf championship, was ordered out of the car and handcuffed. Yet police let him stand next to his car until he was taken to jail. The charges were eventually dropped.

Though Florida is one of a handful of states where a driver must comply with an officer’s request for identification during a traffic stop, there is no statute on the books to offer guidance. Instead, if Hill’s case ever reaches a courtroom — and that’s iffy say several legal analysts — the officer’s lawyers would likely cite the recent Florida Supreme Court case Florida v Creller to bolster their client’s actions.

In that case, the state’s top jurists determined that it was “well settled law” that an officer can order someone out of a vehicle simply for safety reasons.

There’s a reason for that, said South Florida Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl. Traffic stops are considered one of the most dangerous situations in policing, he said.

“It’s the biggest unknown,” Stahl said. ““The person getting pulled over is nervous. We understand that. The officer walking up to the car is nervous as well.”

READ MORE: Body-cam footage led police director to reassign officer in Tyreek Hill detention

Question of how much force can be used

But just how far an officer can go after ordering someone out of a vehicle — that’s where the U.S. Constitution comes into play, say legal experts. The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, says an officer can only use as much force as is reasonable under the circumstance.

And from what Miami defense attorney Joel Denaro saw on video, Torres appears to be abusing his authority.

“The evidence reflects the officer’s actions failed to meet that standard,” Denaro said.

Miami-Dade Police Department policy is to use “reasonable force” if an officer feels threatened or is being resisted. In this case, the officer likely believed Hill was resisting an order to roll down his window, or get out of the car.

Later in the week, Stahl added another wrinkle to the controversial traffic stop. The union president said the speedy wide receiver was seen driving his sports coupe at about 100 miles per hour as he exited I-95 at Northwest 199th Street on his way to the stadium.

Yet Hill was only ticketed for going 20 mph over the posted speed limit, 60 mph in a 40-mph zone. And Hill’s windows appeared to be tinted far darker than legally permitted, which would have given officers reason enough to order Hill to roll down his window or order him out of the car, legal analysts say.

“They’re doing it particularly in this case because with the tint on his windows; it was basically black. I don’t think they could see inside. They did it for officer safety, which I think is reasonable,” said former state prosecutor and Miami defense attorney Michael Band. “Tyreek Hill didn’t want to keep the windows down because he didn’t want people passing by to see him getting a ticket, which I understand fully.”

‘Never have happened if it were Dan Marino’

In the end, Hill received two citations : a $179 fine for careless driving and a $129 fine for a seat-belt violation. He made it to the game in time to catch a late 80-yard touchdown pass and lead the Dolphins to victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Torres was placed on administrative leave by Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie V. Daniels, who said she made her decision after watching the body camera footage from officers that day.

Vereen, who said there appears to be blame on both sides, believes Officer Torres likely abused his authority.

“What was the need for that?” Vereen asked of the officers’ takedown of Hill. “It was a pissing match at that point. Everyone knows it would never have happened if it were Dan Marino.”

Typical Dolphin game day turned, quickly

Last Sunday morning began like most others in South Florida in the fall, with families and friends making plans to attend or watch the Miami Dolphins begin their 58th season in the National Football League. But just before 11 a.m., as the parking lots at Hard Rock Stadium were filling with tailgaters, word spread about the detainment of the 30-year-old Hill — the biggest star on a team with championship aspirations for the first time in decades.

Just outside the players’ entrance parking lot, a Miami-Dade Police officer on a motorcycle pulled over the Dolphin’s All-Pro wide receiver. Stahl said Hill was seen driving his $350,000 McLaren LS coupe at more than twice the posted speed limit as he exited I-95 at Northwest 199th Street. That officer, Stahl said, radioed ahead to a motorcycle cop who turned on his lights and ordered Hill to pull over just outside Hard Rock a few minutes later.

The situation went haywire quickly. Video appears to show Hill obeying orders, rolling down his window, handing over papers, then rolling the window back up. He then ignores repeated orders to roll the darkly tinted windows back down, before officer Torres appears and threatens to break a window. An officer tells Hill, “We’re not playing games.” The entire incident took 26 minutes.

Whether Hill is obligated by law to keep his window rolled down as the officer demanded, is questionable, say legal experts. Some say it’s settled law. Others aren’t as certain.

“I am not aware of any Florida law that requires you to keep your window down during a traffic stop,” said former Miami-Dade state prosecutor and civil rights attorney Melba Pearson. “You do need to follow an officer’s lawful commands when practical. But it is not illegal to roll your window up during a traffic stop.”

Frustrated that Hill ignored the commands, Torres ripped open the car’s door, grabbed Hill by the back of the head, pulled him out of the car and pinned him on the ground with his knee. An officer tells Hill, “When we tell you to do something, you do it... You’re a little f...... confused.” He also tells Hill to “stop crying.”

After Hill got up and was escorted in cuffs to the sidewalk, another officer grabbed him from behind and forced him to sit. There, Hill repeats that he’s just had knee surgery. Teammates Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith show up and are told to move their vehicles. Campbell was detained briefly and handcuffed. Smith was ordered to leave.

Finally, Dolphins head of security Drew Brooks appears. The situation calms down and Hill is released.

At the start of this week, Hill shared thoughts with the media about his confrontation with Torres becoming a possible learning experience and how he might even become a police officer one day. By Wednesday, Hill and his attorneys were calling for the immediate dismissal of Torres.

“Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. He got to go, man,” Hill said at a press conference at Dolphins headquarters.

READ MORE: Tyreek Hill said he could have handled traffic stop better but calls for officer’s firing

Torres has hired private attorneys.

Incident triggers national discussion on race, policing

The confrontation also triggered yet another national discussion on Black men and cops who appear to be overly aggressive. National news media outlets picked up the story. Media stars like ESPN analyst and former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Stephen A. Smith said while there was blame on both sides, the incident showed how easily “Black men can be stripped of their dignity at the hands of police.”

During his detainment, Hill can be heard discussing race, while an officer is having none of it.

“I’m just being Black in America. I’m a Black man in America with a nice car,” Hill says to an officer.

The officer responds: “We’re dark too, bro. We’re people of color. Don’t play like that’s special.”

Torres, a 27-year veteran who has already entered Miami-Dade’s early retirement program, remained on desk assignment Friday. He hired defense attorneys Israel Reyes and Ignacio Alvarez. Why, isn’t entirely clear. The officer hasn’t been charged with a crime and there’s no indication he will be.

READ MORE: Miami-Dade cop who cuffed Tyreek Hill had previous disciplinary issues, report says

Multiple sources said the private attorneys may be representing Torres in case the county moves to fire him. Officially, the officer’s camp is only saying they want the issue to run its course before commenting.

“Once an independent thorough investigation is completed, we’ll make a statement,” Alvarez said.

Alex Piquero, professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Miami and former director of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, said the friction between Hill and Torres appears to be one man feeling disobeyed and another believing he was treated unfairly.

“I am mindful of that fact that law enforcement put their lives on the line every day. But there is a way you can carry that out and a way that may be less preferable — regardless if it is a famous athlete or not. I think that is the part where people may question whether ‘Was all that necessary to give Mr. Hill a traffic ticket,’” Piquero said.

“Now, this is where interviews and statements by all the officers will be important as well as an objective investigation into the actions of everyone involved.”

Miami Herald Staff Writer Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.