Christina West Case: Dashcam, Charges Dropped, $475K Settlement

The Christina West Tallahassee police case is a 2013 excessive-force incident in which Tallahassee Police Department officers broke bones in a handcuffed DUI arrestee’s face during a struggle captured on dashcam video, leading to dropped criminal charges against West, officer suspensions, a $475,000 federal civil rights settlement paid by the City of Tallahassee in September 2014, and the resignation of the police chief.

What Happened During the Arrest

On the night of August 10, 2013, Christina West, then 44, crashed her SUV into an unoccupied home in the Killearn Estates neighborhood of Tallahassee. Officers Christopher Ormerod and Matthew Smidt responded, ran roadside sobriety tests, handcuffed her, and placed her in the back of a patrol car.¹

One of her handcuffs slipped off. When officers pulled her out of the car to re-secure them, the encounter turned violent. According to West’s lawsuit and the dashcam footage, Officer Smidt struck the back of her head and slammed her face into the patrol car’s rear window. Officers then threw her to the pavement, pushed her face into the ground, wrenched her arms behind her back, and pressed down on her neck and hip.²

The dashcam recorded West telling officers, “I think you broke my right cheek.” An officer replied, “You’re fine.”³ She suffered a broken orbital bone, nerve damage to her face, vision impairment, and loss of bladder and bowel control.² Her right eye swelled shut beneath a bruise, and she had scrapes across her body.

What the Dashcam Showed and How Charges Were Dropped

The Tallahassee Democrat published the roughly 45-minute dashcam video on September 10, 2013, about a month after the arrest.¹ It spread quickly. City Commissioner Scott Maddox called it a “disturbing use of force against a completely non aggressive arrestee.”³

State Attorney Willie Meggs also called the video disturbing and dropped the charges filed against West for allegedly assaulting officers and a nurse. Officer Ormerod had initially charged her with two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, but prosecutors abandoned those counts after the footage contradicted the officers’ accounts.² The underlying DUI charge was reduced to reckless driving. West entered a no-contest plea, and adjudication was withheld, meaning she was not convicted of a crime.⁴

Officer Discipline and the Grand Jury

A TPD internal affairs review concluded that the officers had complied with the department’s use-of-force policies as they existed at the time. Investigators did cite the officers for failing to get medical attention for West before taking her to the Leon County Jail and for improperly documenting the incident.⁵

Four officers received unpaid suspensions. Officer Ormerod drew an 80-hour suspension, with internal affairs finding he had shown conduct unbecoming an officer and had omitted “critical” details from his initial report.⁶ Officer Smidt received a 40-hour suspension, and Sergeants George Creamer and William Faust each received 20-hour suspensions.⁵ Three of the four filed grievances challenging their punishments.⁷ Ormerod was later fired in July 2014, though TPD attributed his termination to seven preventable traffic crashes since 2008, not the West arrest.

A Leon County grand jury separately investigated and declined to bring criminal charges against any of the officers. Its November 2013 report was still sharply critical, finding that the “sarcastic comments and lack of professionalism by the arresting officers, after Ms. West was injured, was disconcerting,” and faulting the sergeants for failing to intervene or de-escalate. The report said they “failed to demonstrate the respect for citizens that this community demands from its law enforcement officers.” It was the third grand jury report in five years to criticize TPD.⁸

The $475,000 Federal Settlement

In March 2014, Christina West and her husband, David West, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Tallahassee and the four officers individually. West v. City of Tallahassee, Case No. 4:14-cv-00153-RH-CAS, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.² The complaint alleged excessive force, fabrication of evidence, failure to provide medical treatment, supervisory liability, deliberate indifference, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and sought compensatory and punitive damages.⁴

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle set a May 4, 2015 trial date and ordered mediation.⁴ Mediation worked. On September 15, 2014, the Tallahassee City Commission voted unanimously to approve a $475,000 settlement, resolving all claims against the officers and the city. Commissioner Maddox called the settlement “a sad day” but said it gave the city “an opportunity to right a wrong and to right a wrong in the most efficient and effective way for the taxpayers.”¹ Asked about the role of the video, he told reporters, “Evidence is evidence. Absolutely.”⁹

Changes at the Tallahassee Police Department

Days after the dashcam footage became public in September 2013, Police Chief Dennis Jones announced his retirement. A department spokesman acknowledged that the West incident “weighed heavily” in the decision, though Jones said he wanted to spend more time with his family. His last day was October 5, 2013, ending a tenure that had started in 2007.¹⁰

Michael DeLeo was sworn in as chief on December 30, 2013. Among his early priorities was overhauling use-of-force training to emphasize de-escalation and verbal communication. DeLeo described the goal as teaching officers “how to try to help de-escalate a situation” and “limit the number of times we actually have to go hands-on with someone.”¹¹ The department formally revised its use-of-force policies to incorporate those principles.¹²

1
Tallahassee Democrat. City Approves $475,000 Settlement in Christina West Case
2
Prison Legal News. $475,000 Settlement Paid in Tallahassee Suit Alleging Police Misconduct
3
New York Daily News. Face-Breaking Florida Cops Under Investigation for DUI Arrest
4
Tallahassee Democrat. Trial Date Set in Christina West Civil Case
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NBC Miami. Four Members of Tallahassee Police Department Suspended
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Tallahassee Democrat. TPD Fires Officer Over Car Crashes
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Tallahassee Democrat. Three Officers in West Case Appealing Punishment
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Jacksonville.com. Tallahassee Police Have Been Hit by Recent Controversies
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WFSU. City of Tallahassee Settles With Christina West Over 2013 DUI Arrest Injuries
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WFSU. Tallahassee Police Chief Resigns Amid Scandal
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WFSU. Meet Tallahassee’s New Police Chief Michael DeLeo
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WFSU. TPD Investigation Into Christina West Arrest Results in Suspensions