SMU football running back DeMyron Martin has filed a complaint with the Dallas Police Department after he said an officer used a Taser on him unnecessarily.
Martin’s lawyer, Robert Jenevein, said his client was hit with a Taser three times while he was trying to point out to officers they were wrongly arresting a teammate.
Martin and other members of the SMU football team were at the Sin Bar on Lower Greenville on Feb. 17. Jenevein said the group was “keeping to themselves” when an incident broke out between the players and other bar patrons. Dallas Police officers intervened, which was when Martin was Tasered.
The incident occurred the same day that four Dallas SWAT officers were shot, and Jenevein said he believes the earlier incident affected the officer’s mindset that night.
“The cops told them ‘we’re out kicking ass tonight,'” he said. “It was emotional situation, these guys are imposing figures. They were more concerned than if they were arresting old ladies.”
Martin was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest. Jenevein said the public intoxication charge has been dropped and he was confident the resisting arrest charge would be dropped soon as well.
While Martin’s criminal troubles may be resolved, he still has to deal with SMU.
Jenevein said Martin has been assessed an alcohol violation because of the incident and will have to go through SMU’s judicial procedures.
Assistant Dean of Student Life Susan Ratz-Thomas declined to comment on the case because university officials are prohibited from discussing students’ judicial records, but she did say students can be held accountable for incidents that occur off campus and that even if they are not prosecuted in a judicial court, the university can levy sanctions against students because the burden of proof is lower.
Jenevein said it was important for Martin to file the complaint because police officers need to be held accountable for misconduct.
“The unprovoked restraint by force of law abiding citizens should not be tolerated and I can only hope the department handles it appropriately,” Jenevein said.
Officials from the Dallas Police Department could not be contacted late Friday afternoon, but First Assistant Dallas Police Chief David Brown told the Dallas Morning News the players were involved in a bar fight and aggressively resisting the officers, who feared for their safety. The DMN also reported Brown said the incident had been thoroughly reviewed and no officers have been disciplined.
“We have some witnesses that say this use of force was not necessary but then we have officers saying that the use of force was necessary to gain control,” Brown told the DMN.
Jenevein maintains that Martin and his teammates did nothing wrong, and the officers were out of line.
“It’s fair for cops to demand citizens respect the uniform, but its also fair for citizens to demand cops respect it.”
