An Iowa man published body camera footage of his arrest at the hands of two Newton, Iowa, police officers last year. Now, he’s being sued for defamation.
In August 2022, 19-year-old Tayvin Galanakis was driving in Newton just after midnight when he was pulled over by police officers Nathan Winters and Christopher Wing.
“How much have you had to drink tonight?” Winters asks Galanakis in body camera footage from the incident.
“None,” Galanakis responds. Winters incredulously asks, “What do you mean none?” Galanakis said, “Great, let’s do a test then.”
The footage then shows Galanakis undergoing a series of field sobriety tests. After Winters claims Galanakis failed them, he administered a Breathalyzer test, which showed that Galanakis had a blood-alcohol level of 0.00. Almost immediately after proving his sobriety, body camera footage shows Winters asking Galanakis about how much marijuana he had consumed.
“Despite previously claiming he could smell alcohol on Tayvin, Officer Winters now claimed he believed Tayvin was intoxicated due to his use of marijuana,” reads a legal complaint later filed by Galanakis. “Tayvin continuously told the officers that he did not use marijuana and that his placement on the William Penn [University] football team renders him unable to use marijuana because of his weekly drug tests.”
Hellbound and Down 