In August of 2012 Seargeant Gene Geheb of the Keene, Texas police pulled over Lynn Bedford for driving 66 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone. What happened next implicates many of the classic automobile stop cases including Whren/Atwater/Moore (discretion to arrest upon probable cause) and Mimms/Wilson (entitlement to remove driver from vehicle during stop).
Here’s the stop from two perspectives, the officer’s dashcam and bodycam:
Arrest of the 77-year-old sparked media interest, including this clip from the Today show:
It seems clear there was probable cause to stop and then to arrest, satisfying the demands of the Fourth Amendment. So much for the federal Constitution. What about the ought? It strikes me that Bedford could have handled the initial stop much better… but, just as with any criminal case, I’d like to know more about her day and greater circumstances. It strikes me that Officer Geheb could have handled her poor behavior with much more grace… but, just as with any criminal case, I’d like to know more about his day and the greater circumstances.
Is it relevant that she was 77 years old? Which way does that cut? Ought we to respect our elders… or ought someone to know better after seven decades of life?
Was she owed an apology, as the family demanded?
Did Officer Geheb need anger-management training, as the family also demanded?
Is it relevant that Bedford was a grandma? Why would her procreative past have any bearing? Yet “grandma” status it is, not only in news reporting, but in her civil lawsuit; Plaintiff Lynn Shelton Bedford is not merely “an individual who resides in the Northern District of Texas,” but, “[a]t the time of the traffic stop … Plaintiff was … a grandmother.”
Is it relevant that she claimed a bladder infection and urgent need to get to a bathroom? Bradford’s attorney claimed “she had a pretty good reason for speeding, probably a justification or necessity.” Did she honestly and reasonably believe, and was speeding in fact, the lesser harm? (We’ll need some more facts there, of course.)
Is it relevant that she was cited and released onsite, after Keene Police Chief Rocky Alberti arrived and spoke to Bradford and Geheb? (Students can practice that what separates Terry stop from arrest is not only duration (magnitude and justification) and movement (magnitude and justification) but also show of authority (magnitude and justification, here handcuffing and movement to the backseat of a police cruiser).)
The parties settled and so the lawsuit was dismissed (docket here).
Here’s a partial transcript of the officer/citizen interaction:
BEDFORD: [Interrupting] All right, let’s hurry up. I’ve got to go the bathroom.
OFFICER: Let me see your driver’s license and insurance, please.
BEDFORD: I have a bladder infection.
OFFICER: Let me see your driver’s license and insurance, please.
BEDFORD: You listen to me.
OFFICER: No. I want your driver’s license and insurance, please. Then I will listen to you.
BEDFORD: Why? Why are you going to wait?
OFFICER: I’m gonna write… give me a… Let me see your driver’s license.
BEDFORD: I will give it to you in a minute.
OFFICER: No; you give it to me now, or I’m taking you to jail.
BEDFORD: Well, go ahead.
[All materials are hosted on the Multipedia for classroom use.]
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