'I'm going to write you for anything': Dashcam footage shown in Austin officer's trial

About a month before two Austin police officers arrested a woman and used unnecessary force, according to the police chief, one of those officers told the woman she needed to "be more respectful, or I’m going to write you for anything and everything I can."

Officer Robert Mathis' words later became a reality when he and officer Nathaniel Stallings arrested the woman, whom they accused of resisting arrest, on Oct. 6, 2017.The dash camera video of Mathis' threat to the woman, which he made while standing next to Stallings, was played for a jury during a trial this week for Stallings, who is facing two misdemeanor charges — one count of abuse of official capacity and one count of official oppression — over his and Mathis' arrest of that woman.

Each charge is punishable with a jail term of up to one year and a maximum fine of $4,000.

Travis County prosecutors have accused Stallings of arresting the woman without first giving her a chance to explain her conduct and of using more force than was reasonable during the arrest. The woman, who testified Tuesday, admitted to being a sex worker at the time, but said she had not flagged down any cars or engaged in prostitution the day she was arrested.

The officers' dash camera captured at least two interactions with the woman — the encounter where Mathis told her to be more respectful, after they stopped her for jaywalking in an area where there were no crosswalks or stoplights, and the later arrest at the center of this week's trial.

The woman was not charged with any prostitution crimes, though she was charged and jailed on a resisting arrest charge. She spent about five days in jail until the Travis County attorney's office dismissed the charge against her.

Mathis was fired from the Austin Police Department for violating policies against dishonesty and excessive force during that arrest, and Stallings resigned after he was indicted in 2018.

On Wednesday, the jury viewed Stallings' 2017 recorded interview about the incident with the Austin Police Department's Special Investigations Unit, which investigates alleged officer misconduct. Stallings' attorneys did not object to the jury viewing that video.

Stallings told Austin police investigator Sgt. Derick Ingram that it was not his intention for the woman's head to strike the hood of his car as he pulled one of her arms and placed his arm against her back.

“It wasn’t my intention to do it, but it’s just what happened," Stallings said during the interview.

Stallings told Ingram that he and Mathishad talked with the woman before during routine patrols, and "most of our dealings with (her) are very cordial.”

"She’s told me before that she’s on hard times," Stallings said.

In the recorded interview, Stallings told Ingram that "we were attempting to give her an opportunity" to explain to them what had happened, but as they grabbed her, she told them she hadn't done anything wrong, "so she's already answered," Stallings said.

An Austin city ordinance states that "a peace officer may not arrest a person for a violation of (manifesting prostitution) unless the officer has given the person an opportunity to explain the person's conduct."

Other dash cam video played during the trial showed that, before they arrested the woman, the officers spent about five minutes speaking with a man whom they had watched attempt to speak to her from a car. When Stallings asked the man if he was trying to "hook up" with the woman, the man nodded, Stallings said in his interview. The man, who was sitting in his car as police talked with him, was not visible on the dash camera.

"Why not go back … so you can arrest him for prostitution?" Ingram asked Stallings during the interview.

"It takes a while to get somebody to come down and assist for something of that nature,” Stallings responded. If he and Mathis had gone back to arrest the man, the woman "more than likely is going to disappear," he said.

Ingram, who testified on the stand during trial this week, said that additional officers showed up to the scene quickly after Mathis and Stallings called for backup on a resisting subject.

Additional dash camera video captured Stallings telling another police officer that "we want her, we don't really want him."

During the 2017 interview, Ingram asked Stallings if Stallings was "surprised by anything Mathis did or said," particularly regarding Mathis kneeing the woman five times as they arrested her.

"I don’t believe so, no," Stallings responded.

Ingram also asked Stallings if the arrest would have gone more smoothly if Stallings and Mathis had instructed her beforehand that she was being arrested and to put her hands behind her back.

"More than likely, yeah, it would have," Stallings said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct a quote in the headline. Additionally, this story has been corrected to report that Officer Nathaniel Stallings' attorneys did not object to the jury viewing Stallings' interview with the Austin Police Department's Special Investigations Unit.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police officer Nathaniel Stallings' trial continues