Suspect Accusing Trooper of Beating Him Appears in Court

A Holdenville man appeared in court Tuesday morning on obstruction charges. He is the same man accusing Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Martin of using excessive force during the incident.

Tuesday, October 6th 2009, 2:36 pm

By: News 9


By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Holdenville man appeared in court Tuesday morning on obstruction charges. He is the same man accusing Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Martin of using excessive force during the incident.

Kristopher Douglas said he was beaten by Trooper Daniel Martin on Saturday while Martin was working a traffic stop.

"This is quite frankly outrageous to arrest somebody because he's in the vicinity of somebody getting a ticket for running a stop sign. And then to beat him afterwards? It's offensive," said Richard O'Carroll, Kristopher Douglas' attorney.

Douglas is charged with obstructing an officer. He appeared at the arraignment Tuesday with his new attorney, Richard O’Carroll. O’Carroll was the same attorney for Maurice White who was involved in the first incident with Trooper Martin.

"First and foremost he has no credibility. He no longer has credibility. He had complete false fabrications in the original report that were disproven by his own camera, first and foremost. And secondly, so what? So what? This is a traffic stop for a stop sign," said O’Carroll of Trooper Martin.

O'Carroll referred to Trooper Martin's last case involving a scuffle with paramedic Maurice White. Martin's dash-camera video, which OHP reluctantly released, appeared to contradict Martin's previous statement that White was hostile. In fact, it was Martin who was yelling and cursing on the video.

O'Carroll filed a federal lawsuit against the state over that altercation and said he'll continue his push to get Martin off the force while he works to get Douglas' case thrown out.

Martin's attorney Gary James told the Tulsa World that Douglas "wouldn't heed their commands to stand by the street" and "officers had to use force because they felt he was getting hostile." O'Carroll said he doesn't buy it.

"He doesn't understand that officers of the law first and foremost need to obey the law," O'Carroll said.

O'Carroll said he plans to file motions to dismiss the obstruction charge. Douglas is due back in court on October 16.

Martin's attorney Gary James could not be reached by NEWS 9 for comment.

Trooper Martin and his partner Trooper Tommy Allen are both on paid administrative leave while the allegations are being investigated.

Martin received an unpaid 5-day suspension for the Maurice White incident.

More on News9.com:

- Trooper Involved in Paramedic Scuffle Faces New Allegations of Using Excessive Force
- State Lawmaker Calls Trooper Martin's Actions, New Allegations Unacceptable

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