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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE
CONESE HALLIBURTON, §
§
Plaintiff, §
§ Case No.: _____________
v. §
§ JURY DEMANDED
MICHAEL JOHN REYNOLDS, §
§
Defendant. §
COMPLAINT
INTRODUCTION
1. While visiting Nashville for a bachelor party, Defendant Michael John
Reynolds—then an officer of the New York City Police Department—kicked in the front
door of Ms. Halliburton’s home during the middle of the night. After breaking into Ms.
Halliburton’s home, Officer Reynolds threatened “to break every fucking bone in [Ms.
Halliburton’s] fucking neck” while screaming that she and her children were “fucking
niggers.”
2. Approximately eight minutes after invading Ms. Halliburton’s home,
terrorizing Ms. Halliburton and her minor children, hurling racial slurs at them, and
threatening them with deadly force, Officer Reynolds casually returned to the Airbnb
where he was staying when it became clear to him that police were about to arrive. Upon
leaving Ms. Halliburton’s home, a companion of Officer Reynolds yelled out and asked
him: “Did you make her strip?”
3. After leaving Ms. Halliburton’s property, Officer Reynolds was confronted
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by uniformed police officers of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department who had
responded to Ms. Halliburton’s 9-1-1 call. After being confronted by those MNPD officers,
Officer Reynolds immediately “identified [himself] as a police officer” in order to avoid
arrest.
4. Despite claiming that he did not know why he was not arrested on the spot
for his outrageous criminal misconduct, Officer Reynolds acknowledged the existence of
“an unwritten rule of professional courtesy that police officers tend to try and help out
other police officers.” By invoking his authority as a fellow police officer, Officer Reynolds
sought to—and was able to—benefit from that “unwritten rule of professional courtesy”
and avoid arrest.
5. The following day, Ms. Halliburton recognized Officer Reynolds from a
neighbor’s surveillance footage as being the person who had invaded her home and
assaulted her and her children while screaming racial slurs at them.
6. After noticing Ms. Halliburton’s neighbor staring at Officer Reynolds and
his companions, NYPD Officer Thomas Geberth—whose bachelor party had brought
Officer Reynolds and his companions to Nashville—began menacing Ms. Halliburton’s
neighbor and demanded to know: “[W]hat are you looking at?” When Ms. Halliburton’s
neighbor responded that “I think I’m looking at the people that broke into my neighbor’s
house last night,” Officer Geberth less-than-subtly began threatening Ms. Halliburton and
her neighbors in an effort to intimidate them.
7. Among other statements that were specifically intended to be perceived as
threatening, Officer Geberth emphasized that “we’re policemen from New York,” and he
indicated that everyone needed to understand that Officer Reynolds’s home invasion was
“not really a big issue” that should be pursued any further. Thereafter, Officer Reynolds,
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Officer Geberth, and the other bachelor party attendees laughed about Officer Reynolds’s
home invasion; they claimed that because they were NYPD officers, they had immunity;
and they went to dinner.
8. Several weeks after fleeing the jurisdiction and attempting to avoid
accountability for his egregious and criminal misconduct, Officer Reynolds was identified
as the person who was responsible for breaking into Ms. Halliburton’s home and
assaulting her and her children. Officer Reynolds was ultimately indicted for his crimes
against Ms. Halliburton and her children within one year of causing the injuries at issue
in this action; he pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal trespass and three separate counts
of assault; and he was sentenced to fifteen (15) days in jail and nearly three (3) years of
probation for his crimes.
9. Thereafter, Officer Reynolds resigned from the New York City Police
Department in lieu of facing professional disciplinary proceedings. This action followed.
I. PARTIES
10. Plaintiff Conese Halliburton is a citizen and resident of Davidson County,
Tennessee. She is a mother of four and resides at 1206 Ashwood Avenue, Nashville,
Tennessee, 37212—the residence that Officer Reynolds invaded before threatening to kill
Ms. Halliburton and her children while screaming that they were “fucking niggers.”
11. Defendant Michael John Reynolds is the individual who invaded Ms.
Halliburton’s home and threatened “to break every fucking bone in [Ms. Halliburton’s]
fucking neck” while screaming that she and her children were “fucking niggers.”
12. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds was a police officer
employed by the New York City Police Department. Reynolds is a citizen of Rockland
County, New York, who is domiciled at 33 Frederick Street, Garnerville, NY 10923, but he
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may be served while he is physically present within this Court’s jurisdiction at the
Davidson County Jail, Maximum Correctional Center (MCC), his current place of
residence.
II. JURISDICTION & VENUE
13. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332
and 1331.
14. As the jurisdiction in which a substantial part of the events or omissions
giving rise to the Plaintiff’s claims occurred and where the property that is the subject of
this action is situated, venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2).
III. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
15. Conese Halliburton has lived at 1206 Ashwood Avenue for her entire life—
more than 40 years.
16. While visiting Nashville for NYPD Officer Thomas Geberth’s bachelor
party—which Officer Reynolds was in charge of planning—Officer Reynolds and several
other men arrived at 1212 Ashwood Avenue, an adjacent short-term rental property that
Officer Reynolds had booked via Airbnb.com.
17. Officer Geberth’s bachelor party was scheduled to take place from a Sunday
through a Wednesday. At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning—and after an
evening of heavy drinking on Broadway—Officer Reynolds strode past the “no
trespassing” signs posted on Ms. Halliburton’s property and began yelling in the middle
of her yard. Ms. Halliburton immediately called 9-1-1.
18. After yelling in the middle of her yard, Officer Reynolds began banging on
Ms. Halliburton’s locked front door before kicking it in and gaining entry to her home,
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where Ms. Halliburton and her children had been sleeping.
19. After gaining entry to Ms. Halliburton’s home, Officer Reynolds stomped
into her living room and made it past her first bedroom. Ms. Halliburton and her children
began yelling at Officer Reynolds and pleading with him to leave. He would not.
20. In order to prevent Officer Reynolds from coming down the hall toward her
any further, two of Ms. Halliburton’s children got between their mother and Officer
Reynolds and pushed against him while Ms. Halliburton’s youngest child clung to his
mother in fear. Still, Officer Reynolds refused to leave their home.
21. During the altercation, Officer Reynolds screamed expletives at Ms.
Halliburton and her family, yelled that “this is my motherfucking house,” threatened to
shoot them and “break every fucking bone in [Ms. Halliburton’s] fucking neck,” and called
Ms. Halliburton and her sons “fucking niggers.” Officer Reynolds’s home invasion lasted
approximately eight minutes.
22. When Ms. Halliburton informed Officer Reynolds that police were around
the corner, Officer Reynolds finally left Ms. Halliburton’s home and headed directly back
to his Airbnb. After leaving Ms. Halliburton’s home, one of Officer Reynolds’s
companions yelled out to him and asked: “Did you make her strip?”
23. When police finally arrived at the scene, Ms. Halliburton had a panic attack
and began vomiting. She has suffered from extreme emotional injury ever since.
24. After Officer Reynolds left Ms. Halliburton’s home, he was confronted by
uniformed MNPD Officers. Mr. Reynolds immediately “identified [himself] as a police
officer” and, as a result, he avoided arrest. See Exhibit #1, Sentencing Hearing
Transcript in Case No. 2019-I-384, p. 68, lines 9–15.
25. The morning after Officer Reynolds invaded Ms. Halliburton’s home and
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assaulted her and her children, Ms. Halliburton spoke with two of her neighbors, Joetta
Alderson and Justin Roddick, and told them what had happened. Thereafter, Mr.
Roddick retrieved and reviewed surveillance footage of the incident from his security
camera.
26. When Officer Reynolds and several other men emerged from a van later that
afternoon, Ms. Halliburton recognized him and, along with her neighbors, confronted the
group.
27. After being confronted by Mr. Roddick, Officer Geberth began menacing
Ms. Halliburton and her neighbors and making statements that were specifically designed
to intimidate them into dropping the matter and not reporting it further.
28. Because Ms. Halliburton, who was still shaken from Officer Reynolds’s
home invasion, was unable to speak, Mr. Roddick began speaking on her behalf.
29. Officer Reynolds ultimately acknowledged that he was the person who had
broken into Ms. Halliburton’s home. With a smile on his face, and while giggling, he then
“apologized” for doing so. Officer Reynolds’s entire group then began laughing at Ms.
Halliburton as she was visibly upset.
30. Finally able to speak, Ms. Halliburton—still distraught and shaken—
indicated that she wanted Officer Reynolds arrested and called the police again.
31. Thereafter, Officer Geberth made clear to Ms. Halliburton and her
neighbors that his group was made up of NYPD officers, and he claimed that as police
officers, they had immunity. Officer Geberth, Officer Reynolds, and the rest of their party
all specifically claimed that they had immunity as well. See Exhibit #1, p. 26, lines 8–
13.
32. Rather than waiting for police to arrive, Officer Reynolds and his
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companions left the scene and went out to dinner before another night of drinking on
Monday evening. By the time MNPD officers arrived, Officer Reynolds and his friends
were gone.
33. Seeking to avoid prosecution, Officer Reynolds never returned to the
Airbnb, and he fled the jurisdiction entirely on Tuesday—a day earlier than planned.
34. Despite knowing that he had committed serious crimes against Ms.
Halliburton, Officer Reynolds did not turn himself in to law enforcement or come clean
about what he had done.
35. Instead, Officer Reynolds took substantial efforts to avoid being prosecuted.
36. From the moment of his home invasion until his ultimate arrest, Officer
Reynolds’s companions, including multiple NYPD officers, attempted to assist him in
avoiding prosecution by, inter alia, falsely reporting that they had no knowledge about
what had happened and attempting to intimidate Ms. Halliburton and her neighbors from
pursuing the matter.
37. Weeks after Officer Reynolds invaded Ms. Halliburton’s home and
threatened to kill her and her children for being “fucking niggers,” MNPD detectives
identified Officer Reynolds as the assailant, and they left him several voicemails regarding
the incident, which he did not return.
38. It was only after Officer Reynolds realized that he had been identified by law
enforcement officials who were intent on pursuing the matter that Officer Reynolds began
undertaking efforts to appear as though he accepted responsibility for his misconduct.
Specifically, after receiving voicemails from MNPD detectives, Officer Reynolds retained
counsel, notified his union, set up a meeting with the MNPD, and gave what his counsel
would later describe as “a full confession” to the crimes that he had committed—crimes
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that could already be proven beyond any conceivable doubt and were recorded on
surveillance footage. Officer Reynolds would ultimately plead guilty only to specific
charges that he believed would allow him to keep his job as an NYPD Officer.
39. Criminal charges were ultimately brought against Officer Reynolds
regarding the injuries that he inflicted upon Ms. Halliburton and her family and his
trespass upon her property.
40. The conduct that gave rise to Ms. Halliburton’s injuries and causes of action
for civil damages set forth in this Complaint were the subject of a criminal prosecution
commenced by law enforcement, the Davidson County District Attorney General, and the
Davidson County Grand Jury within one year.
41. After being indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury, Officer Reynolds
pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated criminal trespass and three counts of
assault. See Exhibit #2, Transcript of Plea Hearing, Case No. 2018-C-2069.
42. During Officer Reynolds’s sentencing hearing, and while subject to Officer
Reynolds’s cross-examination, Ms. Halliburton testified as follows regarding what
happened on the night of the incident:
[W]hile I was on the phone with [9-1-1-], you know how it sounds like knock
-- when somebody is like knocking at your door. . . . It was like vibrations,
like really loud. It was like boom, boom, boom, and I’m telling the lady. I
was like it sounds like he’s trying to come in my house because it wasn’t a
knock. It was a boom, and it continued to the point that the last one, you
heard the dogs run.
...
Mr. Reynolds. He was like in the house, not like in the living room. He
was... He made it past that first bedroom.
...
He was like – he’s like this is my mother fucking house. This is my mother
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fucking house. And so, I’m on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator and I’m
telling her, I was like he’s in my house, like hurry up and, you know, get to
my kids because he just kept coming like down the hallway. And even
though -- even though the dogs -- I had two dogs that was absolutely trying
to like bite at him, at his shorts, he was still like fighting them off and he still
was coming like down the hallway.
...
[E]ven with my sons, he’s like standing there. And they’re like trying to push
him back, and he’s still like -- he still kept coming down the hall. Nothing
was like stopping him.
...
They had their bodies up against him. They were like close. They was like
-- they was like this close, and I was telling -- and the operator was telling
me like tell your sons like don’t fight him, just like the police is coming, the
police coming. And so, they was like all just arguing. And the... They was
just arguing like in the hallway trying to tell him like get out, get out. Like,
he was in the house for like seven, eight minutes the whole entire time. So,
it was like dogs barking. They’re arguing and he’s not backing down at all.
...
He just kept repeating that this was his house.
...
I think, once he heard me say and I was telling my sons like the police is like
coming, like they’re coming. And the lady was telling me, she’s like they’re
like around the corner, they’re like coming down the street.
...
And as he – he’s walking. Like, I’m coming down the hall and he’s walking.
Like, he walked -- he didn’t run out the door. He leisurely just walked out
the door. He’s saying something about I’m going to shoot y’all niggers,
something like that, as he walks out the door. And then, Metro comes
probably not even a minute later.
...
I had a panic attack and I started getting sick, and I went and I started
throwing up[.]
Exhibit #1, p. 41, line 3–p. 47, line 12.
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Reynolds’s cross-examination, Ms. Halliburton testified as follows about what happened
on the day after the incident:
When I seen him, I was like -- I was pointing as they was like coming out of
the house, and I was like no, that’s not you. I was like no, it’s you right there,
and I was like you. And Justin is saying which one of y’all kicked in my
neighbor’s door. So, they were all like oh, you know, we don’t know what
you’re talking about like very nonchalant and joking like it was funny and it
was a joke. And I was like you know what you did. And I’m saying, when
the police came and questioned, why didn’t you say anything, why didn’t
you say it. So, then he says oh, I’m sorry, I was drunk. And I was like no,
you’re not sorry, you should have said it was you, you should have said
something. And he’s like I’m sorry. And I was like I want you arrested. I
said, as a matter of fact, I’m going to go call the police right now. And I
walked off and called Metro again.
...
[Officer Geberth] was talking a lot of mess and it was a joke like it was funny.
And even when we were waiting -- we had to wait for Metro to come. We
waited for like an hour or so. When Metro arrived, while I was talking to
the officer, they left the scene. And a couple of them came back, but he
didn’t come back with them. It was a joke then because one of them waved
at me while I was sitting outside talking to the cop like it was still funny.
And when Metro went and questioned them, they acted like I was crazy and
they didn’t know anything that we were talking about, they didn’t know him,
they didn’t know the -- nothing about the incident even happened.
Id. at p. 49, line 19–p. 51, line 2.
Reynolds’s cross-examination, Ms. Halliburton testified as follows about how the incident
had affected her and her family:
Personally, before, I struggled with a lot of stuff. And it took me to this

Summer to actually watch that video, and it was like hard to watch the video
and to know that he had more than one opportunity to go to that Airbnb.
He didn’t have to come to my house. And to know that there was another
person outside... To know that he had a friend that was sitting outside and,
on the video, you could hear his friend say don’t go, and then to hear his
friend say did you make her strip. It was no accident that you came into my
house. So, for a person that’s already struggled with a lot of stuff, to hear
something like that on that video, that set me back a lot, and then to hear
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my kids. One of them, he doesn’t even like to go outside when it’s dark or
to be in -- to be comfortable in your own home, to always have the lights on,
to drive down the street and you see a Metro car. You don’t know if you’re
going to get harassed or -- or to always get questioned. I don’t talk about it.
I let my kids talk about it because they can get it out, but to get questioned
on why are you not in jail, why did he have to do it to us. I don’t understand
why is this going on. It’s hard.
...
We’re all in counseling. Except for the oldest. I think everybody pretty much
walks around on edge.
...
My kids want to move. They don’t want to be in that house anymore. We
don’t have peace. To know that you’ve been living somewhere all your life,
and you don’t have that anymore, and where would you go, it’s not fair. And
it’s not fair that somebody can laugh in your face and their friends can laugh
about it like it’s a joke, and your life stops, and their life can keep on going.
And they’re supposed to keep a job, and you’re supposed to uphold the law.
And you break the law in another state and you feel like you’re supposed to
get away with it. There’s nothing about that right. And to hear them brag
about they got immunity, and for this to go on this long, it was so many --
he had so many different opportunities to walk away from that decision that
he made, and he still didn’t do it. That is not right. It’s not fair. My kids
don’t have that choice. My boys wouldn’t have a choice to sit and break into
anybody’s house, and get away with it, and not serve any time and get
probation, and get a slap on the wrist, get immunity because why, they’re a
police officer. He should be treated just like anybody else would.
...
If I could afford a new mind and give my kids a new mind, there’s no price
on that. You can’t put a price tag on peace. You can’t give back what was
taken away from us that night. I wish it wouldn’t have ever happened.
Id. at p. 54, line 1–p. 56, line 12.
45. During Officer Reynolds’s sentencing hearing, Officer Reynolds testified
without qualification that he did not dispute Ms. Halliburton’s testimony. Instead, he
indicated that he had heard all of Ms. Halliburton’s testimony and testified as follows:
Q. Do you have any doubt that what she said was true?
A. No, sir.
Id. at p. 67, lines 1–3 (emphasis added).

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46. Officer Reynolds’s conduct caused Ms. Halliburton to suffer severe
emotional distress from which she is still suffering.
47. Ms. Halliburton and her two youngest children underwent—and are still
undergoing—counseling due to Officer Reynolds’s conduct.
48. Officer Reynolds’s conduct resulted in damage to Ms. Halliburton’s
personal property.
49. As of the date of his sentencing hearing, Officer Reynolds’s footprint was
still visible on Ms. Halliburton’s broken front door.
50. During Officer Reynolds’s sentencing hearing, Officer Reynolds “admit[ted]
freely that [he] committed a crime that night”—indeed, he admitted that he committed
“[m]ultiple crimes”—and he further admitted that he “pled to those crimes[.]” Id. at p.
67, lines 16–21.
51. During Officer Reynolds’s sentencing hearing, Officer Reynolds expressed
substantial remorse for the fact that his conduct had “cost me my job, my life,
everything.” Id. at p. 66, lines 14–15 (emphases added).
52. During his sentencing hearing, Officer Reynolds had to be reminded by his
counsel that he was also supposed to express remorse for his actual misconduct and its
devastating effect on Ms. Halliburton and her family, rather than expressing remorse
exclusively for the consequences that his actions had had on him personally. Id. at lines
16–20. Unconvincingly, at his counsel’s urging, he did so.
53. In an attempt to influence the outcome of his sentencing hearing, Officer
Reynolds gave false and utterly incredible testimony regarding multiple material facts
about the incident and its aftermath, including why he had invaded Ms. Halliburton’s
home, what he told police officers the night he invaded Ms. Halliburton’s home and why,
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what he could recall Officer Geberth saying to Ms. Halliburton’s neighbors the following
day, whether he or his companions had ever claimed immunity, and whether he had fled
the jurisdiction in an attempt to avoid prosecution. Thereafter, upon review of Officer
Reynolds’s testimony, the Court ruled from the bench as follows:
[T]he Court, quite frankly, I just -- I can’t accept the testimony of

Mr. Reynolds at face value. I just -- I mean, as I said, he comes down
to that house with his -- one of his friends yelling at him to come back, don’t
go down there, hey, we’re over here and he responds to him. I mean, he
hears him. He responds to him. I couldn’t pick up exactly what he says, but
he continues on the path to the Halliburton’s house. As I said, after he left,
he had no problem returning to that house and going into the bedroom
where I think he was hoping he could go to sleep without being discovered.
And when the police do arrive, he has enough wherewithal to
make sure that they know he is a police officer, and I think he did
that for one reason. And I find the reason he did that was in the
hopes of getting the professional courtesy that police officers
frequently give to each other and that this thing would blow over.
Then again, I can’t accept what he said in terms of the events that
occurred that next evening before they went to dinner. Not only
did Ms. Halliburton describe the demeanor of this group. Mr. Roddick, who
doesn’t even have a dog in this hunt, has nothing to gain or lose by it, he
comes up here and he clearly testifies to the exact same thing that Ms.
Halliburton testified to, and he testified to it before. I mean, and again, the
Court believes that -- I think these gentlemen thought that, because they
were police officers, they would be able to get away with it.
Mr. Reynolds tries to put a positive perspective on this case to say listen, I
flew down at my own expense and voluntarily gave a statement as to what
occurred on this particular occasion. He did that after he gets a voicemail
left from the Metropolitan Police Department. Up until that point in time,
I suspect he was having a ten-day, twenty-day, however many days it was
before the phone call came in, sigh of relief that life was back to normal in
New York, and I can go on, and this is all behind me and nothing is going to
happen. And then oops, there’s a voicemail left by a detective who had the
wherewithal to investigate this matter much further to try and get to the
bottom of what was going on and with the grace of Mr. Roddick having video
kind of assisted in establishing the events that occurred on that evening.
According to the presentence report, before he came down here, I.A. was
also involved, so internal affairs. So, while he comes down here voluntarily,
I don’t think he was in a position to do otherwise. He knew that the gig was
up. Metro knew exactly who his was. They were able to identify him, and
they weren't going to just drop the ball and say don't come back to Nashville.
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And then, quite frankly, in his mea culpas today, every one of those
mea culpas started out with the fact that I regret this because of
what it has done to my life. The only time -- or the first time that it
came up, and the impact that it had on the Halliburtons, was when Mr.
Yarbrough so eloquently directed him to that particular aspect of that
situation, that oh, yeah, there was somebody else that, you know, was in –
was involved in this, that maybe I ought to say I’m sorry for what it caused
to them as well. So, I kind of question just how sincere his apology
was, just how regretful he was. I think, had he really felt that from the
beginning, he would have dealt with it while he was here in Nashville. They
would have come clean. They would have told the police what was going on.
He found out the next day that his friends lied to the police. They
did nothing to correct those very lies, and they’re police officers.
I mean, they, of all people, I’m sure, get frustrated constantly by citizens
who lie to them when they’re trying to do investigations. And yet, they are
perpetrating that absolute lie and fraud on the Metro Police Department.
And again, but for a couple of detectives who stayed on top of it, they would
have gotten away with it.
As far as the racial slur, obviously everyone in this courtroom absolutely

knows how abhorrent that is, and repugnant, and cannot, under any
circumstances, be -- well, I can’t even get the word out, mitigated. Let me
use that word. And I just don’t know what I – I will -- I don’t have any
reason to believe he has any kind of racial animosity in him. It just seems
awful unusual that, out of the blue, something that is not a part of you
becomes a part of you on a particular night, but there’s no question that the
seriousness of that vile type of conduct.
Id. at p. 109, line 8–p. 112, line 18 (emphases added).
54. After Officer Reynolds’s sentencing hearing, the Court determined that
Officer Reynolds’s conduct had profoundly impacted the Halliburtons and would
continue to impact the Halliburtons, finding that:
Not only were they terrorized for that seven or eight minutes, which
probably seemed like seven or eight hours, they’ve continued to suffer
repercussions of it to this very day. I mean, you can tell, just in the way Ms.
Halliburton was testifying, that it’s still fresh on her mind and she’s still
coping with the consequences of what occurred.
I also noticed that, when Mr. Reynolds got up here to testify, and I don’t
know if it was a son, but one of the individuals that I assumed was her son,
when he got up, he just shook his head and walked out of the room like, you
know, I just can’t deal with this. So, the Court is fully satisfied that the
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consequences of the seven or eight minutes go well beyond that night and
24 continue to this very day to the extent that a person who has lived in
her -- this same house all of her life, and therefore her children in that same
house all their life, none of them want to live there any longer. They can’t
find any peace, and comfort, and safety in their own home, which is
supposed to be the one place we all are able to go to and have those things
and total peace of mind. And that has been clearly and unequivocally
stolen from the Halliburtons, all of them.
See id. at p. 108, line 9–p. 109, line 7.
55. In sum, the Court correctly determined that “the lives of four people have
been forever shattered.” Id. at p. 112, lines 22–23.
56. This action, arising out of the same events, seeks to make Ms. Halliburton
whole.
IV. CAUSES OF ACTION
COUNT 1: TRESPASS
57. Ms. Halliburton incorporates and realleges the foregoing allegations as if
fully set forth herein.
58. Officer Reynolds trespassed upon Ms. Halliburton’s property and forcefully
entered her home during the middle of the night.
59. Officer Reynolds did not have consent to enter Ms. Halliburton’s home.
60. By trespassing upon Ms. Halliburton’s property and entering her home
without her consent during the middle of the night, Officer Reynolds far exceeded the
scope of implied license enjoyed by the general public.
61. Officer Reynolds entered Ms. Halliburton’s home without her consent and
without any legal right to do so.
62. Officer Reynolds pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal trespass with respect
to his unlawful entry into Ms. Halliburton’s home.
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63. Officer Reynolds was, in fact, guilty of aggravated criminal trespass with
respect to his unlawful entry into Ms. Halliburton’s home.
64. Through the foregoing actions, Officer Reynolds trespassed upon Ms.
Halliburton’s property.
65. Ms. Halliburton suffered damages as a consequence of Officer Reynolds’s
trespass, and she is entitled to recover for all injuries sustained as a natural and proximate
result of the Defendant's wrong.
COUNT 2: TRESPASS TO CHATTELS/CONVERSION
67. During the course of his home invasion, Officer Reynolds kicked in Ms.
Halliburton’s front door, splitting her door’s frame and breaking it.
68. By kicking in Ms. Halliburton’s front door, Officer Reynolds intentionally
used or intermeddled with Ms. Halliburton’s rightful possession of her personal property.
69. By kicking in Ms. Halliburton’s front door, Officer Reynolds appropriated
Ms. Halliburton’s door to his own use and benefit, exercising dominion over it, in defiance
of Ms. Halliburton’s rightful exclusive ownership of her personal property.
70. Officer Reynolds did not have Ms. Halliburton’s permission or
authorization to kick in Ms. Halliburton’s front door.
71. Through the foregoing actions, Officer Reynolds is liable for trespass to her
chattels and/or conversion of Ms. Halliburton’s personal property.
trespass to chattels and conversion, and she is entitled to recover for all injuries sustained
-16-

as a natural and proximate result of the Defendant's wrong.
COUNT 3: ASSAULT
74. After kicking in Ms. Halliburton’s front door, Officer Reynolds entered Ms.
Halliburton’s home and advanced toward her in a threatening manner.
75. Officer Reynolds attempted—or gave the unmistakable appearance of an
intentional attempt—to do harm to, or to frighten, Ms. Halliburton.
76. Officer Reynolds threatened Ms. Halliburton with deadly force and
threatened to break her neck.
77. Officer Reynolds assaulted Ms. Halliburton.
78. Officer Reynolds has unqualifiedly admitted that he assaulted Ms.
Halliburton.
79. Officer Reynolds pleaded guilty to assaulting Ms. Halliburton.
80. Through the foregoing actions, Officer Reynolds is liable to Ms. Halliburton
for assault.
assault, and she is entitled to recover for all injuries sustained as a natural and proximate
result of the Defendant's wrong.
COUNT 4: VIOLATION OF 42 U.S.C. § 1983
83. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds acted pursuant to
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his purported authority under color of law as an Officer of the New York City Police
Department, which authority he repeatedly and affirmatively asserted.
84. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds purported to
exercise his official authority as a New York police officer.
85. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds invoked his official
authority as a New York police officer as a justification for his conduct.
86. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds acted pursuant to
an expressly asserted claim of official immunity due to his status as a New York police
officer.
87. As an explanation for his tortious conduct, Officer Reynolds specifically,
affirmatively, and immediately invoked his status as a New York police officer and
informed law enforcement that he was a New York police officer in order to avoid arrest.
88. Officer Reynolds specifically claimed that he had immunity for any and all
actions that he directed toward Ms. Halliburton and her children because he was a New
York police officer.
89. Officer Reynolds called upon and utilized the assistance of other NYPD
Officers in an effort to avoid prosecution and accountability for his criminal misconduct.
90. The Davidson County Criminal Court, in a final and unappealed sentencing
order, specifically found that Officer Reynolds and his fellow NYPD Officers “thought
that, because they were police officers, they would be able to get away with it.” Id. at p.
110, lines 8–10.
91. Officer Reynolds broke into Ms. Halliburton’s home, assaulted Ms.
Halliburton and her children, threatened Ms. Halliburton with deadly force, and then
attempted to intimidate Ms. Halliburton from reporting his misconduct to law
-18-

enforcement pursuant to his affirmative claim of authority as a New York police officer
and because he believed and contended that, as a New York police officer, he was actually
or constructively immune from prosecution, liability, or accountability of any kind.
92. Officer Reynolds took affirmative steps to intimidate Ms. Halliburton from
reporting him to law enforcement and to compel her silence by declaring—and expressly
invoking—his status as a New York police officer.
93. Officer Reynolds attempted to coerce Ms. Halliburton into abandoning her
legitimate criminal complaint about his criminal misconduct based on his claimed
immunity as a New York police officer.
94. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds acted under
pretense of official authority under color of law and attempted to use his status as a New
York police officer advantageously and for illegal and unlawfully coercive purposes.
95. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds acted under color
of law by invoking and abusing the position given to him by the State of New York and the
New York City Police Department.
96. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds’s claim of official
authority due to his status as a New York police officer pervaded, and was inextricably
intertwined with, his conduct toward Ms. Halliburton and her children.
97. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Ms. Halliburton had a clearly
established right not to be gratuitously assaulted for absolutely no reason.
established right not to have her home unlawfully invaded for absolutely no reason.
established right not to be subjected to unlawful coercion based on police authority.
-19-

established right not to be threatened with deadly force for exercising her constitutionally
protected right to report criminal activity.
established right not to be threatened for exercising her constitutionally protected right
to call the police and file a legitimate criminal complaint.
102. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds, acting under color
of law as a New York police officer, abused his authority in a naked attempt to interfere
with—and to chill Ms. Halliburton from exercising—her First Amendment right to report
his crimes against her to law enforcement.
103. New York’s personal injury statute of limitations applies to Ms.
Halliburton’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims regarding the unlawful actions that Officer
Reynolds undertook in his capacity as a New York police officer, which Ms. Halliburton
states against Officer Reynolds in his individual capacity only.
COUNT 5: NEGLIGENCE
104. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Officer Reynolds had a duty of care
to conduct himself as a reasonably prudent person would.
105. Officer Reynolds asserted under oath that he “made a mistake” because he
“consumed too much alcohol.” Exhibit #1, p. 67, lines 6–7.
106. In the alternative to the above-pleaded intentional misconduct, although
acting only unintentionally, Officer Reynolds acted negligently and/or recklessly and
failed to exercise ordinary or reasonable care under the circumstances.
107. Through his negligent and/or reckless conduct, Officer Reynolds breached
-20-

his duty of care to Ms. Halliburton, proximately causing her to suffer injury and loss.
108. Officer Reynolds is liable to Ms. Halliburton for all damages suffered as a
consequence of his negligent acts and omissions.
COUNT 6: NEGLIGENCE PER SE
109. Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 39-14-408, 39-14-405(a), 39-13-101(a), and
39-17-309 are penal statutes that are designed to protect the public.
110. Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 39-14-408, 39-14-405(a), 39-13-101(a), and
39-17-309 clearly define the conduct that they prohibit.
111. Ms. Halliburton belongs to the class of persons that Tennessee Code
Annotated §§ 39-14-408, 39-14-405(a), 39-13-101(a), and 39-17-309 were designed to
protect.
112. Ms. Halliburton’s injuries are of the type that Tennessee Code Annotated §§
39-14-408, 39-14-405(a), 39-13-101(a), and 39-17-309 were designed to prevent.
113. Officer Reynolds admitted under oath that “going in somebody’s house and
terrorizing them is not a mistake. That’s a crime[.]” See Exhibit #1, p. 67, lines 13–15.
114. Officer Reynolds has admitted, under oath, that he “committed a crime that
night[.]” Id. at lines 16–18.
115. Officer Reynolds has admitted, under oath, that he committed “[m]ultiple
crimes” that night, id. at line 19; specifically, aggravated criminal trespass and multiple
assaults against Ms. Halliburton and her children, to which he pleaded guilty. See id. at
lines 19–21.
116. Officer Reynolds’s violations of Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 39-14-408,
39-14-405(a), 39-13-101(a), and 39-17-309 were negligent per se, and Officer Reynolds is
-21-

liable to Ms. Halliburton for all damages suffered as a consequence of his per se negligent
acts.
COUNT 7: NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
117. During the course of his interactions with Ms. Halliburton and her children,
Officer Reynolds acted unreasonably and failed to use ordinary or reasonable care under
the circumstances.
118. As a consequence of Officer Reynolds’s breach of his duty of care, Ms.
Halliburton witnessed her children threatened with deadly force and the risk of serious
and imminent physical harm.
119. But for Officer Reynolds’s breach of his duty of care, Ms. Halliburton would
not have suffered a serious and severe emotional injury.
120. Witnessing Officer Reynolds terrorize her and her children, reasonably
fearing that her children would be murdered in front of her, and fearing that she would
be subject to deadly force herself caused Ms. Halliburton to suffer serious and severe
emotional injury that is supported by scientific proof.
121. As a consequence of Officer Reynolds’s breach of his duty of care, Officer
Reynolds is liable to Ms. Halliburton for all serious and severe emotional injuries suffered
as a consequence of his negligent infliction of emotional distress upon her.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff respectfully requests:
1. That process issue and be served upon the Defendant, and that the
Defendant be required to appear and answer this Complaint within the time required by
law;
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2. All compensatory, consequential, and incidental damages to which the
Plaintiff is entitled in an amount not less than $1,250,000.00;
3. Punitive damages in an amount not less than $3,750,000.00;
4. That the Plaintiff be awarded her discretionary costs and attorney’s fees
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b);
5. That pre-judgment and post-judgment interest be awarded to the Plaintiff;
6. That all costs be taxed against the Defendant;
7. That a jury of 12 be empaneled to try this cause; and
8. All such further relief as this Court deems just and proper.
Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ Daniel A. Horwitz___________

Daniel A. Horwitz, BPR #032176
1803 Broadway, Suite #531
Nashville, TN 37203
daniel.a.horwitz@gmail.com
(615) 739-2888
Counsel for Plaintiff Conese Halliburton
-23-

1
1 IN THE CRIMINAL COURT, DIVISION VI
FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
2
3 STATE OF TENNESSEE, )
)
4 Plaintiff, )
) Case No. 2019-I-384
5 VS. )
)
6 MICHAEL JOHN REYNOLDS, )
)
7 Defendant. )
______________________________X
8
9
10
11
12 _______________________________________________________
13
14 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
15 TAKEN ON DECEMBER 6th, 2019
16 THE HONORABLE MARK J. FISHBURN, PRESIDING
17
18 _______________________________________________________
19
20
21
22
23 Prepared by:
G. Thomas Nebel
24 Briggs & Associates
222 Second Avenue, North, Suite 340M
25 Nashville, Tennessee 37201
BRIGGS & ASSOCATES 615/482-0037

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1-1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 1 of 119 PageID #: 24
2
1 APPEARANCES:
4 FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
6 GEN. BRIAN EWALD, ESQUIRE

222 SECOND AVENUE, NORTH
7 SUITE 500
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37201
8
9
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
10
11
EDWARD YARBROUGH, ESQUIRE
12 511 UNION STREET
#1600
13 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37219
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

3
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Witness Page
5
Joetta Alderson
6 Direct Examination by Gen. Ewald 5
Cross Examination by Mr. Yarbrough 17
7
Justin Roddick
9
Conese Halliburton
11
Michael Reynolds
12 Direct Examination by Mr. Yarbrough 63
Cross Examination by Gen. Ewald 76
13 Redirect Examination by Mr. Yarbrough 90
14
15
16
17
LIST OF EXHIBITS
18
19
Number Description Page
20
21
1 Presentence report and addendum 4
22
2 D.V.D. of security camera footage 15
23
3 Google maps images of scene 29
24
25

4
1 (Whereupon, the following proceedings were
2 held in open court.)
3 THE COURT: All right. Are we ready to
4 proceed on State v. Michael Reynolds?
5 GEN. EWALD: Yes, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: All right.
7 GEN. EWALD: Your Honor, this is set for a
8 hearing on Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds pled guilty to

9 four counts, aggravated criminal trespass, three counts
10 of assault. Mr. Reynolds has eligibility for 40-35-313.
11 So, this hearing is to determine essentially the length
12 of sentence, manner of sentence, whether or not Mr.
13 Reynolds will be granted judicial diversion. The State
14 would ask that a copy of the presentence report be made
15 an exhibit to this hearing. And I have two witnesses
16 that are here, a third that I hope is on the way, but I
17 could get started calling them. At this point, I would
18 first call Joetta Alderson.

19 THE CLERK: Mr. Ewald, there is an addendum.
20 GEN. EWALD: Okay. I'll ask that that also
21 be made.
22 THE COURT: Oh, there is?
23 THE CLERK: Yes, sir. It's just a one-page
24 addendum.
25 (Collective Exhibit 1 was marked and entered

5
1 into evidence.)
2 Whereupon,
3 Joetta Alderson,
4 having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified
5 as follows:
6 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY GEN. EWALD:
7 Q. Ma'am, will you please state your name for
8 the record?
9 A. My name is Joetta Alderson.
10 Q. Can you please slowly spell your first and
11 last names?
12 A. J-o-e-t-t-a, A-l-d-e-r-s-o-n.
13 Q. And Ms. Alderson, where do you live?
14 A. I live at 1208 Ashwood Avenue.
15 Q. How long have you lived there?
16 A. Fifty-some-odd years.
17 Q. All right, and your next door neighbor, if
18 you're looking out your front door to your left, who is

19 that?
20 A. That's Conese Halliburton.
21 Q. Okay, and she's the alleged victim in this
22 case. How long have you known Ms. Halliburton?
23 A. Ever since she was born.
24 Q. Okay. Has she lived at that location since
25 she was born?

6
1 A. Yes.
2 THE COURT: Just for clarification, is she
3 your next door neighbor to your left or across the
4 street and to your left?
5 THE WITNESS: It's right next door to my
6 left.
7 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.
8 BY GEN. EWALD:
9 Q. And do you know a third individual, Justin
10 Roddick, do you know that individual as a neighbor of
11 yours?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Where does he live?
14 A. He lives at 1209 Ashwood Avenue. It's kind
15 of adjacent to where I live.
16 Q. Okay. Is that on your side of the street or
17 across Ashwood?
18 A. It's across the street.

19 Q. Okay. All right. Directly next door to your
20 right of your home, what is located there, the next --
21 A. It's an Airbnb.
22 Q. Okay, and are there actually -- is it one
23 lot, two homes built on that lot?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Okay. That's a common thing in Nashville,

7
1 common set up in 12th, South; is that correct?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Okay, and you said it's an Airbnb. There are
4 two buildings there, two homes. Are they each rented
5 out as Airbnbs?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Okay. How long has that been going on for?
8 A. Three, four years now.

9 Q. Okay.
10 A. Every since they built them.
11 Q. Okay, but no one has ever lived there
12 permanently in those?
13 A. There was a lady that lived there, but she
14 did sell it. And after she sold it, then it became the
15 Airbnb.
16 Q. Okay. All right. I'm going to direct you to
17 July 9th of 2018, which is where an incident took place
18 in the early morning hours. I'm not going to ask you

19 about that incident, okay, but later on on July 9th, as
20 the day went on --
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. -- did something happen that you were present
23 for on Ashwood?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. What was that?

8
1 A. That was when Ms. Halliburton confronted the
2 Defendant.
3 Q. Okay. Before we get to that, have you had
4 contact with Ms. Halliburton before that took place?
5 A. She and I were sitting out on my porch. We
6 were talking.
7 Q. Okay. So, had you been filled in a little
8 bit on her account of what had happened earlier that

9 evening during the night?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Okay. All right. So, with whatever
12 information she supplied to you, you're sitting on your
13 porch. What did you see?
14 A. They proceeded to come out of the Airbnb.
15 And when they came out of the Airbnb, she went across
16 the street. I went with her, and then she began to
17 confront -- to talk to them about what had happened.
18 Q. All right. Now, we're referring to them.

19 Describe this group that we're talking about.
20 A. It was a bunch of men, okay.
21 Q. How many, do you think?
22 A. Six, seven, something like that.
23 Q. Okay, and they came out. Now, again, there
24 are two Airbnbs. Is this the one right next door to you
25 or would this have been the one one next to it?

9
1 A. It was the -- it's the blue one. One is
2 gray, I believe, and the other one is blue. It's the
3 blue.
4 Q. Okay. So, this blue one, there's a house in
5 between your house and it; is that right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Okay. So, these individuals all come out of
8 that Airbnb, and Ms. Halliburton goes down to talk to

9 them, and you go with her; is that right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. All right. Describe that interaction, what
12 was said, what the tenor of the conversation was like?
13 A. Well, Ms. Halliburton was upset because, you
14 know, what had happened about one of them breaking into
15 the house, okay. And it was -- it was another guy
16 there. He was saying well, we're policemen from New
17 York, okay. It's not really a big issue or anything
18 like that. He just probably had maybe too much to

19 drink, and Ms. Halliburton said she wanted him arrested.
20 Q. The person that was doing most of the talking
21 from that group, the group of men, was that the
22 individual Ms. Halliburton was identifying as the
23 individual that had broken into her home?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Okay.

10
1 A. No.
2 Q. All right. So, the individual that was
3 making these statements about it was not a big deal --
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. -- that's a different person than --
6 A. That is correct.
7 Q. -- Officer Reynolds; is that correct?
9 Q. All right. Do you recall the individual she
10 was pointing out as the person? Do you recall what that
11 person looked like, the person that broke into her home?
12 A. Yes, that gentleman over there.
13 Q. Okay, and you've said over here. Can you
14 indicate who you are referring to by what he's wearing?
15 A. Blue. It's either blue or black, or gray, or
16 something tie.
17 MR. YARBROUGH: We'll stipulate that that's
18 our client, Your Honor.

20 GEN. EWALD: Thank you.
21 THE WITNESS: Okay, and he began to
22 apologize. He apologized to me. He said he was sorry.
23 He had too much to drink, and I said to him, you need to
24 tell her that because it happened to her. It didn't
25 happen to me.

11
1 BY GEN. EWALD:
2 Q. Okay. What was Ms. Halliburton's demeanor
3 like as that conversation kind of progressed?
4 A. She was upset. She was very upset, and her
5 children were afraid, you know. So, that made her even
6 a little bit more upset.
7 Q. Okay. Going back, and I hate to go backwards
8 in time, but when Ms. Halliburton was telling you and

9 explaining to you what had happened overnight, what was
10 her demeanor then in expressing what had happened?
11 A. She was shaken up.
12 Q. Okay.
13 A. She was shaken up.
14 Q. Okay. What -- how did the conversation end
15 then with this group of men?
16 A. Well, they were going on back into the house.
17 She went back to her home, to back to my steps, and she
18 went to her home, and then she called the police, came
19 back and she sat down -- you know, we were sitting on
20 the steps just kind of talking then. By that time,
21 whoever must have managed the Airbnb, they had gotten
22 kicked out. And so, they left. They got in the car and
23 left. She had called the police and was waiting for the
24 police to come and, you know, they got in the car and
25 just left.

12
1 Q. Okay. Did they police eventually arrive?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Okay, and that was kind of a follow-up call
4 from the initial call that happened overnight, right?
5 A. Yes. Yes.
6 Q. How long did it take for the police to
7 arrive?
8 A. About an hour and a half, maybe two.

9 Q. Okay, and that group was gone by then?
10 A. They were gone by then, yes.
11 Q. Okay. Anything else from that conversation
12 that happened in the street, that you remember, that you
13 think is relevant to this hearing that was said?
14 A. The one that did a whole lot of the talking,
15 it's like he kept trying to incite some type of
16 altercation between us and them as though that, if the
17 police did call, it's not going to be a big issue
18 because they were policemen from New York.

19 Q. Okay. Okay. What was your reaction to that
20 statement or those kind of statements?
21 A. I thought that it made it seem like there was
22 no justice to me. What had happened to her could happen
23 to anybody, but as long as they were policemen, then it
24 was okay. Now, the policemen that did come tried to
25 offer us the best solutions that they could for this

13
1 situation.
2 Q. Okay. So, the police that did respond, Metro
3 Police --
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. -- they did not ignore the --
6 A. No.
7 Q. -- complaints that were provided or didn't
8 kind of sweep it under the rug or anything like that?

9 A. They didn't sweep it under the rug, but you
10 can't arrest somebody that's not there.
11 Q. Sure. Sure, and as far as you know, that
12 group of men didn't return back to that house or come
13 back to the street?
15 Q. Is that right?
16 A. That's correct.
17 Q. Ms. Alderson, I was going to show a clip that
18 I was hoping that you could identify. I'll stop it here

19 for a second. Do you recognize -- hang on a second. It
20 will pop up on your monitor. There you go. Ms.
21 Alderson, do you see that? Oh, it's not on yours?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Okay.
24 THE COURT: Can you see mine?
25 THE WITNESS: I can see some of yours. That

14
1 looks like it's Justin's house. That's 1209 Ashwood.
2 BY GEN. EWALD:
3 Q. If you want to go -- if you can see well
4 enough for me to just kind of establish what we're
5 looking at, that's fine. So, you think this is --
6 that's Mr. Roddick's house; is that correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Okay, and in relation to this front yard that

9 we're looking at here and the foreground, where would
10 your home be, where would these Airbnbs be and where
11 would Ms. Halliburton's house be?
12 A. The Airbnb would be directly across the
13 street. See, look at the white van.
14 Q. Right there?
15 A. Right there.
16 Q. Okay.
17 A. That's where the Airbnb would be.
18 Q. So, kind of one there and one there, maybe?

19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Okay.
21 A. And you see the next house. It looks like
22 green steps. That's my house.
23 Q. Okay, and Ms. Halliburton's house would then
24 be this next one --
25 A. Her house would be the next one, yes.

15
1 Q. -- down that way; is that right? All right,
2 and we've got a group of folks right here, it looks like
3 on the sidewalk or street, in front of Mr. Roddick's
4 house. Do you recognize that group?
5 A. Well, I know that's us.
6 Q. Okay. So, this is --
7 A. And them.
8 Q. This is the conversation that you're

9 referring to; is that correct?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. I'm going to play it because there's some
12 audio that it picks up.
13 (Whereupon, the video was played.)
14 BY GEN. EWALD:
15 Q. Is that what you recall?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Is that an accurate representation of what
18 took place that afternoon?

19 A. Yes.
20 GEN. EWALD: I'll ask that that clip be made
21 an exhibit to this testimony, and I actually have a disk
22 with another clip on it that I'll submit after all the
23 testimony is done.
25 (Exhibit 2 was marked and entered into

16
1 evidence.)
2 BY GEN. EWALD:
3 Q. Ms. Alderson, can you -- being a resident of
4 this neighborhood for fifty-plus years and looking at
5 the changes that have occurred in very recent time in
6 that neighborhood, can you talk a little bit to the
7 Court about how the changes in the neighborhood have
8 affected long-time residents like you and Ms.

9 Halliburton?
10 A. I grew up there. We moved over there when I
11 was thirteen years old. I used to know everybody that
12 lived up and down the street. You know, everybody knew
13 this one's family and that one's family. Everybody
14 knew. It was a neighborhood then. It wasn't -- it
15 wasn't a lot of drugs or anything like that. There
16 wasn't any gangs or anything like that, but it was a
17 neighborhood. Now, with the Airbnb, it's a fight to do
18 anything and everything. They feel entitled to do

19 anything that they want to. They can come through your
20 yard if they want to. They can put a hammock in your
21 yard. They throw t-shirts on top of your roof. They
22 throw tobacco in the yard. This is the Airbnb. These
23 people come in. They're there for a weekend. They're
24 going back home. So, whatever happens there, it just
25 happens. Now, you can have them put out, but still, I'm

17
1 the one that's got to go out there in the yard and clean
2 up whatever they've thrown out there. They put trash in
3 my trash cans. Sometimes, it gets knocked over. My
4 neighbors have had to come and help me to pick it up,
5 but it has been a great change. I am a reasonable
6 neighbor. They hoop, and holler, and sing two or three
7 o'clock in the morning. It's just -- it's been a bad
8 change. People are entitled to come and visit, but

9 treat it like you would treat your home. That's all the
10 neighborhood wants. Don't do all the damage, and then
11 you're gone away.
12 Q. Ma'am, is there anything I've failed to ask
13 you about that you think needs to be said at this
14 hearing or anything you remember from that time, July
15 9th, that I've failed to cover with you?
16 A. No, you've covered it pretty much.
17 Q. Okay.
18 A. I just ask for justice.

19 GEN. EWALD: Thank you, ma'am.
20 THE WITNESS: Do I get up?
21 THE COURT: No.
22 MR. YARBROUGH: Very briefly, Your Honor.
23 CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. YARBROUGH:
24 Q. I'm sorry, I didn't pick up the correct
25 pronunciation of your name. Please, ma'am, tell me

18
1 again?
2 A. Joetta Alderson.
3 Q. Alderson?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Thank you very much. This may come as a
6 surprise, but I lived at 12th and Caruthers when I was
7 seven years old, and I know exactly what you're talking
8 about. How far is Ashwood from Caruthers?

9 A. Just a couple of blocks.
10 Q. A couple of blocks?
11 A. Uh-huh.
12 Q. And my daughter, who graduated from Belmont
13 just a few years ago, lived on Kirkwood.
14 A. Uh-huh.
15 Q. And that's just a few more blocks south,
16 isn't it?
18 Q. Yes, ma'am, and speaking just as a lawyer for

19 Mr. Reynolds, I agree with you a hundred percent about
20 what you're saying about these things.
21 A. Thank you.
22 Q. But I want to make sure I understood your
23 testimony about one thing. Mr. Reynolds was not the man
24 making those statements that we all feel were
25 inappropriate. He was not the person making those

19
1 statements, was he?
2 A. He made the statement that he was --
3 Q. He was sorry?
4 A. -- he was sorry.
5 Q. Yes.
6 A. He had too much to drink.
7 Q. Right.
8 A. He made that statement.

9 Q. But the other statements were made by one of
10 his companions?
11 A. Yeah, one of his companions.
12 MR. YARBROUGH: Thank you very much, yes,
13 ma'am.
14 THE WITNESS: Do I get down?
15 THE COURT: What, if anything, did Mr.
16 Reynolds do in response to this friend that was with him
17 that you kind of called an agitator?
18 THE WITNESS: He just -- he just said I'm

19 sorry, I'm just sorry, I had too much to drink.
20 THE COURT: But did he do anything to try and
21 have his friend step down or?
22 THE WITNESS: He didn't try to stop him or
23 anything like that. No, he didn't try to stop him.
24 THE COURT: Anything else?
25 GEN. EWALD: No, Your Honor, not for this

20
1 witness.
2 THE COURT: All right. Now, you can step
3 down, Ms. Alderson. Thank you very much.
4 GEN. EWALD: The State calls Justin Roddick.
5 Whereupon,
6 Justin Roddick,
8 as follows:
10 Q. Sir, can you please state your name for the
11 record?
12 A. Justin Roddick.
13 Q. And please slowly spell your first and last
14 names?
15 A. J-u-s-t-i-n, R-o-d-d-i-c-k.
16 Q. And Mr. Roddick, where do you live?
17 A. 1209 Ashwood Avenue.
18 Q. Okay, and do you know Ms. Alderson who just

19 got off the witness stand?
20 A. Briefly. We've lived on Ashwood for ten
21 years on the other side of the street. So, we don't
22 necessarily hang out a lot, but great neighbors, yeah.
23 Q. Okay. Across the street neighbor?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. What about Ms. Halliburton, Conese

21
1 Halliburton, do you know her?
2 A. The first time I met her was -- was the day
3 -- the morning after it happened.
4 Q. Okay. All right. So, you've lived on
5 Ashwood for ten years. And since you have lived there,
6 at some point, you installed a Ring camera security
7 system; is that correct?
8 A. Yeah, it's actually the Nest camera --

9 Q. Nest, I'm sorry.
10 A. Yeah, we have six because it was starting to
11 get to be a problem with Airbnbs. So, we decided that,
12 since we couldn't get any help, we just would monitor it
13 ourselves.
14 Q. Okay. How long have you had that in place
15 before July 9th of 2018, if you know?
16 A. About a year, and I'm kind of the go-to guy.
17 When something happens on the street, the neighbors come
18 and ask me for the footage.

19 Q. Okay. So, you're saying this has happened
20 more than once when people have come looking for
21 footage?
22 A. This isn't even the first breaking and
23 entering. So, no.
24 Q. Okay. We can go to that now if you want to
25 discuss that issue. I asked Ms. Alderson about that as

22
1 well. You, as a ten-year resident on Ashwood, have also
2 seen a lot of changes happen in the recent years,
3 correct?
4 A. Yes, sir.
5 Q. Can you tell the Court also your opinion of
6 how the changes have been, what it's like living on that
7 street as houses get torn down and tall skinnies get put
8 up, Airbnbs move in? Tell the Court a little bit about
9 that.
10 A. It is a very busy area now. A lot of Ubers
11 and Airbnbs, and we're fine with -- you know, we're fine
12 with the business models. There's several on the
13 street. You would never know there was an Airbnb. The
14 two directly across the street from my house can hold
15 twenty-four people on a given weekend, and they both
16 have roof-top decks. So, it gets kind of wild down
17 there. So, we've been on the news several times, and
18 we've -- we've gone to the city. We've talked to the

19 Mayor. We've talked to as many people as we can, and
20 still not -- it's just crazy.
21 Q. Okay. Are those still operating as Airbnbs
22 today?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Okay. All right. Let's go to July 9th of
25 2018. And I don't want to go into necessarily the

23
1 incident that took place, any information you got from
2 anyone else, but at some point on July 9th, did someone
3 approach you asking about footage from your Nest camera?
4 A. Yes. In the morning, Conese came over and
5 she was crying and shaking, and I was out in my yard
6 mowing the grass. And she said hey, something really
7 horrible happened last night, do you mind looking at
8 your footage. And I said no, and I instantly went

9 inside, went into my office, and I told her -- I said
10 hey, let me go get it and I'll -- meet me back outside
11 in twenty minutes. And I basically went and checked it,
12 and some of the footage was just shown, but we have the
13 night-of footage and the morning footage. And I was
14 basically -- I came back outside. Conese walked across
15 the street on my side of the sidewalk, and we were --
16 that's when we were back in the camera view of the
17 footage you just saw. And basically, that's -- I was
18 showing her the footage when the cab pulled up that the
19 Airbnb guests got out of.
20 Q. Okay, and obviously, you're referring to the
21 clip I just played. Initially, that's... I'll pull up
22 just the beginning of it so you can identify it. Do you
23 see that?
24 A. I can see it on --
25 Q. That's still not working. Can you see off

24
1 the Judge's --
2 A. I can see it on the -- yeah, the Judge's
3 screen.
4 Q. That's your home; is that correct?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. So, we're going off of your Nest security
7 camera; is that right?
8 A. Yes, sir.
9 Q. And were you present in this conversation
10 when this took place?
11 A. Yes, sir.
12 Q. Okay. What do you remember from that
13 conversation?
14 A. I started the conversation. When the Airbnb
15 pulled up, they looked at me. Like six or seven guys
16 got out of a van and said what are you looking at, and I
17 said I think I'm looking at the people that broke into
18 my neighbor's house last night, and that's when it

19 started.
20 Q. Okay. So, this group showed up in a van?
21 A. Uh-huh.
22 Q. Okay. So, they weren't emerging from the
23 home, they were --
24 A. No.
25 Q. -- in a van?

25
1 A. Obviously, they got breakfast or something
2 like that.
3 Q. Okay, and what time of day is this?
4 A. 11:00 or 12:00, I think, because I -- the
5 camera should say it on there.
6 Q. There's -- the clip is named July 9th, 2018
7 at 6:45 p.m. Is that -- do you think that's accurate?
8 A. Yeah, maybe it was a little bit later in the

9 day. I don't know an exact time of day.
10 Q. Okay. All right. So, the van pulls up.
11 You're aware of this information from Ms. Halliburton.
12 You've already seen the footage?
13 A. Yeah, I was explaining to her what had
14 happened. I said yeah, they did go right back in that
15 house, and she said I knew it, I knew it.
16 Q. Okay. So, a van pulls up. Do you remember
17 which individual said to you -- and by which, I mean do
18 you know if it was Officer Reynolds or if it was

19 somebody else?
20 A. Originally, it wasn't. He was the last one
21 to get out of the van.
22 Q. Okay.
23 A. And I was already talking -- the guy that
24 they're talking about that was the agitator, he was a
25 shorter guy and he was definitely the talker of the

26
1 group. And he's the one who pulled me aside, as Conese
2 was yelling, what you didn't see in the video is me
3 trying to calm everybody down and get everybody back in
4 their houses because it was a crazy scene. And he
5 turned to me and said look, we're just a couple cops
6 trying to have a good time. And I said yeah, but you
7 can't do what you did. And that's kind of how we
8 diffused the situation. And so, Conese said hey, you

9 know, we need to call the police, I want you arrested.
10 You can hear her saying I want you arrested, and the
11 smaller guy said, you know, that he had immunity. And
12 then another guy laughed and said he had immunity, and
13 then they all said we have immunity.
14 Q. Okay, and that was with Ms. Halliburton
15 standing there as well; is that correct?
16 A. Yes. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. Anything else about the conversation
18 that you remember that is -- that you think is relevant

19 to this hearing, anything else that was said?
20 A. No. I just -- I remember telling Conese to
21 go back into her house, and I asked them to go back into
22 their Airbnb just because it was getting out of hand.
23 Q. Okay. I don't know if you were still around
24 when the police showed up or not. I didn't know if you
25 spoke with them on that day. Do you remember?

27
1 A. No, they did not -- I did not speak with them
2 on that day.
3 Q. Okay. Eventually, the police met with you,
4 got these clips from you; is that correct?
5 A. Yeah. I think that, originally, the police
6 had told us that there wasn't anything they could do.
7 It was just a misdemeanor at best, and I called the
8 chief of police and, you know, gave him the footage.

9 Q. Okay. All right. I'm going to move from
10 this clip. If I can move to the -- another clip. All
11 right. I'll pause it here on the first -- first frame.
12 Do you recognize what's depicted there?
13 A. Yeah. It's probably when the Metro Police
14 showed up, or close to it, or when they got out of the
15 Airbnb originally.
16 Q. Okay.
17 A. Without the audio, I can't --
18 Q. Sure. Then the clip, again in the upper

19 left-hand corner, is entitled July 9th, 2018 at 2:29
20 a.m. Does that sound to be --
21 A. Yeah, that sounds right. That's when they
22 got out of the cab.
23 Q. Okay. I'm going to play it at this point,
24 the clip. As you said, there's some audio that you can
25 hear as well. I think I'll play maybe the first ten

28
1 minutes or so.
3 BY GEN. EWALD:
4 Q. I'm stopping at 8:03 just to point out so
5 we're all looking in the right area. Kind of right back
6 here, we start to see an individual emerge; is that
7 correct?
8 A. Yes, sir.
10 BY GEN. EWALD:
11 Q. Mr. Roddick, these headlights we're seeing at
12 about 9:45, 9:50, are the police responding, correct?
13 A. Yes, sir.
14 Q. And this point is essentially the police get
15 involved, they find this individual --
16 A. Yeah, and I was asleep for all of this. I
17 didn't see this until the next day. So, I can't really
18 speak to anything that happened.

19 Q. There's no further activity other than kind
20 of the police response and --
21 A. I believe, if you -- if you were to watch the
22 entire tape, I think you see them taking Conese's son in
23 a police car and around the block. And they had the
24 suspect on the porch, and then...
25 Q. This -- this guy?

29
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. The guy on the wall, not the other people
3 that are --
4 A. I don't know. I have no idea. I just know
5 that they sent him around, and you can see a car
6 stopping, and that's it. I have nothing to say.
7 GEN. EWALD: Okay. Fair enough. I'll ask
8 that this be made an exhibit to Mr. Roddick's testimony.

10 MR. YARBROUGH: No objection.
11 BY GEN. EWALD:
12 Q. And Mr. Roddick, I'm just going to hand a few
13 pictures and a map up to you of the area. If you can
14 take a look at those three documents and see if you
15 recognize what's depicted in them?
16 A. Conese's house, the Airbnb, and then this is
17 an overlay of our part of the neighborhood.
18 GEN. EWALD: Okay. I'll ask that that be

19 made a collective exhibit to Mr. Roddick's testimony.
20 If I can briefly publish them?
21 (Collective Exhibit 3 was marked and entered
22 into evidence.)
23 BY GEN. EWALD:
24 Q. All right. Mr. Roddick, we're looking at the
25 corner here of 12th Avenue, South and Ashwood Avenue

30
1 right here.
2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. And this block down to this street, that's
4 kind of what we're referring to; is that correct?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. If you can -- is that screen working in front
7 of you right now?
8 A. It just started working, yes.

9 Q. Great. If you can kind of use your finger
10 and kind of indicate where your house is, where the
11 Airbnbs are?
12 A. This is me. This was the Airbnb. This is
13 Conese's house.
14 Q. Okay, and right in between is Ms. Alderson's
15 house; is that correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 GEN. EWALD: All right. Thank you, sir.
18 Okay. This will be marked as, I guess, 2(b)?

19 THE COURT: Three.
20 GEN. EWALD: Three, I'm sorry. Oh, I'm
21 sorry, 3(b).
22 BY GEN. EWALD:
23 Q. Do you recognize what's depicted in 3(b)?
24 A. Yeah, that's Conese's house to the left.
25 Q. This one here, correct?

31
1 A. Yes, sir.
2 Q. Okay, and then 3(c). Do you recognize what's
3 depicted there?
4 A. Yeah, those are the Airbnbs.
5 Q. So, these Airbnbs, this is Ms. Alderson's
6 house there?
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. Ms. Halliburton is one more down, correct?

9 A. Yes, sir.
10 Q. And then, to your knowledge, do you know
11 which one of these two Airbnbs this group was staying
12 at?
13 A. The blue one, yeah.
14 GEN. EWALD: I'll ask that that be made an
15 exhibit.
16 BY GEN. EWALD:
17 Q. Mr. Roddick, is there anything I've failed to
18 ask you about that you think is relevant for the Court
19 to hear about this incident that happened on July 9th,
20 anything that you think needs to be said that I have
21 failed to ask of you?
22 A. I think everything has been said that I can
23 speak to.
24 GEN. EWALD: Okay. Thank you, sir.
25 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.

32
1 MR. YARBROUGH: We have no questions, Your
2 Honor.
3 THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Roddick.
4 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
5 THE COURT: Oh, I do have one question,
6 excuse me.
8 THE COURT: You said that they all started --

9 you used the term, they all started claiming immunity,
10 including the Defendant?
12 MR. YARBROUGH: Well, if you have that
13 question, may I --
14 THE COURT: Come back, Mr. Roddick.
15 THE WITNESS: Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry.
16 THE COURT: I think I've opened up something.
18 Q. How many were there, how many of the men were

19 there?
20 A. Five, six.
21 Q. Okay, and I thought I heard you say earlier
22 on direct examination that Mr. Reynolds was just kind of
23 looking down and saying he was sorry?
24 A. Oh, that wasn't me. I think that was the
25 other...

33
1 Q. Okay. Well, would you agree with her
2 testimony?
3 A. Yeah, you can hear him say that he is sorry,
4 and then he -- they -- they were laughing at her as she
5 was visibly upset.
6 Q. Okay, but Mr. Reynolds was laughing when he
7 was saying he was sorry?
8 A. Yes, sir. They were all -- it was -- they

9 had already --
10 Q. I don't want a broad brush here, sir. I want
11 --
12 A. Okay.
13 Q. Mr. Reynolds is saying he's sorry, and now
14 you're saying he's laughing. To me, those are two
15 different things. Which is it?
16 A. Have you ever -- I can re-enact it for you.
17 Hey, I'm sorry.
18 Q. No, I'm just asking you which it is, sir?

19 A. He was laughing, sir.
20 Q. But also saying he was sorry and that he just
21 got drunk?
22 A. He was sorry, but they -- they were obviously
23 -- had been drinking again the next day. So, this was
24 the next day. They had come back from being out, and I
25 -- I was right there when Conese said it was you, it was

34
1 you. He goes hey, I'm sorry, it was the wrong house.
2 That's not an I'm very sorry, ma'am. It was hey, I'm
3 sorry, sorry.
4 Q. Would you not agree, sir, that that's a very
5 different recollection of what happened from what the
6 lady said just before you?
7 A. I would say that I was there, and it was my
8 camera footage, and I was physically part of the

9 conversation, sir.
10 MR. YARBROUGH: Nothing further.
11 THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Roddick.
12 GEN. EWALD: Last witness is Ms. Halliburton,
13 Your Honor.
14 Whereupon,
15 Conese Halliburton,
17 as follows:

19 Q. Ma'am, will you please state your name for
20 the record?
21 A. Conese Halliburton.
22 Q. And can you please slowly spell your first
23 and last names, please?
24 A. I'm sorry. C-o-n-e-s-e,
25 H-a-l-l-i-b-u-r-t-o-n.

35
1 Q. And Ms. Halliburton, where do you live?
2 A. 1206 Ashwood Avenue.
3 Q. And how long have you lived there?
4 A. All my life.
5 Q. Okay, and I hate to do this to you, but how
6 old are you?
7 A. Forty-two.
8 Q. Okay. Ms. Halliburton, who lives at your

9 home on Ashwood with you?
10 A. Right now, it's me and three of my sons.
11 Q. Okay. What are their ages?
12 A. Eighteen -- one of them's birthday is
13 tomorrow -- so, he will be ten, and twelve.
14 Q. And back on July 9th of 2018, was it you and
15 the three boys as well or was there --
16 A. No, it was four then.
17 Q. A fourth son; is that correct?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And how old was he then?
20 A. Twenty.
21 Q. Okay. All right. I've asked everybody this
22 question who has testified from your neighborhood. So,
23 I'm going to ask you too. There have been a lot of
24 changes in your neighborhood over the years, especially
25 the recent years; is that correct?

36
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Do you want to tell the Court a little bit
3 about how -- this case aside, obviously, we'll get into
4 this case -- how the neighborhood and your life, in
5 specifics, has been affected by the changing of the
6 neighborhood?
7 A. It went from knowing like everybody to you
8 barely know your neighbors. You really don't see kids

9 anymore playing outside. Everything is like different.
10 Q. Have there -- have you been able to tell a
11 difference with these folks that come in and stay for
12 the weekend and leave?
13 A. Oh, definitely. It's -- so, that's an Airbnb
14 behind my house. Of course, you know, the one up the
15 street, and you've got some people that's respectable
16 and then some people that's not. So, it just all
17 depends. You know, some people come to party and some
18 people come to actually take a vacation.

19 Q. I'm going to talk to you about what happened
20 on July 9th, all right. That night, was everybody that
21 you just testified about, you and the four boys, were
22 they all at home that night?
23 A. Yes, they were at home.
24 Q. Okay, and do you remember what time y'all
25 went to bed, went to sleep?

37
1 A. Two were asleep. My oldest was asleep and
2 the one that's twelve now. They were asleep, but the
3 one that's eighteen now, he was seventeen. He was up.
4 I was up, and my youngest son, we were still up.
5 Q. Okay, and where were you in the home when
6 this incident began?
7 A. I was in my bedroom with my youngest son, and
8 my seventeen year old, I believe he was in his room on

9 his game.
10 Q. Okay, and let's talk a little bit about the
11 way your house is set up, okay. I guess, I should grab
12 3(b), I think. Ms. Halliburton, I'm going to put a
13 photograph that's been previously marked as Exhibit 3(b)
14 on the overhead. Do you recognize what I've zoomed in
15 on there?
16 A. That's my house.
17 Q. All right. So, you've got a set of steps
18 here leading up to your front door; is that correct?

20 Q. And a porch here?
21 A. Uh-huh.
22 Q. All right, and then when you enter your home,
23 what is this room?
24 A. That's the living room.
25 Q. Okay, and then what are these windows?

38
1 A. That's the first bedroom and the second one,
2 the two circles, that's my bedroom.
3 Q. Okay. So, this is where you were?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Correct?
7 Q. And then, when you enter your home into the
8 living room, how do you get to these bedrooms?

9 A. You have to walk down a hallway.
10 Q. Okay. So, there's a hallway that kind of
11 spans all the way down the length of the house; is that
12 correct?
14 Q. All right, and on the other side of the
15 hallway, as in the back side of the house, are there
16 bedrooms on that side as well?
17 A. There's a bathroom that's across from that
18 first bedroom and then, across from my bedroom, there's

19 another bedroom.
20 Q. Okay, and you can kind of see one of the
21 windows to it over there; is that right?
22 A. That's it.
23 Q. Okay. All right. On the early morning hours
24 of July 9th, and we're talking it was like 2:30 in the
25 morning; is that correct?

39
2 Q. Okay. What do you remember happening?
3 A. I was laying in the bed. Actually, my son --
4 my youngest was in the bed with me. We was talking and
5 having a conversation, and I could hear like someone
6 like yelling, and it was like really loud, and it
7 sounded close. And I told Jayden, I was like go look
8 out the window. I was like something doesn't sound

9 right. And --
10 THE COURT: Excuse me, who is Jay? Is that
11 the seventeen --
12 THE WITNESS: That's the seventeen year old.
13 He looked out the window and --
14 BY GEN. EWALD:
15 Q. Which window would this have been?
16 A. The living room, the big window.
17 Q. Okay.
18 A. And he seen Mr. Reynolds in the yard, in the

19 middle of the yard, and he was yelling. And I said get
20 my phone because I was going to call the police because
21 he shouldn't have been in my yard.
22 Q. And so, you initiate a 9-1-1 call before
23 anything has actually even happened to your home?
24 A. Right, because he was -- it was loud, and it
25 was like -- it was like -- it's like -- normally, when

40
1 you can hear people like walking up and down the
2 sidewalk -- his voice was like too close, and that's
3 when I dialed 9-1-1.
4 Q. Okay.
5 A. And I told the operator, I was like hey,
6 there's this guy standing in my yard, and I got no
7 trespassing signs up on -- there's a tree that's like
8 right there. It's a big no trespassing sign. We

9 actually --
10 Q. This tree here?
11 A. Uh-huh.
12 Q. Okay.
13 A. I have one up in the front and the back
14 because of the Airbnb because people was cutting through
15 the yard to the other one that's on the back side of the
16 house. So, I put those up for safety purposes, but
17 anyway --
18 Q. Let me break in. I'm sorry to break in, but

19 could you tell what he was saying while he was in your
20 yard? I know you could hear his voice, but could you
21 tell what was being said?
22 A. I couldn't make out what he was saying. It
23 was just like loud yelling, just like really loud. And
24 while Jayden was like looking out the window and I was
25 on the phone, he said mom, I can't see him anymore. And

41
1 so, I'm telling the operator, I was like I don't know
2 where he is, but I know he's still out there because he
3 was still yelling. And while I was on the phone with
4 her, you know how it sounds like knock -- when somebody
5 is like knocking at your door, but my dogs was like
6 barking like really loud and the house started like
7 shaking. It was like vibrations, like really loud. It
8 was like boom, boom, boom, and I'm telling the lady. I
9 was like it sounds like he's trying to come in my house
10 because it wasn't a knock. It was a boom, and it
11 continued to the point that the last one, you heard the
12 dogs run. And when they ran, Jayden had already -- I
13 think Jayden was already trying to get my oldest son up
14 when he started beating at the door. He was getting him
15 up. My other son that's here today, he had woke up from
16 the sound of him on the door. He came like --
17 Q. I've got to ask you to be specific. When
18 you're saying he, who are you referring to?

19 A. Mr. Reynolds. He was like in the house, not
20 like in the living room. He was... He made it past
21 that first bedroom. And as he --
22 Q. This one?
23 A. Uh-huh.
24 Q. Okay.
25 A. As he was walking down the hallway -- can I

42
1 cuss?
2 Q. If you're saying what he said --
3 THE COURT: If you're quoting what he says.
4 Don't curse just to be cursing.
5 THE WITNESS: No, I won't curse just to be
6 cursing. He was like -- he's like this is my mother
7 fucking house. This is my mother fucking house. And
8 so, I'm on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator and I'm
9 telling her, I was like he's in my house, like hurry up
10 and, you know, get to my kids because he just kept
11 coming like down the hallway. And even though -- even
12 though the dogs -- I had two dogs that was absolutely
13 trying to like bite at him, at his shorts, he was still
14 like fighting them off and he still was coming like down
15 the hallway.
16 BY GEN. EWALD:
17 Q. Where are you standing in the hallway?
18 A. I was standing at my bedroom door.

19 Q. So, back here?
20 A. Back that way. So --
21 Q. And the hallway starts up here?
22 A. The hallway starts right there. So, if you
23 was like inside the house, it would be like in between
24 where the two windows that you had marked. That's how
25 far he made it like down the hallway. And so, even with

43
1 my sons, he's like standing there. And they're like
2 trying to push him back, and he's still like -- he still
3 kept coming down the hall. Nothing was like stopping
4 him.
5 Q. So, your son was actually in between you --
6 A. My oldest son and my seventeen year old was
7 like in between.
8 Q. And were they in physical contact with him?

9 A. They had their bodies up against him. They
10 were like close. They was like -- they was like this
11 close, and I was telling -- and the operator was telling
12 me like tell your sons like don't fight him, just like
13 the police is coming, the police coming. And so, they
14 was like all just arguing. And the... They was just
15 arguing like in the hallway trying to tell him like get
16 out, get out. Like, he was in the house for like seven,
17 eight minutes the whole entire time. So, it was like
18 dogs barking. They're arguing and he's not backing down

19 at all.
20 Q. What was he saying?
21 A. He just kept repeating that this was his
22 house. I can't remember. He was saying other stuff,
23 but like I was scared. I didn't even realize like my
24 youngest son was like hanging onto me like looking
25 around. My other son that was across the hall, he was

44
1 like watching. So, they all like just -- they're just
2 watching everything happen.
3 Q. How did it eventually end?
4 A. The only way that -- I think, once he heard
5 me say and I was telling my sons like the police is like
6 coming, like they're coming. And the lady was telling
7 me, she's like they're like around the corner, they're
8 like coming down the street. And I said they coming

9 down the street, and then my oldest son says to him,
10 he's like if you don't get out of the house -- I can't
11 remember if he said I'm going to fuck you up, I'm going
12 to do something. And then he throws up his hands like
13 see, see, look, you hear what he said to me, you hear
14 what he said to me. And my other son was --
15 Q. Just to be clear, who was throwing up his
16 hands?
17 A. Mr. Reynolds.
18 Q. Okay. Thank you.

19 A. And as he -- he's walking. Like, I'm coming
20 down the hall and he's walking. Like, he walked -- he
21 didn't run out the door. He leisurely just walked out
22 the door. He's saying something about I'm going to
23 shoot y'all niggars, something like that, as he walks
24 out the door. And then, Metro comes probably not even a
25 minute later. It wasn't a lot of time that he walks out

45
1 and they pull up.
2 Q. You said he made a statement. You said it
3 was something like I'll shoot you and used the N. word?
4 A. Uh-huh.
5 Q. I have to be specific just so I understand.
6 When you say it was something like that, do you
7 specifically remember that was what was said?
8 A. He said shooting niggars.

9 Q. Okay. Was that the only time he used that
10 word?
11 A. I don't know if he said it any other time
12 during that -- the exchange.
13 Q. Okay. So, your -- none of your sons ever did
14 actually physically engage him; is that right?
15 A. No.
16 Q. That never happened?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Okay. He walks out. Do the dogs run after

19 him or are the dogs contained within the house?
20 A. One dog was scared. She ran the other way,
21 and they just barked.
22 Q. Okay. Nothing was taken from inside,
23 correct?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Okay. The officers come real quickly,

46
1 correct?
2 A. Uh-huh.
3 Q. Did you see where Mr. Reynolds went? Like,
4 were you able to know which way he went --
5 A. No, but I knew he had to be somewhere close
6 because he disappeared too fast.
7 Q. Okay, and did you know prior to this whole
8 incident whether or not -- had you seen Mr. Reynolds

9 like over the weekend at some point connected to that
10 Airbnb two doors down or --
11 A. I think I recall seeing him like -- like
12 maybe days like prior when I was sitting on Ms.
13 Alderson's porch.
14 Q. Okay. So, you knew there was at least
15 somebody in the Airbnbs?
16 A. Yeah, because it was close to the 4th of
17 July.
18 Q. Okay. When the officers arrived, what

19 happened next?
20 A. I told the -- I can't remember his name, but
21 we gave the officer the description of what he had on
22 because we all knew what he had on because we seen what
23 he had on. And he got on his radio and he kept putting
24 -- he said the wrong description. We was like no,
25 that's not what he had on. We knew exactly like what he

47
1 had on. And they -- I remember seeing, you know, some
2 of them was like going to the side of the house looking
3 for him. And I kept telling the guy, I said go look in
4 the Airbnb, and I said look at the one that's like
5 directly next to the -- to my neighbor's house. I was
6 like there's no way that he could have disappeared that
7 fast during the -- during that time because it was too
8 many officers on the scene for somebody to just

9 completely disappear like that in the dark. It was like
10 he had to be in the house. And I had a panic attack and
11 I started getting sick, and I went and I started
12 throwing up, but they took Jayden to go see if they
13 could identify somebody. And they was like well, we
14 have somebody that was sitting outside on the wall and
15 maybe that could be him, but when Jayden came back, he
16 said mom, he's like I don't think that was him not
17 unless he went inside and changed clothes.
18 Q. Okay. So, to your knowledge, Mr. Reynolds

19 was not located that night, correct?
20 A. No, I don't -- and I don't understand why.
21 Q. Okay. Did you go out, or see where the
22 police went, or any further interaction outside of your
23 home that evening like in the middle of the night?
24 A. I went to my neighbor like that's directly
25 across the street way after the police left.

48
1 Q. Okay. After the police were gone?
2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. Okay. The next time you saw -- obviously,
4 you went to Mr. Roddick at some point that -- basically,
5 later that day, correct?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. And why was that?
8 A. I had posted on the Nextdoor app to see if

9 anybody had like camera footage, just anything, if
10 anybody knew anything, had seen anything. You know, a
11 couple people responded back what I need to do, and I
12 seen my neighbor across the street, and I was talking to
13 her. And when I seen Justin outside, I was like I'm
14 going to ask him. And I went to go ask him did he have
15 any footage, and he's like oh -- he's like my camera is
16 directed -- you know, aimed towards your house, and he
17 was like I have audio. And I was like okay, could you
18 look at it, it was around 2:30. And he's like okay, no

19 problem. And he went in his house, and he came back
20 out, and we were looking at footage of him and another
21 guy pulled up in a -- I can't remember. It was like a
22 car, but it was Uber.
23 Q. Uh-huh?
24 A. They pulled up a little ways from my house.
25 Q. Okay. I don't know if it was while you were

49
1 interacting with Justin that time or if it was later in
2 the day or something, but did you eventually see this
3 group emerge from this --
4 A. Uh-huh, while we -- while I was talking to
5 Justin. They -- I remember them coming out. I remember
6 there was an Uber that pulled up.
7 Q. Okay.
8 A. And they came out like a group. It was like

9 a big group of them. They came out. And so, I'm
10 looking at it, and Justin, he's actually the one that
11 spoke up for me because I couldn't say anything. I was
12 shaken. When I seen him, I knew immediately that that
13 was him.
14 Q. That's what I was going to ask. Did you
15 recognize Mr. Reynolds in that group as the same person
16 that you had seen the night before?
17 A. I did.
18 Q. Okay, and what was the interaction like?

19 A. When I seen him, I was like -- I was pointing
20 as they was like coming out of the house, and I was like
21 no, that's not you. I was like no, it's you right
22 there, and I was like you. And Justin is saying which
23 one of y'all kicked in my neighbor's door. So, they
24 were all like oh, you know, we don't know what you're
25 talking about like very nonchalant and joking like it

50
1 was funny and it was a joke. And I was like you know
2 what you did. And I'm saying, when the police came and
3 questioned, why didn't you say anything, why didn't you
4 say it. So, then he says oh, I'm sorry, I was drunk.
5 And I was like no, you're not sorry, you should have
6 said it was you, you should have said something. And
7 he's like I'm sorry. And I was like I want you
8 arrested. I said, as a matter of fact, I'm going to go

9 call the police right now. And I walked off and called
10 Metro again.
11 Q. Did you see what happened with the group
12 during the time between you making that phone call and
13 the police showing up?
14 A. It was a lot of -- it was a lot of arguing
15 because like, just like Justin said, it was that one guy
16 that was talking a lot of mess and it was a joke like it
17 was funny. And even when we were waiting -- we had to
18 wait for Metro to come. We waited for like an hour or

19 so. When Metro arrived, while I was talking to the
20 officer, they left the scene. And a couple of them came
21 back, but he didn't come back with them. It was a joke
22 then because one of them waved at me while I was sitting
23 outside talking to the cop like it was still funny. And
24 when Metro went and questioned them, they acted like I
25 was crazy and they didn't know anything that we were

51
1 talking about, they didn't know him, they didn't know
2 the -- nothing about the incident even happened.
3 Q. And you were present for when that was taking
4 place?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. You saw the officer go and talk to --
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. -- talk to those individuals?

9 A. Yes, and he came back. He said they don't
10 know -- they don't know anything that's going on.
11 Q. Did you -- were you aware at that point that
12 they were, or at least were claiming to be, police
13 officers?
14 A. I found out after I went in the house. When
15 I was coming back out, Joetta and Justin was like we've
16 got something to tell you, and they was like all of them
17 in that house are police officers.
18 Q. Okay. How did that affect you?

19 A. I was scared, and then it made sense why they
20 didn't find him that night because, if they was bold
21 enough to tell civilians that, I'm pretty sure they told
22 them that night that they went to the house.
23 Q. And we've talked a lot about this case over
24 the year and a half that it's been pending, correct, and
25 you -- I don't want to put words in your mouth, but

52
1 what's your -- what has been your feeling about the idea
2 of Nashville police investigating New York City police
3 in this case? You've not felt comfortable about that?
4 A. I'm not comfortable at all because the
5 officer that took the initial report, he tried to cover
6 it up.
7 Q. What do you mean by that?
8 A. The initial report that he put in there, he

9 had the description of him wrong, that I did not want to
10 prosecute, that we didn't know who he was, that there
11 was no damage to my door. He kicked it hard enough and
12 hit it hard enough. He used all his police tactics to
13 break into my home that the door hinge at the top --
14 I've got a metal door, but the door hinge, that part
15 bent. Everything, the whole door together was
16 completely knocked off. He split the -- the frame was
17 completely split, and it was visible to that officer's
18 eyes. And even on the report, he said there was no

19 damage. So, he tried to cover it up.
20 Q. Now, Detective Bevis and Lieutenant Dusche,
21 who are present here in the courtroom, who did not
22 respond to the scene, but got the case eventually, they
23 investigated the case, met with you and fully
24 investigated the case --
25 A. Right.

53
1 Q. -- after it went on. It was just the initial
2 experience where you didn't understand why Mr. Reynolds
3 hadn't been found and arrested right away was kind of
4 where your discomfort came; is that correct?
5 A. That's exactly it.
6 Q. But you were treated very well by Detective
7 Bevis, Lieutenant Dusche and the police department since
8 then; is that correct?

9 A. Exactly, yeah. They were -- they did what
10 they was supposed to do even though it took me a while
11 to trust Detective Bevis. I can't remember the other
12 guy's name. Yeah, they did.
13 Q. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about how this
14 has affected you, okay. And I've told you this a while
15 back, that this was going to be your opportunity to tell
16 the Court how this has affected you and what you would
17 like the outcome of this to be, correct? Do you
18 remember me telling you that?

19 A. Uh-huh.
20 Q. If you want to talk a little bit about how
21 you were emotionally prior to this happening, and then
22 how that has affected you since, if you were fragile
23 before and it's worsened or whatever you want to say,
24 whatever you want to tell the Court. Tell the Court a
25 little bit about how this has affected you personally.

54
1 A. Personally, before, I struggled with a lot of
2 stuff. And it took me to this Summer to actually watch
3 that video, and it was like hard to watch the video and
4 to know that he had more than one opportunity to go to
5 that Airbnb. He didn't have to come to my house. And
6 to know that there was another person outside... To
7 know that he had a friend that was sitting outside and,
8 on the video, you could hear his friend say don't go,
9 and then to hear his friend say did you make her strip.
10 It was no accident that you came into my house. So, for
11 a person that's already struggled with a lot of stuff,
12 to hear something like that on that video, that set me
13 back a lot, and then to hear my kids. One of them, he
14 doesn't even like to go outside when it's dark or to be
15 in -- to be comfortable in your own home, to always have
16 the lights on, to drive down the street and you see a
17 Metro car. You don't know if you're going to get
18 harassed or -- or to always get questioned. I don't

19 talk about it. I let my kids talk about it because they
20 can get it out, but to get questioned on why are you not
21 in jail, why did he have to do it to us. I don't
22 understand why is this going on. It's hard.
23 Q. Have you sought any kind of counseling or --
24 A. We're all in counseling.
25 Q. Okay.

55
1 A. Except for the oldest. I think everybody
2 pretty much walks around on edge.
3 Q. Have you considered moving from the
4 neighborhood because of this incident?
5 A. My kids want to move. They don't want to be
6 in that house anymore. We don't have peace. To know
7 that you've been living somewhere all your life, and you
8 don't have that anymore, and where would you go, it's
9 not fair. And it's not fair that somebody can laugh in
10 your face and their friends can laugh about it like it's
11 a joke, and your life stops, and their life can keep on
12 going. And they're supposed to keep a job, and you're
13 supposed to uphold the law. And you break the law in
14 another state and you feel like you're supposed to get
15 away with it. There's nothing about that right. And to
16 hear them brag about they got immunity, and for this to
17 go on this long, it was so many -- he had so many
18 different opportunities to walk away from that decision

19 that he made, and he still didn't do it. That is not
20 right. It's not fair. My kids don't have that choice.
21 My boys wouldn't have a choice to sit and break into
22 anybody's house, and get away with it, and not serve any
23 time and get probation, and get a slap on the wrist, get
24 immunity because why, they're a police officer. He
25 should be treated just like anybody else would. It's

56
1 plenty of people that have broke into somebody's house,
2 and have terrorized the family, and they serve time.
3 Why should he be any different. It's -- there should be
4 some type of justice served in this.
5 Q. I know this is not at the forefront of your
6 worries, but what damages caused out-of-pocket expenses
7 for you from this incident?
8 A. If I could afford a new mind and give my kids

9 a new mind, there's no price on that. You can't put a
10 price tag on peace. You can't give back what was taken
11 away from us that night. I wish it wouldn't have ever
12 happened.
13 Q. Have you --
14 A. My kids changed when they went to school. I
15 have good kids. They don't get in trouble, but this
16 week alone, a son that never gets in trouble at school
17 and I don't never get a call, he already had I.S.S. for
18 fighting. And I know where it's coming from. It's pent

19 up from this incident.
20 Q. Have you seen a consistent change in behavior
21 amongst all your sons since this?
22 A. I have, yeah. I have. You know, one is away
23 at school. He kind of like pushes it back, but he
24 talked about it one day, and he was just like you know,
25 I wish I could have did more for you, momma. He's like

57
1 I feel like I let you down. He feels like he let the
2 house down. I know my oldest son feels that same way
3 too. He feels like he should have did more. The two
4 youngest ones, they worry like all the time. They worry
5 like -- they can't -- one can't even concentrate in
6 school because that's all he worries about, is he going
7 to be safe, are we going to be safe or how are we going
8 to -- let's get somewhere else. That's all he ever

9 talks about, like I don't even want to be here no more,
10 you know.
11 Q. Have you had to do anything to your home to
12 install any kind of security reasons, or replace your
13 door that was damaged, do anything that basically you
14 didn't have to do before this incident took place that
15 you had to take some measures to --
16 A. I haven't done it yet.
17 Q. Okay. Do you intend to?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. What is that?
20 A. I want to move.
21 Q. You want to move?
22 A. Yeah. I just want to get away from there,
23 but I mean, if I had to stay, I don't -- I don't even
24 know if I would still feel safe with a lot of cameras.
25 I don't know.

58
1 Q. Okay. Did you have to replace the door?
2 A. I still need to get it replaced.
3 Q. Okay. So, the same door is still there?
4 A. With his same footprint still on it.
5 Q. Okay. Have you incurred any expenses for
6 counseling, or treatment, or for your children in any
7 way?
8 A. They go to treatment. Yeah, we're all in

9 treatment.
10 Q. Does it cost you money?
11 A. No, it's not out-of-pocket right now.
12 Q. Okay. I want to make sure the Court has
13 heard about anything that has come out of your pocket
14 because of this incident just so it can be notated for
15 the purposes of restitution. Is there any amount of
16 money that you've had to pay out because of this
17 happening to you?
18 A. Not right now.

19 Q. Okay, and obviously, money is not what you're
20 here about. Is there anything I've failed to ask you
21 about or that you would like to speak further on to this
22 Court about what took place on July the 9th?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Okay. You touched on this, but I'll ask you
25 specifically. The Court is going to make a

59
1 determination about the length of the sentence. You
2 know that Mr. Reynolds pled guilty to four A
3 misdemeanors, correct? Each one is up to an eleven
4 month and twenty-nine day sentence, and then the Court
5 will determine the length of those sentences and then
6 how they're going to be served, probation, in custody,
7 some portion of each, something like that. And also,
8 the Court is going to make a determination about whether

9 or not those convictions can be pled under something
10 called judicial diversion, which we went over, correct,
11 which is a special statute which allows someone to plead
12 guilty, go on probation and, if they complete the
13 probation successfully, have those convictions expunged
14 from their record, right? Do you remember us discussing
15 that?
16 A. (Nodding in the affirmative.)
17 Q. Okay. That's a mouthful for me, but what
18 would you like to see this Court do, keeping in mind

19 that's what the frame work is of the sentences that are
20 available to the Court? What would you like to see done
21 in this case?
22 A. Not expunged from his record, like at all.
23 It should stay there. He should be known for what he's
24 done.
25 Q. What about probation versus confinement?

60
1 A. No, he needs to be in jail. I would be in
2 jail if I broke into your house.
3 Q. Anything else I've failed to ask you about?
4 A. No.
5 GEN. EWALD: Okay. Thank you, ma'am.
7 Q. Ms. Halliburton, I'm Ed Yarbrough. I'm one
8 of the lawyers representing Mr. Reynolds. I have very

9 few questions. I understood you to say that the first
10 words out of his mouth, in your presence that morning,
11 were that he was sorry, that he was drunk. Did I
12 understand you correctly?
13 A. With a smile on his face.
14 Q. Okay.
15 A. You can't be sorry and smiling at the same
16 time. That's not sincere.
17 Q. Okay. I understand you didn't believe him,
18 but is that what he said?

20 Q. Yes, ma'am, and he said it more than once?
22 Q. Yes, ma'am. Let me assure you, as the
23 attorney for Mr. Reynolds, Ms. Halliburton, that this is
24 inexcusable, what he did. There's no defense to it
25 whatsoever. What happened to you and your family should

61
1 never have happened in this city. It should never
2 happen to anyone. And later on, when he testifies, I'll
3 be asking him to state, on the record and under oath,
4 what his true feelings are about this matter, but I just
5 wanted to assure you, as his attorney, that this should
6 never have happened and I am certain that he is
7 extremely, extremely sorry.
8 A. He's sorry because he got caught. And if it

9 wasn't a video, he's -- the only reason why he's
10 apologizing and the only reason why he is sorry is
11 because there's a video. If that video did not exist,
12 he would still be in New York living his life.
13 Q. Ms. Halliburton, are you not aware that Mr.
14 Reynolds and his attorney went to the police department
15 and gave a full confession to what he did?
16 A. After it was pressed that I was trying to
17 figure out who he was.
18 Q. Well, he was called and asked if he would

19 come and make a statement, and he flew to Nashville,
20 went to the police station and made a full statement.
21 A. He should have did that the night the police
22 went up to the Airbnb.
23 Q. Yes, ma'am, I agree --
24 A. He had the opportunity to do that that night
25 and the day that Metro came the second time.

62
1 Q. I agree. I agree with you about that, Ms.
2 Halliburton, but I'm just saying are you aware that he
3 did that?
4 A. That's no excuse.
5 Q. Yes, ma'am, and are you also aware that he
6 has agreed that, as a part of this hearing today,
7 whatever restitution amount that the Court finds to be
8 appropriate, he's agreed absolutely to make those

9 payments to you?
10 A. I heard you.
11 Q. Yes, ma'am. I'm not asking you to forgive
12 him. I'm not sure I could forgive him if I were in your
13 shoes. I just wanted you to know the full extent of
14 what's being done here today.
15 A. I heard you.
16 MR. YARBROUGH: Thank you.
18 GEN. EWALD: No, Your Honor.

19 THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Halliburton.
20 GEN. EWALD: That's the State's proof, Your
21 Honor.
22 THE COURT: All right. How many witnesses do
23 you have?
24 MR. YARBROUGH: Just Mr. Reynolds, Your
25 Honor.

63
1 THE COURT: All right. Put him on.
2 Whereupon,
3 Michael Reynolds,
5 as follows:
6 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. YARBROUGH:
7 Q. State your full name for the Court, please.
8 A. Michael John Reynolds.

9 Q. Mr. Reynolds, where are you from originally?
10 A. Rockland County, New York.
11 Q. All right. Try to keep your voice up so
12 everybody can hear. If you need to move that mic a
13 little bit or move closer to it. Where did you say you
14 were from?
15 A. Rockland County, New York.
16 Q. All right, sir. How old are you?
17 A. I just turned twenty-six on Monday.
18 Q. All right. Judge Fishburn has seen the

19 presentence report, which has your biographical
20 information in it, but just for the sake of this
21 hearing, very briefly, can you tell the Court where you
22 were educated and what you do for a living and so on?
23 A. I completed high school at North Rockland
24 High School. I attended Rockland Community College for
25 two years. I went to John Jay College of Criminal

64
1 Justice, was hired by the police department when I
2 turned twenty-one and I'm currently completing my
3 Bachelor's degree next week.
4 Q. All right, sir. I don't think you'll have to
5 lean forward now. Just speak up. Mr. Reynolds, let's
6 get to the incident itself. Why were you in Nashville,
7 Tennessee back in July of 2018?
8 A. My best friend was getting married. It was

9 the bachelor party.
10 Q. Nashville has become well known for bachelor
11 and bachelorette parties in recent years, and you've
12 heard some of the reaction to that from some local
13 residents. Were you aware that Nashville had a
14 reputation for this kind of thing?
15 A. Not until after the fact.
16 Q. Okay. Did you and your friends think that
17 you could come to Nashville, and get drunk, and just do
18 whatever you wanted to do and get away with it?

19 A. Absolutely not.
20 Q. Where had you been just prior to arriving on
21 Ashwood Avenue in the early morning hours of July the
22 9th, 2018?
23 A. I was on Broadway at one of the bars.
24 Q. Did you consume alcohol while you were on
25 Broadway?

65
1 A. I did.
2 Q. Do you have any idea how much, sir?
3 A. I do not.
4 Q. Do you know it was too much?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. Do you remember any details of that night?
7 A. That night, very little.
8 Q. All right, sir. When you came to Nashville

9 to make that statement that I referred to a moment ago
10 with Ms. Halliburton, when did that occur?
11 A. That occurred approximately a month after the
12 incident date.
13 Q. And was that the result of a telephone call
14 made to you by a member of the Metropolitan Nashville
15 Police Department?
16 A. Yes, sir.
17 Q. And did you come voluntarily?
18 A. Yes, sir.
19 Q. Did you tell them what you believed the
20 absolute truth was about this incident?
21 A. Yes, sir.
22 Q. Can you think of anything that you told them
23 in that statement, Mr. Reynolds, that was not true or
24 something significant that you might have left out?
25 A. No, sir.

66
1 Q. Now, you heard Ms. Halliburton say that you
2 used a racial slur that night. Do you have any
3 recollection of that?
4 A. I do not.
5 Q. Are you trained not to use that type of word?
6 A. Yes, sir.
7 Q. Do you normally use that type of word in your
8 work or in your daily life?

9 A. No, sir.
10 Q. If you did use that type of word or that word
11 -- the specific word that was referred to, what do you
12 say to her and this Court about that?
13 A. I'm absolutely sorry I said that word. I'm
14 very remorseful. It's cost me my job, my life,
15 everything.
16 Q. All right. Now, as Ms. Halliburton correctly
17 pointed out, there are two different things here. One
18 is the regret that it's costing you your life and

19 livelihood potentially, but there's also regret because
20 it's wrong. Which is it?
21 A. Both.
22 Q. Now, do you -- you heard the description of
23 your conduct at the house. Do you have any excuse for
24 that whatsoever?
25 A. No, sir.

67
1 Q. Do you have any doubt that what she said was
2 true?
3 A. No, sir.
4 Q. Do you have anything you want to say to her
5 on this record about what you did that night?
6 A. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I consumed too
7 much alcohol. I couldn't understand what you and your
8 children are going through. If that had ever happened

9 to me, I don't know what I would be going through.
10 Q. All right. Now, you used the word mistake,
11 which is not a word that we like to hear necessarily in
12 criminal court. You realize that getting drunk, and
13 going in somebody's house, and terrorizing them is not a
14 mistake. That's a crime, right?
15 A. Yes, sir.
16 Q. And you admit freely that you committed a
17 crime that night?
18 A. Yes, sir.
19 Q. Multiple crimes. You've pled to those
20 crimes?
21 A. I did.
22 Q. And Mr. Reynolds, that night when you
23 apparently left the house and walked a couple of doors
24 down the street, and then went in the Airbnb, did you
25 actually confront -- or were you confronted by police

68
1 officers that night?
2 A. Yes, sir.
3 Q. Do you know who it was?
4 A. No, sir.
5 Q. Were they uniformed officers?
6 A. Yes, sir.
7 Q. Were you still drunk?
8 A. Yes, sir.
9 Q. Do you have any idea what sort of a
10 conversation you had with them?
11 A. I just remember I identified myself as a
12 police officer.
13 Q. Okay, and do you have any idea, in your own
14 mind, as to why you weren't arrested on the spot?
15 A. I do not.
16 Q. You just know that you weren't, right?
17 A. I was not.
18 Q. And you went to sleep?

19 A. Yes, sir.
20 Q. Tried to sleep it off?
21 A. Yes, sir.
22 Q. Were you successful in that?
23 A. Sleeping it off?
24 Q. Sleeping it off, yes, sir.
25 A. I would like to think so.

69
1 Q. All right. What did you do the next morning?
2 A. The next morning, I had to ask what happened
3 last night.
4 Q. Okay. Did you talk to your buddies about it?
5 A. Yes. They said --
6 Q. Did they know what you had done?
7 A. They didn't know what I did either. They
8 thought I was in the house sleeping.

9 Q. Do you know who this person is that
10 apparently was doing all the talking, the person who was
11 described as a short man?
12 A. Yes, it was his bachelor party.
13 Q. Okay. Did you, in any way, authorize him to
14 speak for you that night or that next day?
15 A. No, sir.
16 Q. Did you even agree with what he was saying?
17 A. No, sir.
18 Q. But apparently, you didn't attempt to correct

19 him or stop him while they were talking to the police;
20 is that right?
21 A. No, sir.
22 Q. Why is that?
23 A. The next day when he was speaking to the
24 police?
25 Q. Yes, sir.

70
1 A. I was not there.
2 Q. Okay. Now, one of the witnesses made it
3 sound like you were there and didn't say anything. Do
4 you remember that?
5 A. I was there when I was speaking to the
6 victim, but not when the officers were there.
7 Q. Okay. What did you say to Ms. Halliburton
8 that next morning?

9 A. I repeatedly said to her that I was sorry.
10 Q. And were you truly sorry?
11 A. I was.
12 Q. Were you smiling?
13 A. No, sir.
14 Q. Were you laughing?
15 A. No, sir.
16 Q. Now, Mr. Reynolds, when you got back to New
17 York after you were arrested and booked here in
18 Nashville, Tennessee, what sort of disciplinary actions

19 commenced in the New York Police Department?
20 A. I was suspended for thirty days without pay.
21 I was asked to give my firearm, my shield and my
22 N.Y.P.D. belongings to the department.
23 Q. Okay. At some point, did you decide that you
24 needed alcohol treatment?
25 A. Yes.

71
1 Q. Do you recall when that was?
2 A. Upon when I returned from being arrested.
3 Q. Okay. Did you apply to some type of a
4 treatment center at a hospital to initiate that program?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. Do you recall the name of that?
7 A. It was through Nyack Hospital, which is a
8 local hospital in Rockland County.

9 Q. Okay, and I believe that's attached to the
10 presentence report, the letter that indicates that you
11 were a successful participant in that program; is that
12 correct?
13 A. Yes, sir.
14 Q. What did you learn about use of alcohol in
15 that program, Mr. Reynolds?
16 A. How it has negative consequences any time you
17 drink it.
18 Q. Yes, sir, and the more you drink, the more

19 negative those consequences, isn't that about right?
20 A. Absolutely.
21 Q. You of all people now know that, don't you?
22 A. Yes, sir.
23 Q. At some point after that treatment, did you
24 resolve to just stop drinking altogether?
25 A. Yes, sir.

72
1 Q. How long have you been sober?
2 A. Approximately, seven months.
3 Q. Did you participate in an A.A. twelve-step
4 program?
5 A. Just the N.Y.P.D. program and the Nyack
6 Hospital program.
7 Q. Were you successful in that?
8 A. Yes, sir.
9 Q. And you're sober right now?
10 A. Yes, sir.
11 Q. And you have been for seven months?
12 A. Yes, sir.
13 Q. Now, I'm sure that somebody will point out
14 that it's been a year and a half since this happened.
15 Why did it take a year for you to finally take the
16 complete cure on this?
17 A. I was sober for nine months after completing
18 the program, went on vacation with my family, drank one

19 night and never wanted to drink again after that.
20 Q. Now, with respect to the future, Mr.
21 Reynolds, if you are placed on probation and somehow
22 allowed to stay with the New York Police Department,
23 what will happen to you after the judgement of this
24 Court, assuming that the judgement is something that
25 allows you to stay employed?

73
1 A. If I'm allowed to stay employed, my -- I'll
2 be suspended most likely for another fifteen to thirty
3 days and I'll serve a year of dismissal probation, which
4 is during a year, I will be breathalyzed randomly from
5 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. throughout the year. If I blow
6 anything on that breathalyzer, it's immediate
7 termination, no questions asked.
8 Q. Okay. Now, I want to be sure we're clear on

9 this. Even if you get diversion here, you'll be on
10 supervision under what's called dismissal probation for
11 at least a year; is that correct?
12 A. Yes, sir.
13 Q. And that includes random breathalyzers. In
14 other words, you don't know it's coming. They just call
15 you up and test you?
16 A. Yes, sir.
17 Q. And if you go positive on one time, you're
18 gone?
19 A. Yes, sir.
20 Q. Is that it?
21 A. Yes, sir.
22 Q. Mr. Reynolds, you're not married; is that
23 right?
24 A. No, sir.
25 Q. And you don't have children right now?

74
1 A. No, sir.
2 Q. You live -- if I understand it correctly, you
3 live with your parents?
4 A. Yes, sir.
5 Q. What would this represent to you, sir, if you
6 were to receive a sentence that did not allow you to
7 return to work, what would happen?
8 A. It would be a tremendous disappointment to my

9 family and my friends, everybody in my small town that I
10 live in too, and I'll have to move on.
11 Q. How long have you been a police officer?
12 A. Five years next month.
13 Q. Have you ever had disciplinary issues or
14 things like that?
15 A. Before this, no, sir.
16 Q. This is your first arrest of any kind?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 MR. YARBROUGH: I believe the T.B.I. report

19 came back clean. Your Honor, please, I'm not sure if
20 we've turned that in, but we have one. We'll do that at
21 the appropriate time.
22 BY MR. YARBROUGH:
23 Q. Mr. Reynolds, how can you assure Judge
24 Fishburn that something like this won't ever happen
25 again with you?

75
1 A. Because it has cost me my job, my life. I
2 couldn't ever bear to go through this again.
3 Q. I may have already done this, but I just want
4 to be absolutely sure. What do you want to say to Ms.
5 Halliburton and her family for what has happened to
6 those folks?
7 A. I'm truly sorry for everything that has
8 happened to you and your family within the last year and
9 a half and for everything to come in the future. It was
10 honestly an accident. I had no intention of getting
11 that intoxicated that night. If I could take it back, I
12 definitely would have never came to that bachelor party.
13 Q. Do you realize that being drunk is not a
14 legal defense? That's why you pled guilty, right?
15 A. Yes, sir.
16 Q. But you have resolved not to drink again?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 Q. And the police department, if you're still

19 employed there, they're going to make sure of that,
20 right?
21 A. Yes, sir.
22 Q. Anything else you want to say to the Court?
23 A. I'm truly sorry for coming to your town, your
24 city, your state and committing a crime. It was not my
25 intention. I know everybody is having problems here

76
1 with Airbnbs, and I'm sorry that it happened to me, and
2 I wish I never came here and did that.
3 MR. YARBROUGH: Your witness.
4 CROSS EXAMINATION BY GEN. EWALD:
5 Q. Mr. Reynolds, I want to make sure I
6 understand one thing. You testified multiple times just
7 now about how this has cost you your job and you've lost
8 your job, but you have not lost your job yet, correct?
9 A. Correct. I can't lose my job until a formal
10 trial within the N.Y.P.D.
11 Q. Okay. So, you were suspended for thirty
12 days, and I guess you are decommissioned. That's a word
13 we use around here when you can't have a gun or a badge.
14 Is that correct?
15 A. Yes, sir.
16 Q. Are you still being paid?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 Q. Okay. All right, and so, while you're saying

19 you have lost your job, really, your job is in jeopardy
20 right now, but it's not lost yet. It has not cost you
21 your job yet?
22 A. Not yet, yes, sir.
23 Q. Okay. This occurred in the early morning
24 hours of a Sunday; is that correct, is that how you
25 remember it, July 9th?

77
1 A. Early hours of a Monday. Sunday night into
2 Monday.
3 Q. It was a Monday, okay. How long had you been
4 in Nashville?
5 A. I arrived that morning, Sunday morning.
6 Q. So, the bachelor party was from Sunday
7 morning to Monday departure time or did you leave early?
8 What was the bachelor party supposed to be?

9 A. It was supposed to be from Sunday to
10 Wednesday.
11 Q. Okay. Sunday to Wednesday. And so, this was
12 the first night in Nashville, correct?
13 A. Yes, sir.
14 Q. When did you actually return to New York?
15 A. I returned to New York on Tuesday.
16 Q. And were you kicked out of the Airbnb on
17 Monday, or did y'all just leave voluntarily, or did you
18 stay there?
19 A. On Monday, we left.
20 Q. Okay. Why was that?
21 A. I received a phone call that we were no
22 longer welcome in the Airbnb.
23 Q. From the owner or the --
24 A. From the Airbnb company.
25 Q. Okay, and was that before or after the

78
1 interaction on the street that we've seen?
2 A. After.
3 Q. After?
4 A. Yes, sir.
5 Q. So, y'all were returning back there. At that
6 point, you were planning on staying the night there,
7 correct?
8 A. Yes, sir.
9 Q. All right. So, where did you spend Monday
10 night?
11 A. A hotel.
12 Q. And then you left Tuesday, which was
13 obviously a day early, correct?
14 A. Yes, sir.
15 Q. So, you were in town so to speak with the
16 ability to remain on -- it wasn't like you had to leave
17 on that Monday after that conversation happened where
18 you knew the police were being called. You didn't have
19 to run to the airport or anything like that, right? Do
20 you understand my question?
21 A. No. Can you repeat yourself?
22 Q. That conversation occurs in the evening on
23 Monday --
24 A. Yes, sir.
25 Q. -- July 9th. You didn't have to go catch a

79
1 plane on Monday and that's why you didn't remain around
2 after the police were called --
3 A. No.
4 Q. -- by Ms. Halliburton --
5 A. I didn't have to catch a plane on Monday.
6 Q. Right, okay. Where did you go when some of
7 your friends came back to the Airbnb?
8 A. I went to go get the hotel.

9 Q. Okay. All right. Let's talk about the group
10 that you were here with. How many individuals were
11 there?
12 A. Seven.
13 Q. Were they all police officers?
14 A. Only three of us.
15 Q. Three. Are they New York City police
16 officers also?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 Q. And has the department done anything to those

19 three officers?
20 A. The other two officers?
21 Q. The other two?
22 A. Yes, they were punished.
23 Q. In what way?
24 A. They received vacation days taken from them.
25 Q. One of whom was the man you said was -- whose

80
1 bachelor party it was?
2 A. Yes, sir.
3 Q. What was his name?
4 A. Thomas Geberth.
5 Q. Geberth?
6 A. G-e-b-e-r-t-h.
7 Q. When you had arrived on Sunday, about what
8 time was it?

9 A. It was early. I would say probably like 8:30
10 in the morning, nine o'clock.
11 Q. Okay, and did you spend much time at the
12 Airbnb?
13 A. We didn't get to the Airbnb until -- I think
14 one o'clock was check-in.
15 Q. Okay. Did you see Ms. Halliburton or anyone
16 in the neighborhood who appeared to be a resident of the
17 neighborhood during the time you were there before this
18 occurred?
19 A. No, sir.
20 Q. The Airbnb appeared to be a two or
21 three-story building; is that correct?
22 A. Yes, sir.
23 Q. Kind of a narrow -- we call them tall
24 skinnies here in Nashville; is that correct?
25 A. Yes, sir.

81
1 Q. Okay, and you would agree with me that it
2 looked significantly different than Ms. Halliburton's
3 home, correct?
4 A. Yes, sir.
5 Q. You testified that you remember, after this
6 took place, that you went directly back to the Airbnb.
7 And as you can see, we can see you walking from Ms.
8 Halliburton's home back in the direction of the Airbnb,

9 right, on the surveillance footage?
10 A. I don't remember leaving Broadway and going
11 back to the Airbnb.
12 Q. Okay. You testified, as I understood it,
13 that you remembered interacting with a police officer
14 that night at the Airbnb?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Right, and you remembered identifying
17 yourself as a police officer?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Is it your testimony that -- other than those
20 two points that you identified yourself as a police
21 officer and you were talking to a police officer, is it
22 your testimony that everything else is a black-out for
23 you?
24 A. Yes, that night, I remember -- yeah, I
25 remember speaking to an officer and just identifying

82
1 myself. I don't remember what words were exchanged
2 between me and that officer, officers.
3 Q. And do you remember, when you got back to the
4 Airbnb, if there were other people awake, up, if your
5 other friends were still awake?
6 A. I don't.
7 Q. Do you know if your other friends also
8 interacted with the police officer?

9 A. I don't know which ones interacted with them.
10 I know one of them was the one that was on the sidewalk.
11 Q. Let's talk about when you woke up the next
12 morning on Monday -- well, later on Monday and you
13 rehashed what went on with your friends, right, you said
14 what happened last night?
15 A. I said what happened.
16 Q. What did they tell you about what happened
17 from the time that you got back to the Airbnb?
18 A. They said apparently, you went into somebody

19 else's house when they thought I walked into the house
20 with them.
21 Q. So, they were obviously aware -- made aware
22 by these officers that came to the house --
23 A. That night.
24 Q. -- of what they were investigating and
25 ultimately, what it was that you had done, right?

83
1 A. Yes, sir.
2 Q. Okay. Do you know what your friends told
3 those officers?
4 A. That night?
5 Q. Yes?
6 A. After the fact, they just -- they were
7 confused. They were like what are you guys talking
8 about because they still didn't know I went into that

9 house.
10 Q. Okay. You don't remember denying it,
11 obviously?
12 A. That night, no.
13 Q. Okay. We can agree that you surely did deny
14 going into that house that night because the question
15 was posed, you were not arrested on the spot. You don't
16 know why. You would agree with me, especially from your
17 experience as a police officer, that if you had admitted
18 that you had gone into that house that night, you would
19 have been arrested more than likely?
20 A. More than likely, yes.
21 Q. Okay. So, we can agree that you denied it?
22 A. I don't remember.
23 Q. Okay. You arrive back with just one of your
24 friends in that Uber according to that video that we can
25 see?

84
1 A. There was all of us in that Uber.
2 Q. Everyone else got out of that vehicle and
3 it's just not on the clip?
4 A. Besides one. Yes, six people.
5 Q. Okay, and that one individual who was seated
6 on the wall there fell asleep, or not, whatever, who was
7 that?
8 A. One of my friends. He wasn't a police

9 officer.
10 Q. Okay, and he was the one who actually had to
11 go through what we refer to as a show-up identification
12 procedure, right?
13 A. Yes, sir.
14 Q. Did he talk about that with you the next day?
15 A. No, sir.
16 Q. Where he was -- did you ever hear about that?
17 A. He barely remembers.
18 Q. He doesn't remember that either? Okay,

19 because he wasn't arrested for public intoxication, was
20 he?
21 A. No, sir.
22 Q. Even though he was basically passed out in
23 the front yard on a wall, correct?
24 A. Yes, sir.
25 Q. What was the general discussion then after

85
1 you've rehashed and you're aware that someone, a
2 neighbor, has called the police on you claiming that you
3 went into their house, broke into their house? What is
4 the general reaction from the group, including your two
5 other officer friends, about what's going to happen
6 going forward?
7 A. They just said the cops came that night.
8 They spoke to you and told you to go to bed.

9 Q. Okay. Was there discussion that hey, maybe
10 we need to get lost for a little while during the day?
11 A. No.
12 Q. That wasn't talked about?
13 A. I assumed, if they were going to arrest me,
14 it would have been that night. They knew it was me.
15 Q. Okay. So, when y'all -- where did you go on
16 Monday?
17 A. We went to dinner. That's when we seen them.
18 Q. That was on the way back from dinner?

19 A. No, before we went to dinner.
20 Q. Okay. So, you came out into the street
21 before you got in an Uber to go to dinner?
22 A. Yes, sir.
23 Q. Okay, and it sounded like this Geberth,
24 Thomas Geberth, bristled up against Mr. Roddick at
25 least, what are you looking at, right? That was his

86
1 statement that Mr. Roddick testified about. Do you
2 remember that?
3 A. No, sir.
4 Q. Do you remember, when you came out and you
5 saw these two individuals standing on the sidewalk
6 there, or three individuals, I guess, Ms. Halliburton,
7 Ms. Alderson and Mr. Roddick, what did -- did that
8 impact you in any way? Did you think I -- these are the
9 people that might have something to say about what I did
10 last night? Did you get scared?
11 A. I was -- I was assuming that one of them was
12 the person's house that I went into. I didn't know
13 which person it was.
14 Q. Okay, and did everyone in the group kind of
15 have that feeling, that this was something that needed
16 to be addressed?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 Q. And your friend, Mr. Geberth, took a -- let's

19 say an unmagnanimous approach to dealing with it. He
20 took -- he tried to bully them?
21 A. I don't remember him bullying them. I
22 remember him speaking to them, being like the primary
23 speaker.
24 Q. Do you remember him downplaying the
25 seriousness of the incident?

87
1 A. No.
2 Q. Do you remember him laughing?
3 A. No.
4 Q. Do you remember the immunity comment?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Do you remember immunity comments made by
7 others in the group?
8 A. No, sir.
9 Q. And you heard two separate people testify
10 about that, correct?
11 A. Yes, sir.
12 Q. When you learned that Ms. Halliburton was
13 going to call the police again right then and there, you
14 didn't stick around, correct?
15 A. No, we went to dinner.
16 Q. Okay, and you didn't come back again?
17 A. No, because I got the phone call, when we
18 were out, that we needed to leave the Airbnb.

19 Q. Okay, but your stuff was still at the Airbnb?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. But you didn't come back to get your stuff?
22 A. No, I went to go check into the hotel with
23 one of my other friends.
24 Q. Okay, and so, the friends that did go back,
25 which was also testified about, and may have interacted

88
1 with the police then, they, according to the testimony,
2 told the police they didn't know what they were talking
3 about?
4 A. I don't know. I wasn't there.
5 Q. Okay. Did you drink on that Monday at
6 dinner?
7 A. No, sir.
8 Q. So, you stopped drinking then?

9 A. Yes, sir.
10 Q. And was it because of this incident or
11 because you were hungover?
12 A. The incident.
13 Q. You testified that, since this incident, you
14 got treatment. You've only, as I understand it, had
15 imbibed alcohol one night, which was on a family
16 vacation?
17 A. Yes, sir.
18 Q. Is that right? And you said, because of

19 that, you never want to drink again?
20 A. Yes, sir.
21 Q. What happened that had such a -- I guess, did
22 you black out again?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Or did you have some uncontrollable binge?
25 A. No, sir.

89
1 Q. What was it about that incident that made you
2 not want to drink ever again?
3 A. Just waking up the next day feeling terrible
4 and realizing that being sober is -- you feel a lot
5 better in life.
6 Q. Okay. Are you an alcoholic?
7 A. No, sir.
8 Q. How are you assigned by the N.Y.P.D. -- well,

9 prior to this, what kind of work did you do?
10 A. Patrol. Patrol.
11 Q. Patrol?
12 A. Yes, sir.
13 Q. In what part of New York City?
14 A. Washington Heights.
15 Q. And where is that?
16 A. Manhattan.
17 Q. What part of Manhattan?
18 A. Manhattan, North.
19 Q. Is that a diverse neighborhood?
20 A. Very diverse.
21 Q. And New York is a very diverse city, isn't
22 it?
23 A. Yes, sir.
24 Q. Do you come into contact with African
25 Americans while you work patrol in New York City?

90
1 A. Every day.
2 Q. How can you explain then the fact that you
3 used this word when you were in the middle of someone
4 else's home essentially terrorizing them?
5 A. I can't explain it. I don't remember. I
6 don't know why I would ever say something like that.
7 Q. Is that a word you've used before?
8 A. No, sir.
9 Q. And somehow, it just happened to pop out of
10 your mouth that night?
11 A. Yes, sir.
12 GEN. EWALD: Those are all my questions, Your
13 Honor.
14 MR. YARBROUGH: Your Honor, with the Court's
15 permission, I just want a couple of things --
16 THE COURT: Sure, go ahead.
17 MR. YARBROUGH: -- in the record.
18 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. YARBROUGH:

19 Q. Mr. Reynolds, let's be clear about this. In
20 order for you to be able to remain on the department in
21 New York, you have to be able to carry and employ a
22 firearm; is that correct?
23 A. Yes, sir.
24 Q. A normal condition of probation in this
25 court, in this state, is -- even on a misdemeanor, which

91
1 does not make you ineligible to possess a weapon, but
2 nonetheless, the rule is that you can not possess a
3 weapon. You're asking the Court to fashion a probation
4 sentence that allows you to carry a weapon in your
5 official capacity as a police officer; is that correct?
6 A. Yes, sir.
7 Q. And you've agreed to pay whatever amount of
8 restitution the Court or the probation officer finds to

9 be appropriate in order to make some kind of recompense
10 for Ms. Halliburton, although we all know she could
11 never be made whole from this, but you've agreed to make
12 whatever restitution is applicable; is that right?
13 A. Yes, sir.
14 MR. YARBROUGH: Thank you.
15 THE COURT: Is there kind of an unwritten
16 rule of professional courtesy that police officers tend
17 to try and help out other police officers?

19 THE COURT: Is that why you remember telling
20 that police officer the night of this incident that you
21 were a police officer in the hopes of this thing going
22 away?
23 THE WITNESS: I just identified myself when
24 he asked me.
25 THE COURT: But with the professional

92
1 courtesy thought in mind?
2 THE WITNESS: I don't remember that night,
3 no, sir.
4 MR. YARBROUGH: Your Honor, I'm not sure --
5 stop me if I'm wrong here. My understanding is that the
6 other officer that was passed out on the wall told the
7 first patrol officer.
8 THE COURT: He said that that was the only

9 thing he remembered that night was speaking to a police
10 officer and advising that Metro Police Officer that he,
11 as well, was a police officer.
12 MR. YARBROUGH: Okay, but I think the first
13 encounter was with the man on the wall who, I think,
14 also said that.
15 THE COURT: May have. I don't know, but he
16 remembers saying it specifically, but the man that was
17 sleeping on the wall, was he a police officer?
18 THE WITNESS: No, sir.

19 THE COURT: Did you go to the wedding?
20 THE WITNESS: Yes.
21 THE COURT: Did you drink at the wedding?
23 THE COURT: Pardon?
25 THE COURT: You made the comment that you

93
1 learned in treatment that drinking, particularly
2 drinking too much, has consequences. That's what you
3 learned. Is that what I understood you to say?
5 THE COURT: At that point in time, you had
6 been on the police force almost four years and you
7 didn't realize -- with patrolling North Manhattan, you
8 didn't realize the consequences of drinking too much?

9 THE WITNESS: I knew drinking too much had
10 bad consequences. I was never a big drinker. So, I
11 never came close to experiencing any of these negative
12 consequences.
13 THE COURT: But you had obviously seen it?
14 THE WITNESS: I did doing patrol, yes, sir.
15 THE COURT: So, it wasn't something
16 astoundingly new to you when you went through treatment
17 --

19 THE COURT: -- to learn that? I was a little
20 unclear. The next day, you're going to dinner, the
21 group is going to dinner, and Ms. Halliburton and them
22 or Mr. Roddick and them are outside, and somehow or
23 another the attention is brought and she says that's the
24 one who did it or what are you looking at from your
25 police friend, or whatever the case may be. You're

94
1 denying the description of the interaction as provided
2 by Mr. Roddick and Ms. Halliburton?
3 THE WITNESS: I'm denying that we were
4 laughing, yes, sir.
5 THE COURT: Did you tell them or did any of
6 your group tell them that you were police officers?
7 THE WITNESS: Yes.
8 THE COURT: Why?

9 THE WITNESS: Because he -- the kid whose
10 bachelor party it was, he was like listen, we're not
11 here to cause problems, we're all police -- we're police
12 officers in New York City.
13 THE COURT: And you denied that anything was
14 said about the fact that you were police officers means
15 that nothing was going to happen?
16 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir, we know it's a lot
17 worse because we are police officers, that we'll be
18 treated a lot harder.

19 THE COURT: Can you explain why the person
20 who was sleeping on the wall yelled out did you make her
21 strip?
22 THE WITNESS: He never stated that, I don't
23 believe, sir.
24 THE COURT: Well, you said you don't
25 remember. Do you know why he would do that? Was there

95
1 any discussion the next day of why he would make that
2 comment?
4 THE COURT: When you said that you came down
5 here voluntarily to give a statement, the presentence
6 report said that you did not respond to voicemails left
7 for you?
8 THE WITNESS: I called a lawyer.

9 THE COURT: Before you responded?
10 THE WITNESS: Before I responded, I called a
11 lawyer, and I believe Mr. Adams called Detective Bevis.
12 THE COURT: And you believe what?
13 THE WITNESS: My lawyer notified the
14 detective and set up the appointment.
15 THE COURT: Okay. Was this also after I.A.
16 had --
17 THE WITNESS: I.A., I don't --
18 THE COURT: Had entered the picture?

19 THE WITNESS: I'm not sure because they don't
20 really tell us much, but my union was notified.
21 THE COURT: Before you came down?
23 THE COURT: Was Michael Gaines one of the
24 people that came down with you?

96
1 THE COURT: Did I understand you to say that
2 your friends did not realize that you had actually gone
3 to that house, they thought you had gone upstairs and
4 gone to bed?
6 THE COURT: Going back to the encounter the
7 next day. When you left there, all of you went to
8 dinner?
10 THE COURT: And you didn't go back to the
11 Airbnb, why?
12 THE WITNESS: I received a phone call, when
13 we were at dinner, that we were -- we had to leave the
14 Airbnb. So, me and one of the kids, we went to get a
15 hotel while the other ones went back.
16 THE COURT: Who called you indicating that
17 you weren't welcome back?
18 THE WITNESS: It wasn't the owners of the

19 house. It was the actual Airbnb themselves.
20 THE COURT: Okay, the Airbnb management.
21 Were you the one who set up the reservations?
22 THE WITNESS: I did.
23 THE COURT: Okay. So, were you kind of
24 spearheading this bachelor party?
25 THE WITNESS: Was I in charge of it?

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1 THE COURT: Yeah?
2 THE WITNESS: I set it up, yes, sir.
3 THE COURT: All right. Anything else?
4 MR. YARBROUGH: No further proof, Your Honor.
5 We -- I'd like to make a short comment.
6 GEN. EWALD: Your Honor, I will be brief. I
7 think Ms. Halliburton's testimony will kind of stand on
8 its own as to guide the Court, as to the wishes from the

9 victim in particular and the community in general, on
10 how this case should be treated and how the manner of
11 sentence should be served. I will, of course, point out
12 to the Court that, even if the Court is inclined to
13 grant judicial diversion, that confinement is still an
14 option to this Court up to thirty days.
15 THE COURT: Would that be thirty days on
16 each?
17 GEN. EWALD: I wondered the same thing, and I
18 don't -- I don't know the answer to that. I don't know

19 if it's specifically delineated in the statute.
20 THE COURT: Also includes, but is not limited
21 to, the requirement that a qualified defendant serve a
22 period or periods of confinement in the local jail, not
23 to exceed a total of thirty days. So, the total, I
24 don't know if that -- that seems to suggest that --
25 GEN. EWALD: That's the cap.

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1 THE COURT: All encompassing.
2 GEN. EWALD: Yeah, but it's certainly an
3 option to the Court, but what I wanted to talk about
4 really were just a few kind of thoughts that come into
5 your head when you review the facts of this case. One
6 of which was brought up by Ms. Halliburton on her
7 testimony, which was what would happen with this same
8 factual scenario and it was her son. Don't know, but

9 it's a good point to bring up. Another scenario to
10 consider. What if a Nashville Police Officer went to
11 New York City and did this, broke into a home, was
12 alleged to have tossed a racial insult at a home owner
13 in Washington Heights, and then avoided capture, and
14 came back to Nashville and then eventually the process
15 went from there. I don't think it would be a quiet
16 little story in a tiny courtroom that about fifteen
17 people would be aware of. I think it would be national
18 news that someone from the South went to the North,

19 slings N. bombs, breaks into someone's home and
20 terrorizes them. Again, just a thought I have as to
21 guiding this Court into what the ultimate conclusions
22 should be as to how it handles these sentences.
23 Clearly, Mr. Reynolds' behavior, setting aside the
24 fact that he's a police officer, is criminal behavior,
25 behavior that can not be condoned, that, while maybe you

99
1 could say sure, everybody gets drunk, everybody makes
2 mistakes, I think this is far beyond that sort of
3 innocent mistake. I think there are so many things that
4 occurred in this fact pattern that would lead you to
5 conclude that this was something that Mr. Reynolds was a
6 little more in control of than he is testifying about
7 today, that this was just a black-out where he was a
8 walking incompetent human who didn't know where he was

9 going. A lot had to happen. He was dropped off right
10 in front of the home that he was supposed to go into.
11 His buddy is literally lying on the rock wall yelling
12 for him to come back, dude, where are you going,
13 continues to yell at him, and then you can hear -- you
14 can hear Mr. Reynolds screaming at some point about
15 seven and a half minutes into that video, engaging in
16 consistent behavior with what Ms. Halliburton has
17 testified about. So, it's difficult for the State to
18 buy that this was just something that was alcohol

19 induced.
20 This Court sees a lot of behavior caused by alcohol
21 addiction and other drug addiction. We infrequently see
22 this. Taking that, and then adding on top of it that
23 Mr. Reynolds is a police officer, and his behavior --
24 and yeah, you can't necessarily impute his buddy's
25 behavior onto him a whole -- you know, a whole cloth,

100
1 but from the testimony of Mr. Roddick and Ms.
2 Halliburton, it's clear that Mr. Reynolds was not some
3 outlier within this group, but was behaving similarly,
4 laughing, acting like this was not very serious, you
5 know, essentially trying to -- bully is my word, but I
6 think that's a good word, bully their way through this
7 or out of this. And that's an absolute violation of the
8 trust that is instilled within him as a sworn officer.

9 I think that Mr. Reynolds is commendable, since
10 this has taken place, in addressing some issues, but I
11 agree with Ms. Halliburton. Nothing would have changed,
12 he wouldn't have done a thing, if somehow Detective
13 Bevis and Lieutenant Dusche had not chased down all the
14 leads they could to identify him. Otherwise, he was
15 gone scot-free, keep quiet, don't tell anybody a thing
16 and we'll get out of this. You know, we went, we cut up
17 in another city, what happens in Nashville stays in
18 Nashville, let's get out of town early and live our

19 lives.
20 It's up to this Court to decide what the
21 appropriate punishment is, and I'll leave that to the
22 Court, but I honestly will stand on Ms. Halliburton's
23 testimony. I think she said it as perfectly as anyone
24 could and clearly stated how this has impacted her,
25 which has impacted her significantly and permanently.

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1 So, I would ask the Court to consider that.
2 MR. YARBROUGH: Your Honor, I'm obviously at
3 a disadvantage here. The General is very eloquent in
4 describing the conduct of a drunken person and how
5 unreasonable, arbitrary, damaging and criminal it can
6 be. And there's no excuse, as I have already said once
7 or twice at this hearing, for what he did. There can't
8 be an excuse. There can't be a justification. We're

9 not trying to justify it. These are misdemeanors, his
10 first ever criminal offense. True, he's a police
11 officer and should have known better. I think we would
12 all agree to that, but to give him what is, in effect,
13 an economic death penalty, which would be the effect of
14 a jail sentence or the inability to possess a weapon,
15 either one of those basically deprives him of his entire
16 career over one night, very bad, very inexcusable, very
17 indefensible conduct.
18 And I'm not sure that I completely agree with the

19 General when he talks about the regional bias, the
20 racial bias. It was my impression that, in this, as in
21 all courts in the state of Tennessee, that we are equal
22 before the Court regardless of our race, regardless of
23 our creed or our region. And I'm quite certain that no
24 such bias will be a part of any judgement from this
25 Court, either to be harsh or to bend over backwards to

102
1 be too lenient, but the overall point that we're trying
2 to make here today is that this young man, who has made
3 a horrible decision in his career to come down here and
4 do all this stuff, stands at a crossroads. And the
5 Court possesses the power to send him into a tailspin
6 which could be career and life ending or give him a
7 second chance, which will obviously be monitored very
8 closely by the people of New York, not just our people

9 here, to not drink again. And there is no evidence in
10 this record --
11 THE COURT: For a year was the testimony.
12 MR. YARBROUGH: Well, it could certainly be
13 extended if Your Honor chose to do that, I would think,
14 in various ways, but regardless of that, yes, for a year
15 for sure. But the point is to salvage a life, to
16 salvage a career, and to give him an opportunity to
17 prove the statement that he made under oath that he will
18 never be guilty of this type of offense again seems to

19 be a plausible answer that's consistent with our state
20 law. And that's all we can ask. We can't justify what
21 he did. That's impossible. And so, the question is
22 what now. And I'm only saying this because I realize
23 the Court has a difficult decision to make, but we say
24 what now should be something that salvages a life and
25 doesn't cost a life over one very bad night in

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1 Nashville, Tennessee. And apparently, from all the
2 evidence, that's what we have here.
3 Now, I realize there's also a retribution issue
4 because Ms. Halliburton has been offended -- might have
5 been -- her family, and there is no excuse for that on
6 Earth, but a punitive judgement won't change that. The
7 only thing that can be salvaged out of this is his life
8 and career, and then he makes restitution to them in

9 whatever measure Your Honor beats out and that he does
10 whatever term of probation Your Honor beats out, which
11 could be multiple years as I understand it under the
12 law. That's pretty punitive for a police officer. And
13 even if Your Honor does that, I don't think there's a
14 guarantee that he stays employed, but certainly that
15 opens the door to it or the possibility of it. And
16 that's really all we're asking because, without that,
17 he's finished. And that just doesn't seem to be what we
18 would call equal justice under the law considering all

19 the facts and circumstances, and we do appreciate the
20 Court's patience with all of this. Thank you.
21 THE COURT: Just a question. If he were to
22 be given probation, we don't transfer misdemeanor
23 probations from one state to the next. There's no way
24 to supervise him.
25 GEN. EWALD: Right.

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1 MR. YARBROUGH: Well, Your Honor --
2 THE COURT: That's just the way it is. I
3 mean, no state will accept a misdemeanor transfer --
4 probation transfer.
5 MR. YARBROUGH: I'm certainly aware of the
6 problem, but I would -- but I'm pretty sure --
7 certainly, Your Honor is more up to date on this than I
8 am, but I'm pretty sure I've had cases in the past where
9 people were living in other states but were supervised
10 from Davidson County. And that supervision could
11 include correspondence with the police department to be
12 sure that he is taking those breathalyzers and passing
13 every single one because, at the moment that he fails
14 one of them, he's fired there and he's potentially
15 violated here if that's part of Your Honor's order.
16 THE COURT: All right. I'll let you all know
17 in a few minutes.
18 (Recess observed.)
19 THE COURT: All right. This is the State of
20 Tennessee v. Michael Reynolds, Case No. 2019-I-384. Mr.
21 Reynolds is before the Court having entered pleas of
22 guilty to the lesser included offense of aggravated
23 criminal trespass and three counts of simple assault
24 arising out of an incident on July 9th or July 8th,
25 morning of July 9th, 2018. The issue before the Court

105
1 is the manner -- length and manner of service of the
2 sentences for each of the four misdemeanors to which he
3 has pled guilty. Although these are misdemeanors, there
4 was a presentence report prepared, not required by law,
5 but it was prepared in this particular case. So, in
6 determining the appropriate sentence for these --
7 sentences for these offenses, the Court has considered
8 the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, the

9 presentence report including the findings of the Strong
10 R. Risk Assessment Report, principles of sentencing as
11 set forth in 40-35-103, the arguments made as to
12 alternative sentencing, the nature and characteristics
13 of the criminal conduct involved, the evidence and
14 information offered on enhancing and mitigating factors,
15 the testimony of the Defendant on his own behalf here at
16 the sentencing hearing, his potential for rehabilitation
17 or treatment and the general purposes for which the
18 Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 was enacted as set forth

19 in 40-35-102.
20 The real issue, and -- one of the primary issues in
21 this case is whether or not Mr. Reynolds should be given
22 the benefit of judicial diversion, which requires some
23 additional factors to be considered in addition to the
24 ones that are set forth statutorily. Those factors
25 include the accused's amenability to correction, the

106
1 circumstances of the offense, his prior criminal record,
2 his social history, his physical and mental health and
3 the deterrence value to the accused as well as others.
4 Those factors will be addressed in addition to a number
5 of other factors that bear on whether or not an
6 alternative sentence is appropriate in this particular
7 case.
8 The enhancement and mitigating factors, in the

9 sense of a misdemeanor, generally are not very relevant,
10 I mean, since they are set forth primarily for a person
11 who is convicted of felonies, but I think that probably
12 one of the most important -- I mean, let's boil it down
13 real quick and real simple. If you look at the factors,
14 almost everything is favorable to Mr. Reynolds. He has
15 no prior record, which is not surprising if you're
16 seeking judicial diversion. I mean, it's kind of hard
17 to have much of a prior record. You can have some B and
18 C misdemeanors. I mean, certainly, if alcohol was his

19 issue, certainly he's gone through treatment and
20 certainly can continue on that path to where he is
21 amenable to corrections and the treatment necessary to
22 keep him on the straight and narrow if that is his only
23 issue.
24 I don't know a lot about his social history. He
25 grew up in a small town. He's apparently well-respected

107
1 in that small town. He's a police officer in Manhattan.
2 There's no issues with his physical or his mental health
3 that would prevent him from successfully completing an
4 alternative sentence, but here's the problem that has to
5 be weighed against that. One is the circumstances of
6 the offense. I don't know that I've -- twenty years on
7 the bench, I don't know that I've necessarily heard,
8 except for intentional home invasions usually where

9 they're going in to rob people of drugs, things of this
10 nature. I mean, the facts and circumstances of this
11 particular incident are extremely egregious. I mean,
12 for seven to eight minutes, there was a mother who was
13 peacefully laying in her bed with her youngest son
14 having a conversation. Her two -- her older sons are in
15 the house, a couple of them asleep and a couple -- and
16 the other one, the seventeen year old at that time,
17 awake enjoying the peace and quiet of their home, which
18 is what everyone is entitled to, and suddenly -- I mean,

19 fortunately, Ms. Halliburton was, I think, astute enough
20 that the yelling that was going on outside was beyond
21 the pale of the normal yelling and screaming that goes
22 on in the party situations that are notoriously common
23 in these Airbnb situations, and she called the police
24 then because I'm not sure what would have happened had
25 she waited until he was in the hallway before she called

108
1 the police because it appears that the only reason he
2 left was that she said the police are on that street.
3 And it was at that point in time, he beelined it out of
4 the house, didn't run, but beelined it out of the house
5 because, at that point in time, nothing had worked. And
6 for someone who has no idea where they are or what
7 they're doing, sure made it to that Airbnb mighty quick.
8 He didn't have any problem, at that point in time,

9 returning to the location where he was staying. Not
10 only were they terrorized for that seven or eight
11 minutes, which probably seemed like seven or eight
12 hours, they've continued to suffer repercussions of it
13 to this very day. I mean, you can tell, just in the way
14 Ms. Halliburton was testifying, that it's still fresh on
15 her mind and she's still coping with the consequences of
16 what occurred.
17 I also noticed that, when Mr. Reynolds got up here
18 to testify, and I don't know if it was a son, but one of

19 the individuals that I assumed was her son, when he got
20 up, he just shook his head and walked out of the room
21 like, you know, I just can't deal with this. So, the
22 Court is fully satisfied that the consequences of the
23 seven or eight minutes go well beyond that night and
24 continue to this very day to the extent that a person
25 who has lived in her -- this same house all of her life,

109
1 and therefore her children in that same house all their
2 life, none of them want to live there any longer. They
3 can't find any peace, and comfort, and safety in their
4 own home, which is supposed to be the one place we all
5 are able to go to and have those things and total peace
6 of mind. And that has been clearly and unequivocally
7 stolen from the Halliburtons, all of them.
8 And the Court, quite frankly, I just -- I can't

9 accept the testimony of Mr. Reynolds at face value. I
10 just -- I mean, as I said, he comes down to that house
11 with his -- one of his friends yelling at him to come
12 back, don't go down there, hey, we're over here and he
13 responds to him. I mean, he hears him. He responds to
14 him. I couldn't pick up exactly what he says, but he
15 continues on the path to the Halliburton's house. As I
16 said, after he left, he had no problem returning to that
17 house and going into the bedroom where I think he was
18 hoping he could go to sleep without being discovered.

19 And when the police do arrive, he has enough wherewithal
20 to make sure that they know he is a police officer, and
21 I think he did that for one reason. And I find the
22 reason he did that was in the hopes of getting the
23 professional courtesy that police officers frequently
24 give to each other and that this thing would blow over.
25 Then again, I can't accept what he said in terms of

110
1 the events that occurred that next evening before they
2 went to dinner. Not only did Ms. Halliburton describe
3 the demeanor of this group. Mr. Roddick, who doesn't
4 even have a dog in this hunt, has nothing to gain or
5 lose by it, he comes up here and he clearly testifies to
6 the exact same thing that Ms. Halliburton testified to,
7 and he testified to it before. I mean, and again, the
8 Court believes that -- I think these gentlemen thought

9 that, because they were police officers, they would be
10 able to get away with it.
11 Mr. Reynolds tries to put a positive perspective on
12 this case to say listen, I flew down at my own expense
13 and voluntarily gave a statement as to what occurred on
14 this particular occasion. He did that after he gets a
15 voicemail left from the Metropolitan Police Department.
16 Up until that point in time, I suspect he was having a
17 ten-day, twenty-day, however many days it was before the
18 phone call came in, sigh of relief that life was back to
19 normal in New York, and I can go on, and this is all
20 behind me and nothing is going to happen. And then
21 oops, there's a voicemail left by a detective who had
22 the wherewithal to investigate this matter much further
23 to try and get to the bottom of what was going on and
24 with the grace of Mr. Roddick having video kind of
25 assisted in establishing the events that occurred on

111
1 that evening. According to the presentence report,
2 before he came down here, I.A. was also involved, so
3 internal affairs. So, while he comes down here
4 voluntarily, I don't think he was in a position to do
5 otherwise. He knew that the gig was up. Metro knew
6 exactly who his was. They were able to identify him,
7 and they weren't going to just drop the ball and say
8 don't come back to Nashville.

9 And then, quite frankly, in his mea culpas today,
10 every one of those mea culpas started out with the fact
11 that I regret this because of what it has done to my
12 life. The only time -- or the first time that it came
13 up, and the impact that it had on the Halliburtons, was
14 when Mr. Yarbrough so eloquently directed him to that
15 particular aspect of that situation, that oh, yeah,
16 there was somebody else that, you know, was in -- was
17 involved in this, that maybe I ought to say I'm sorry
18 for what it caused to them as well. So, I kind of

19 question just how sincere his apology was, just how
20 regretful he was. I think, had he really felt that from
21 the beginning, he would have dealt with it while he was
22 here in Nashville. They would have come clean. They
23 would have told the police what was going on. He found
24 out the next day that his friends lied to the police.
25 They did nothing to correct those very lies, and they're

112
1 police officers. I mean, they, of all people, I'm sure,
2 get frustrated constantly by citizens who lie to them
3 when they're trying to do investigations. And yet, they
4 are perpetrating that absolute lie and fraud on the
5 Metro Police Department. And again, but for a couple of
6 detectives who stayed on top of it, they would have
7 gotten away with it.
8 As far as the racial slur, obviously everyone in

9 this courtroom absolutely knows how abhorrent that is,
10 and repugnant, and cannot, under any circumstances, be
11 -- well, I can't even get the word out, mitigated. Let
12 me use that word. And I just don't know what I -- I
13 will -- I don't have any reason to believe he has any
14 kind of racial animosity in him. It just seems awful
15 unusual that, out of the blue, something that is not a
16 part of you becomes a part of you on a particular night,
17 but there's no question that the seriousness of that
18 vile type of conduct...

19 I understand the Defendant's desire for judicial
20 diversion because it could potentially implicate his
21 career, his livelihood. Her testimony where the
22 livelihood -- not necessarily the livelihood, but the
23 lives of four people have been forever shattered.
24 Hopefully, counseling and time will take care of it to
25 some extent, but I don't think that's the type of thing

113
1 that will ever leave you permanently.
2 Under all the circumstances and -- well, deterrence
3 value. Nashville does have a nightmare of a problem
4 with these Airbnbs. For whatever reason, our elected
5 officials allow it to go on the way it is. That's for
6 another day and another body to deal with, not this
7 Court, but they are a quite common problem and it's
8 routinely talked about, written about, broadcasted that

9 they just kind of run a muck in neighborhoods. And
10 while Mr. Reynolds says he wasn't aware of Nashville's
11 reputation as kind of the Nash-Vegas, and go there and
12 party, and do what you want to, I mean, you go around
13 town and there's not any kind of mobile device that
14 hasn't been turned into a rolling bar. And some of
15 them, you don't even need wheels. I mean, they've got
16 horses pulling carriages and so on and so forth. I
17 mean, it's -- it is a part of Nashville, and we love our
18 visitors, but the kind of conduct that occurred on that

19 night just can not be tolerated under any circumstances.
20 And while I understand and somewhat empathize for
21 the possible consequences it can have on Mr. Reynolds,
22 his personal interest under no circumstances outweighs
23 the interest of one, the community generally, but two
24 and more importantly and most importantly, the
25 Halliburtons, who again have -- are going to have

114
1 long-term consequences as well.
2 I don't accept that, if -- if Mr. Reynolds were to
3 lose his job as a police officer, that he's incapable of
4 other employment. I don't -- his livelihood is not lost
5 forever. Certainly, he's got other qualifications.
6 He's got mental abilities, and physical abilities, and
7 everything else, but police officers, right or wrong,
8 are sometimes held to a greater standard, particularly

9 when you go into a cover-up mode after the event. So,
10 the facts themselves were egregious. The response to
11 those facts, once they sobered up the next day just make
12 it even worse and can not be allowed to go unpunished.
13 I think the reality of it is, when they said that hey,
14 we're police officers, we have immunity, if I were to
15 grant judicial diversion, I'm granting them immunity
16 because, in two or three, four years, the -- it would be
17 erased as if it never happened, and I don't think that
18 is appropriate under the facts and circumstances in this

19 case.
20 Therefore, I'm going to sentence Mr. Reynolds to
21 eleven months, twenty-nine days on each case. The
22 assaults will all run consecutive to each other. The
23 aggravated criminal trespass will run concurrent with
24 Count 2, I guess, whichever victim that is. Those
25 sentences will be suspended except fifteen days in

115
1 Counts 1 and 2. I don't know. There's no real way to
2 adequately supervise that probation since the interstate
3 compact for probation does not provide a method in which
4 to transfer, from one state to the next, misdemeanor
5 probations. So, he will be required to return to this
6 Court once every six months for the Court to, I guess,
7 serve as his probation officer. He'll have thirty days
8 to report. There are no fines, no special conditions.

9 I want to also point out that, while I think that
10 our laws favor alternative sentences, which he's, for
11 the most part, getting and looks to community service
12 work, looks to restitution and things of this nature --
13 the financial aspects of this, whatever it may be, a
14 couple hundred dollars is an insult to suggest that that
15 restitution would, in any form or fashion, address the
16 emotional scars that have been inflicted upon the
17 Halliburtons. As she herself said, you can't put a
18 price tag on peace of mind. And so, I want to add that

19 to my comments. Anything else?
20 MR. YARBROUGH: Your Honor, I just want to be
21 clear. The fifteen days are consecutive. So, it's a
22 total of a thirty-day jail sentence?
23 THE COURT: No, it's -- the Counts 1 and 2
24 are concurrent.
25 MR. YARBROUGH: Okay.

116
1 THE COURT: So, it's fifteen days. Those two
2 are concurrent. So, it's fifteen days. Counts 3 and 4
3 are suspended fully.
4 MR. YARBROUGH: Right.
5 THE COURT: It would only be if one of those
6 were imposed a sentence would there be more. I think
7 the main thing is that this not be swept under the rug
8 four years from now. It was attempted to be swept under

9 the rug last year. To allow it to be expunged would
10 sweep it under the rug four years from now or three
11 years, whatever probationary period I might have placed
12 on him. So, anything else?
14 MR. YARBROUGH: We would ask Your Honor, even
15 though it's probably moot at this point, that the Court
16 allow that the condition the he not possess a firearm --
17 THE COURT: I don't have a problem with -- I
18 mean, I'm going to leave the internal affairs and his

19 job up to the state of New York, the city of New York,
20 whichever one is supervising him. It's misdemeanors.
21 He's not precluded under our laws in Tennessee to own,
22 possess a firearm. So, I'm not going to get into that.
23 You can strike that as a restriction. Well, he's not
24 being supervised by you. So, yes, I mean, if you want
25 to prepare an order --

117
1 MR. YARBROUGH: I can do that.
2 THE COURT: Making it clear that that is not
3 --
5 THE COURT: -- a condition of his probation,
6 I don't have any problem with that. I'm just going to
7 leave that --

9 THE COURT: The matter of his employment is
10 totally up to New York.
11 MR. YARBROUGH: All right. Thank you.
14 THE COURT: Just come back June 4th.
15 (Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded.)
16
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25

118
1 CERTIFICATE
3 STATE OF TENNESSEE )
4 COUNTY OF DAVIDSON )
6 I, G. Thomas Nebel, Court Reporter with
7 offices in Nashville, Tennessee, hereby certify that I
8 have reported the foregoing transcript of proceedings in

9 the case of State of Tennessee v. Michael Reynolds, by
10 stenomask, to the best of my skills and abilities, and
11 thereafter the same was reduced to typewritten form by
12 me.
13 I further certify that I am not related to
14 any of the parties named herein, nor their counsel, and
15 have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the outcome
16 of the proceedings.
17
18
19 G. Thomas Nebel
20 Criminal Court Reporter
21 State of Tennessee
22 222 Second Avenue, North
23 Suite 340M
25

119
1
2 CERTIFICATE OF THE COURT
6 I, Mark J. Fishburn, Judge of the Criminal
7 Court, Division VI, for Davidson County, Tennessee,
8 hereby certify that I have read the foregoing transcript

9 of proceedings in the case of State of Tennessee v.
10 Michael Reynolds and have found the same to be a true

11 and accurate transcript of the proceedings.
12
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16 Judge Mark J. Fishburn
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1 IN THE CRIMINAL COURT, DIVISION VI
FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
2
3 STATE OF TENNESSEE, )
)
4 Plaintiff, )
) Case No. 2019-I-384
5 VS. )
)
6 MICHAEL JOHN REYNOLDS, )
)
7 Defendant. )
______________________________X
8
9
10
11
12 _______________________________________________________
13
14 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
15 TAKEN ON SEPTEMBER 12th, 2019
16 THE HONORABLE MARK J. FISHBURN, PRESIDING
17
18 _______________________________________________________
19
20
21
22
23 Prepared by:
G. Thomas Nebel
24 Briggs & Associates
222 Second Avenue, North, Suite 340M
BRIGGS & ASSOCIATES 615-482-0037

1 APPEARANCES:
4 FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
6 GEN. TAMMY MEADE, ESQUIRE

GEN. BRIAN EWALD, ESQUIRE
7 222 SECOND AVENUE, NORTH
SUITE 500
8 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37201
9
10 FOR THE DEFENDANT:
11
12 WALTER JUSTIN ADAMS, ESQUIRE

511 UNION STREET
13 SUITE 1600
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37219
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1 (Whereupon, the following proceedings were
2 held in open court.)
3 (Whereupon, the Defendant was duly sworn.)
4 THE COURT: All right, you can be seated.
5 Mr. Reynolds, I have before me a petition to enter a
6 plea of guilty in your case. I need to ask you some
7 questions regarding your decision to enter the plea of
8 guilty as well as some questions regarding the rights
9 that you have as a criminal defendant. Most of the

10 questions I will ask you will require you to give a yes
11 or no answer. It's very important that you verbalize
12 the word yes or no. I can not accept any uh-huh's,
13 huh-huh's, nodding or shaking of your head. I need to
14 have a clear record of what your response is. Also, if
15 I ask you a question that you do not understand, you
16 need to let me know that. I'll rephrase the question
17 until such time as we have a clear understanding with
18 each other. And finally, if for any reason you need to
19 speak to your attorney during the course of these

20 proceedings, let me know that. I'll stop the
21 proceedings, give you an opportunity to have those
22 discussions before we proceed any further. Do you
23 understand the rules I just went over, sir?
24 MR. REYNOLDS: I do.
25 THE COURT: Do you understand, sir, that

1 you've just taken an oath -- just taken an oath to tell
2 the truth and if, for any reason, you should answer my
3 questions falsely or any questions asked of you by the
4 District Attorney General falsely while in open court in
5 the presence of you lawyer, you could be subjecting
6 yourself to the possibility of being prosecuted for
7 perjury?
9 THE COURT: How far did you go in school,

10 sir?
11 MR. REYNOLDS: I am in the process of getting
12 my Bachelor's degree now, sir.
13 THE COURT: I assume you're able to read and
14 write?
15 MR. REYNOLDS: Yes, sir.
16 THE COURT: Are you currently taking any
17 medications, whether they be prescribed, over the
18 counter or otherwise?
19 MR. REYNOLDS: No, sir.

20 THE COURT: Have you consumed any type of
21 alcoholic beverage or other intoxicant in the last
22 twenty-four hours?
24 THE COURT: Have you ever been diagnosed with
25 suffering from any type of mental illness or other

1 mental disorder?
3 THE COURT: Is there any reason that you can
4 think of that you would not be able to fully understand
5 and appreciate what it is you're doing here today?
7 THE COURT: You have submitted to the Court a
8 petition to enter a plea of guilty in your case, which
9 appears to have been signed by you. Did you in fact

10 sign the petition?
11 MR. REYNOLDS: I did.
12 THE COURT: Before signing the petition, did
13 you have an opportunity to either read the petition in
14 its entirety or have your attorney read it to you?
16 THE COURT: During the time that you were
17 reading the petition or your attorney was reading it to
18 you, to the extent that you had any questions, did your
19 attorney satisfactorily answer those questions?

21 THE COURT: Do you believe you fully and
22 completely understand the contents of the petition as
23 you sit here today?
25 THE COURT: You're charged in Case 2019-I-384

1 with aggravated burglary carrying a three to
2 fifteen-year sentence in the state penitentiary and a
3 fine of up to ten thousand dollars. The range
4 applicable to you being three to six years. You're also
5 charged with three counts of assault, each carrying a
6 sentence of up to eleven months, twenty-nine days in
7 jail and fines of up to twenty-five hundred dollars. Is
8 that your understanding, sir, of what you're charged
9 with and the possible punishment related to those

10 offenses?
12 THE COURT: Do you understand that each of
13 those are separate offenses and, if convicted of more
14 than one of them at the trial of the case, you would be
15 punished separately for each conviction?
17 THE COURT: Do you understand what it takes
18 under the law -- what it takes under the law to be found
19 guilty of each of these charges, in other words, what

20 the State would have to show you did at the trial of the
21 case in order for a jury to convict?
23 THE COURT: I understand you're going to be
24 entering a no-contest plea to one count of aggravated
25 criminal trespass and three counts of assault. You're

1 going to have a separate sentencing hearing for the
2 Court to determine the length and manner of service of
3 the sentence, and whether or not the sentencing will run
4 concurrent or consecutive, and whether or not you
5 qualify or should be granted judicial diversion. Is
6 that your understanding -- and also restitution, the
7 amount of restitution that will be required. Is that
8 your understanding, sir, of what you're pleading to as
9 well as the potential punishment that can be imposed?

11 THE COURT: Do you have any questions at all
12 regarding what you're charged with, the possible
13 punishment related to those offenses or what you're
14 pleading to and the potential punishment that can be
15 imposed?
17 THE COURT: Before deciding to enter these
18 pleas -- no-contest pleas, did you have an opportunity
19 to discuss in detail with your attorney the facts and

20 circumstances leading up to your arrest?
22 THE COURT: During those discussions, did
23 your attorney explain to you the law that applies to
24 your case as well as the evidence the State says that
25 they have against you?

2 THE COURT: Also, during those discussions,
3 did you attorney explain to you any defenses that you
4 might have to these charges, in other words, what
5 strategies you would use in an effort to overcome or
6 negate the evidence the State says that they have
7 against you?
9 THE COURT: During the course of those

10 discussions, to the extent that you had any questions,
11 did you attorney satisfactorily answer those question?
13 THE COURT: Do you believe -- do you have any
14 complaints whatsoever regarding the representation your
15 lawyer has provided you in this case?
17 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Reynolds, I need
18 to ask you some questions regarding the rights that you
19 have as a criminal defendant. Please listen closely to

20 my questions, make sure you understand what your rights
21 are because, as a condition of the plea agreement, you
22 will be required to waive or give them up. Therefore,
23 it's important that you understand them so you can make
24 an intelligent decision as to whether or not you in fact
25 wish to waive them. First of all, do you understand

1 that you have a right to persist in your plea of not
2 guilty, demand a trial by a jury and require the State
3 to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?
5 THE COURT: Do you understand that, if you
6 were to demand a trial by a jury, that you would be
7 entitled to a public and speedy trial by a jury, in
8 other words, I would have to set this matter for trial
9 as quickly as possible in order for a jury to render a

10 verdict in your case one way or the other?
12 THE COURT: Do you also understand that, if
13 you were to demand a trial by a jury, that it would in
14 fact be the State's responsibility to prove your guilt
15 beyond a reasonable doubt. You would have no
16 responsibility to establish your innocence because,
17 under the law, you're presumed to be innocent?
19 THE COURT: Do you further understand that,

20 if you were to demand a trial by a jury, that you would
21 be entitled to a fair and impartial trial by a jury of
22 your peers made up of citizens of Davidson County?
24 THE COURT: Do you understand that, at the
25 trial of the case, you would have the right through your

1 attorney to confront and cross-examine the State's
2 witnesses who would appear in open court to testify
3 against you? They would sit right here in this witness
4 chair. The State's attorney would ask questions and
5 your attorney would have the right to ask questions
6 challenging the witness's credibility, challenging their
7 memory of the events that led to your arrest, anything
8 that would be relevant, material and beneficial to your
9 side of the case?

11 THE COURT: Do you also understand that you
12 would have the right to use the subpoena powers of the
13 Court to require witnesses to come in and testify on
14 your behalf if you had any such witnesses?
16 THE COURT: Do you further understand that,
17 at that trial of the case, you would have the right to
18 testify if you chose to. However, no one can force you
19 to testify against yourself and, if you chose not to

20 testify, then I would tell the jury they could not use
21 your silence to infer any guilt on your part. I would
22 remind the jury that you are presumed innocent, you do
23 not have to prove your innocence, the State has to prove
24 you guilty and therefore you don't have to do anything
25 at the trial. And if you chose not to testify, I would

1 make it clear to the jury that they could not consider
2 that during their deliberations. For example, they
3 couldn't speculate that, by not testifying, you must be
4 trying to hide something and therefore are guilty. It
5 would be a matter they could not discuss or use against
6 you for any reason whatsoever. Do you understand that?
8 THE COURT: Do you understand that, if you
9 were found guilty at that trial, you would have the

10 right to have the jury set any fine in excess of fifty
11 dollars, for the Court to set your punishment at a
12 separate sentencing hearing? Furthermore, you would
13 have the right to appeal both your conviction and your
14 punishment to a higher Court, for that Court to review
15 what occurred at your trial and sentencing hearing to
16 ensure that you received a fair trial and sentencing
17 hearing. And if that Court did not think that you had
18 received a fair trial and/or sentencing hearing, they
19 would grant you the appropriate relief including the

20 possibility of a new trial?
22 THE COURT: And finally, do you understand
23 that, throughout all the proceedings I've just gone
24 over, you have the right to an attorney? If you could
25 not afford an attorney, I would appoint one to represent

1 you, and it would include your appeal in the event that
2 you were found guilty at the trial?
4 THE COURT: Do you have any questions at all
5 regarding the rights that you have as a criminal
6 defendant?
8 THE COURT: Do you understand, if I accept
9 your no-contest plea today, the issue of guilt or

10 innocence will be over. There will be a finding of
11 guilt. You will not be allowed to appeal that issue.
12 However, we will have a separate sentencing hearing for
13 the Court to determine length, manner of service of your
14 sentence as well as the type of community supervision
15 you will be granted. Is it -- is there an issue on
16 whether it's an alternative sentence or not or is it
17 just -- I mean, is he subject to going to jail or is
18 there an agreement that it's going to be community
19 supervised?
20 GEN. MEADE: Judge, I believe, from the
21 notes, that this is a sentencing hearing to determine
22 length, manner, service, judicial diversion.
23 THE COURT: So, it's --
24 GEN. MEADE: Pretty much everything.
25 THE COURT: -- everything.

1 GEN. MEADE: It's my understanding, yes.
2 MR. ADAMS: That's correct, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: All right. Well, we will have a
4 separate sentencing hearing for the Court to determine
5 the length of the -- of the sentence that you will --
6 that will be imposed on each of these cases, which would
7 be a maximum of eleven months, twenty-nine days on each
8 case, whether or not they're concurrent or consecutive
9 and whether or not you have to serve jail time in full,

10 in part, split confinement with other alternative
11 sentencing or if you get straight out community
12 supervision and, if that's the case, whether or not it's
13 on probation or judicial diversion. Do you understand
14 that?
16 THE COURT: Has anyone -- do you understand
17 that, if I accept these pleas here today and you're not
18 granted judicial diversion, that you will have permanent
19 criminal convictions on your record and, in the event

20 you're convicted of a crime after today, the fact that
21 you pled guilty -- entered a no-contest plea here today
22 could be used against you to increase any punishment on
23 any future convictions? In other words, the more crimes
24 you commit, the worse the punishment becomes. Do you
25 understand that?

1 MR. REYNOLDS: Yes.
2 THE COURT: Do you understand that, if I
3 grant you judicial diversion and you successfully
4 complete the term of judicial diversion, then upon
5 successful completion, you can come back to court, ask
6 the cases against you be dismissed and your record
7 expunged? In which case, you would not have a permanent
8 criminal conviction on your record. However, if you
9 should violate the terms and conditions of that judicial

10 diversion, then upon violation of the diversion, you too
11 would -- you would lose the benefit of that type of
12 probation and, upon that occurring, you would again have
13 a permanent criminal conviction on your record.
14 Do you understand that?
16 THE COURT: Has anyone threatened you with
17 anything or promised you anything in order to get you to
18 enter these pleas?

20 THE COURT: Are you going to enter these
21 pleas and not contest the evidence that the State has
22 against you?
24 THE COURT: You're --
25 MR. REYNOLDS: Oh, I do, yes, sir.

1 THE COURT: Are these domestic violence?
2 GEN. MEADE: No.
3 THE COURT: I don't know anything about the
4 case.
5 GEN. MEADE: No.
6 THE COURT: Okay. All right. Mr. Adams, do
7 you believe your client understands the nature of the
8 charges against him, the law that applies to those
9 charges, the pros and cons of entering a plea versus

10 going to trial and that he's entering a plea freely,
11 knowingly and voluntarily?
12 MR. ADAMS: Yes, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: And do you waive confrontation of
14 witnesses?
15 MR. ADAMS: Yes, Your Honor.
16 THE COURT: General?
17 GEN. MEADE: Had this matter of State of
18 Tennessee v. Michael John Reynolds gone to trial, the

19 State's witnesses would testify that, on Monday, July
20 9th of 2018 at approximately 2:30 in the morning, the
21 victim in this matter and her sons who reside on Ashwood
22 Avenue here in Nashville, Davidson County, called police
23 to report that someone was standing outside of a
24 residence yelling. The victim reported that this person
25 had made entry to the house. The victim had two older

1 sons in the house, a seventeen year old and a twenty
2 year old. They were present. The victim stated that
3 the Defendant, who was later determined to be Michael
4 John Reynolds, came inside the house. He was kicking
5 the door. He did make entry into their home. He then
6 moved the victims -- he moved toward them in a
7 threatening manner after fighting with their dogs. The
8 victim said she felt very threatened. She was very
9 afraid of the Defendant who had kicked in the door and

10 were threatening her family. She advised that her two
11 sons stood between her and the Defendant. The sons were
12 demanding that the Defendant leave the residence.
13 She did tell the Defendant at that point the police were
14 on the way. He stayed in the -- the Defendant stayed in
15 the residence for several minutes yelling at them.
16 Eventually, he did flee the residence. They were able
17 to determine that this Defendant was actually staying in
18 an airbnb next to their residence. Video surveillance
19 from the neighborhood showed that to be true. He was

20 arrested and a photo line-up was presented to the
21 victim, and she did -- did pick out Mr. Michael John
22 Reynolds as the person who broke into her house and
23 threatened her family on that particular night. All
24 those facts did occur here in Davidson County. Based on
25 those facts, Judge, we recommend the conviction in this

1 matter and set the matter for a sentencing hearing at a
2 later date.
3 THE COURT: Mr. Reynolds, did you hear the
4 facts read by the District Attorney General?
6 THE COURT: Do you understand that those are
7 the -- that is the evidence that the State believes that
8 they would be able to establish if this case were to go
9 to trial?
10 MR. REYNOLDS: Yeah.
11 THE COURT: And your understanding of that
12 and, after discussions with your attorney, have you
13 decided you are going to allow the Court to accept that
14 evidence and not contest it?
15 MR. REYNOLDS: Yes.
16 THE COURT: And are you going to waive your
17 rights here today and enter a no-contest plea on each of
18 these cases?

20 THE COURT: In Case 2019-I-384, wherein
21 you're charged with one count of aggravated criminal
22 trespass and three counts of assault, how do you -- what
23 is your no-contest plea?
24 MR. REYNOLDS: No contest.
25 THE COURT: Based on your no-contest plea of

1 guilty, I find you guilty. I find there's a factual
2 basis to support the pleas, you're competent to enter
3 said pleas, and that you're doing so freely, knowingly
4 and voluntarily. I'll therefore set this matter for a
5 sentencing hearing on...
6 MS. SMITH: Do you want to do it like on a
7 Friday?
8 MR. ADAMS: Let me check.
9 MS. SMITH: Yeah. I was looking maybe like

10 on November 8th.
11 MR. ADAMS: Would a Thursday be possible
12 simply due to his -- I believe his school schedule?
13 Would a Thursday be possible? If not --
14 MS. SMITH: It will. That would just -- I
15 don't know how lengthy it was. I mean, we could set it
16 at a one o'clock.
17 MR. ADAMS: Yeah, that's fine.
18 MS. SMITH: Wait a minute. Yeah, the 7th?
19 MR. ADAMS: November 7th, okay. That's fine.

20 THE COURT: Is the... Is the indictment
21 itself being dismissed?
22 GEN. EWALD: Yes, it's going to be nolled,
23 yes, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Nolle.

25 MR. ADAMS: Was that November 7th?

1 THE COURT: Yeah, that's what --
2 MR. ADAMS: Yes. Yes, that would work.
4 (Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded.)
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1 CERTIFICATE
3 STATE OF TENNESSEE )
4 COUNTY OF DAVIDSON )
6 I, G. Thomas Nebel, Court Reporter with
7 offices in Nashville, Tennessee, hereby certify that I
8 have reported the foregoing transcript of proceedings in
9 the case of State of Tennessee v. Michael John Reynolds,

10 by stenomask, to the best of my skills and abilities,
11 and thereafter the same was reduced to typewritten form
12 by me.
13 I further certify that I am not related to
14 any of the parties named herein, nor their counsel, and
15 have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the outcome
16 of the proceedings.
17
18
19 G. Thomas Nebel
20 Criminal Court Reporter
21 State of Tennessee
22 222 Second Avenue, North
23 Suite 340M
25

1
2 CERTIFICATE OF THE COURT
6 I, Mark J. Fishburn, Judge of the Criminal
7 Court, Division VI, for Davidson County, Tennessee,
8 hereby certify that I have read the foregoing transcript
9 of proceedings in the case of State of Tennessee v.

10 Michael John Reynolds and have found the same to be a
11 true and accurate transcript of the proceedings.
12
13
14
15
16 Judge Mark J. Fishburn
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JS 44 (Rev. 07/16) CIVIL COVER SHEET
The JS 44 civil cover sheet and the information contained herein neither replace nor supplement the filing and service of pleadings or other papers as required by law, except as
provided by local rules of court. This form, approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States in September 1974, is required for the use of the Clerk of Court for the
purpose of initiating the civil docket sheet. (SEE INSTRUCTIONS ON NEXT PAGE OF THIS FORM.)
I. (a) PLAINTIFFS DEFENDANTS

Conese Halliburton Michael John Reynolds
(b) County of Residence of First Listed Plaintiff Davidson County, TN County of Residence of First Listed Defendant Rockland County, NY
(EXCEPT IN U.S. PLAINTIFF CASES) (IN U.S. PLAINTIFF CASES ONLY)
NOTE: IN LAND CONDEMNATION CASES, USE THE LOCATION OF
THE TRACT OF LAND INVOLVED.
(c) Attorneys (Firm Name, Address, and Telephone Number) Attorneys (If Known)
Daniel A. Horwitz; 1803 Broadway, #531, Nashville TN 37203
615-739-2888
II. BASIS OF JURISDICTION (Place an “X” in One Box Only) III. CITIZENSHIP OF PRINCIPAL PARTIES (Place an “X” in One Box for Plaintiff
(For Diversity Cases Only) and One Box for Defendant)
’ 1 U.S. Government ’ 3 Federal Question PTF DEF PTF DEF
Plaintiff (U.S. Government Not a Party) Citizen of This State ’ 1 ’ 1 Incorporated or Principal Place ’ 4 ’ 4
of Business In This State
’ 2 U.S. Government ’ 4 Diversity Citizen of Another State ’ 2 ’ 2 Incorporated and Principal Place ’ 5 ’ 5
Defendant (Indicate Citizenship of Parties in Item III) of Business In Another State
Citizen or Subject of a ’ 3 ’ 3 Foreign Nation ’ 6 ’ 6

Foreign Country
IV. NATURE OF SUIT (Place an “X” in One Box Only)
CONTRACT TORTS FORFEITURE/PENALTY BANKRUPTCY OTHER STATUTES
’ 110 Insurance PERSONAL INJURY PERSONAL INJURY ’ 625 Drug Related Seizure ’ 422 Appeal 28 USC 158 ’ 375 False Claims Act
’ 120 Marine ’ 310 Airplane ’ 365 Personal Injury - of Property 21 USC 881 ’ 423 Withdrawal ’ 376 Qui Tam (31 USC
’ 130 Miller Act ’ 315 Airplane Product Product Liability ’ 690 Other 28 USC 157 3729(a))
’ 140 Negotiable Instrument Liability ’ 367 Health Care/ ’ 400 State Reapportionment
’ 150 Recovery of Overpayment ’ 320 Assault, Libel & Pharmaceutical PROPERTY RIGHTS ’ 410 Antitrust
& Enforcement of Judgment Slander Personal Injury ’ 820 Copyrights ’ 430 Banks and Banking
’ 151 Medicare Act ’ 330 Federal Employers’ Product Liability ’ 830 Patent ’ 450 Commerce
’ 152 Recovery of Defaulted Liability ’ 368 Asbestos Personal ’ 840 Trademark ’ 460 Deportation
Student Loans ’ 340 Marine Injury Product ’ 470 Racketeer Influenced and
(Excludes Veterans) ’ 345 Marine Product Liability LABOR SOCIAL SECURITY Corrupt Organizations
’ 153 Recovery of Overpayment Liability PERSONAL PROPERTY ’ 710 Fair Labor Standards ’ 861 HIA (1395ff) ’ 480 Consumer Credit
of Veteran’s Benefits ’ 350 Motor Vehicle ’ 370 Other Fraud Act ’ 862 Black Lung (923) ’ 490 Cable/Sat TV
’ 160 Stockholders’ Suits ’ 355 Motor Vehicle ’ 371 Truth in Lending ’ 720 Labor/Management ’ 863 DIWC/DIWW (405(g)) ’ 850 Securities/Commodities/
’ 190 Other Contract Product Liability ’ 380 Other Personal Relations ’ 864 SSID Title XVI Exchange
’ 195 Contract Product Liability ’ 360 Other Personal Property Damage ’ 740 Railway Labor Act ’ 865 RSI (405(g)) ’ 890 Other Statutory Actions
’ 196 Franchise Injury ’ 385 Property Damage ’ 751 Family and Medical ’ 891 Agricultural Acts
’ 362 Personal Injury - Product Liability Leave Act ’ 893 Environmental Matters
Medical Malpractice ’ 790 Other Labor Litigation ’ 895 Freedom of Information
REAL PROPERTY CIVIL RIGHTS PRISONER PETITIONS ’ 791 Employee Retirement FEDERAL TAX SUITS Act
’ 210 Land Condemnation ’ 440 Other Civil Rights Habeas Corpus: Income Security Act ’ 870 Taxes (U.S. Plaintiff ’ 896 Arbitration
’ 220 Foreclosure ’ 441 Voting ’ 463 Alien Detainee or Defendant) ’ 899 Administrative Procedure
’ 230 Rent Lease & Ejectment ’ 442 Employment ’ 510 Motions to Vacate ’ 871 IRS—Third Party Act/Review or Appeal of
’ 240 Torts to Land ’ 443 Housing/ Sentence 26 USC 7609 Agency Decision
’ 245 Tort Product Liability Accommodations ’ 530 General ’ 950 Constitutionality of
’ 290 All Other Real Property ’ 445 Amer. w/Disabilities - ’ 535 Death Penalty IMMIGRATION State Statutes
Employment Other: ’ 462 Naturalization Application
’ 446 Amer. w/Disabilities - ’ 540 Mandamus & Other ’ 465 Other Immigration
Other ’ 550 Civil Rights Actions
’ 448 Education ’ 555 Prison Condition
’ 560 Civil Detainee -
Conditions of
Confinement
V. ORIGIN (Place an “X” in One Box Only)
’ 1 Original ’ 2 Removed from ’ 3 Remanded from ’ 4 Reinstated or ’ 5 Transferred from ’ 6 Multidistrict ’ 8 Multidistrict
Proceeding State Court Appellate Court Reopened Another District Litigation - Litigation -
(specify) Transfer Direct File
Cite the U.S. Civil Statute under which you are filing (Do not cite jurisdictional statutes unless diversity):
28 U.S.C. § 1332 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983
VI. CAUSE OF ACTION Brief description of cause:
Personal Injury (Diversity) and Civil Rights (§ 1983) action.
VII. REQUESTED IN ’ CHECK IF THIS IS A CLASS ACTION DEMAND $ CHECK YES only if demanded in complaint:
COMPLAINT: UNDER RULE 23, F.R.Cv.P. 5,000,000.00 JURY DEMAND: ’ Yes ’ No
VIII. RELATED CASE(S)
(See instructions):
IF ANY JUDGE DOCKET NUMBER
DATE SIGNATURE OF ATTORNEY OF RECORD
01/15/2020 /s/ Daniel A. Horwitz, BPR 032176
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY
RECEIPT # Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document

AMOUNT APPLYING 1-3
IFP Filed 01/15/20 Page 1 of 2 PageID
JUDGE #: 164
MAG. JUDGE
Print Save As... Reset

JS 44 Reverse (Rev. 07/16)
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ATTORNEYS COMPLETING CIVIL COVER SHEET FORM JS 44

Authority For Civil Cover Sheet
The JS 44 civil cover sheet and the information contained herein neither replaces nor supplements the filings and service of pleading or other papers as
required by law, except as provided by local rules of court. This form, approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States in September 1974, is
required for the use of the Clerk of Court for the purpose of initiating the civil docket sheet. Consequently, a civil cover sheet is submitted to the Clerk of
Court for each civil complaint filed. The attorney filing a case should complete the form as follows:
I.(a) Plaintiffs-Defendants. Enter names (last, first, middle initial) of plaintiff and defendant. If the plaintiff or defendant is a government agency, use
only the full name or standard abbreviations. If the plaintiff or defendant is an official within a government agency, identify first the agency and
then the official, giving both name and title.
(b) County of Residence. For each civil case filed, except U.S. plaintiff cases, enter the name of the county where the first listed plaintiff resides at the
time of filing. In U.S. plaintiff cases, enter the name of the county in which the first listed defendant resides at the time of filing. (NOTE: In land
condemnation cases, the county of residence of the "defendant" is the location of the tract of land involved.)
(c) Attorneys. Enter the firm name, address, telephone number, and attorney of record. If there are several attorneys, list them on an attachment, noting
in this section "(see attachment)".
II. Jurisdiction. The basis of jurisdiction is set forth under Rule 8(a), F.R.Cv.P., which requires that jurisdictions be shown in pleadings. Place an "X"
in one of the boxes. If there is more than one basis of jurisdiction, precedence is given in the order shown below.
United States plaintiff. (1) Jurisdiction based on 28 U.S.C. 1345 and 1348. Suits by agencies and officers of the United States are included here.
United States defendant. (2) When the plaintiff is suing the United States, its officers or agencies, place an "X" in this box.
Federal question. (3) This refers to suits under 28 U.S.C. 1331, where jurisdiction arises under the Constitution of the United States, an amendment
to the Constitution, an act of Congress or a treaty of the United States. In cases where the U.S. is a party, the U.S. plaintiff or defendant code takes
precedence, and box 1 or 2 should be marked.
Diversity of citizenship. (4) This refers to suits under 28 U.S.C. 1332, where parties are citizens of different states. When Box 4 is checked, the
citizenship of the different parties must be checked. (See Section III below; NOTE: federal question actions take precedence over diversity
cases.)
III. Residence (citizenship) of Principal Parties. This section of the JS 44 is to be completed if diversity of citizenship was indicated above. Mark this
section for each principal party.
IV. Nature of Suit. Place an "X" in the appropriate box. If the nature of suit cannot be determined, be sure the cause of action, in Section VI below, is
sufficient to enable the deputy clerk or the statistical clerk(s) in the Administrative Office to determine the nature of suit. If the cause fits more than
one nature of suit, select the most definitive.
V. Origin. Place an "X" in one of the seven boxes.

Original Proceedings. (1) Cases which originate in the United States district courts.
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

1. While visiting Nashville for a bachelor party, Defendant Michael John

2. Approximately eight minutes after invading Ms. Halliburton’s home,

him: “Did you make her strip?”

3. After leaving Ms. Halliburton’s property, Officer Reynolds was confronted

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 1 of 23 PageID #: 1

Officer Reynolds immediately “identified [himself] as a police officer” in order to avoid

and avoid arrest.

5. The following day, Ms. Halliburton recognized Officer Reynolds from a

6. After noticing Ms. Halliburton’s neighbor staring at Officer Reynolds and

Officer Reynolds and his companions to Nashville—began menacing Ms. Halliburton’s

her neighbors in an effort to intimidate them.

7. Among other statements that were specifically intended to be perceived as

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 2 of 23 PageID #: 2

and they went to dinner.

8. Several weeks after fleeing the jurisdiction and attempting to avoid

probation for his crimes.

Department in lieu of facing professional disciplinary proceedings. This action followed.

10. Plaintiff Conese Halliburton is a citizen and resident of Davidson County,

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 3 of 23 PageID #: 3

II. JURISDICTION & VENUE

14. As the jurisdiction in which a substantial part of the events or omissions

III. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

more than 40 years.

party—which Officer Reynolds was in charge of planning—Officer Reynolds and several

Officer Reynolds had booked via Airbnb.com.

through a Wednesday. At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning—and after an

evening of heavy drinking on Broadway—Officer Reynolds strode past the “no

of her yard. Ms. Halliburton immediately called 9-1-1.

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 4 of 23 PageID #: 4

mother in fear. Still, Officer Reynolds refused to leave their home.

21. During the altercation, Officer Reynolds screamed expletives at Ms.

approximately eight minutes.

uniformed MNPD Officers. Mr. Reynolds immediately “identified [himself] as a police

Transcript in Case No. 2019-I-384, p. 68, lines 9–15.

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 5 of 23 PageID #: 5

Halliburton as she was visibly upset.

30. Finally able to speak, Ms. Halliburton—still distraught and shaken—

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 6 of 23 PageID #: 6

33. Seeking to avoid prosecution, Officer Reynolds never returned to the

about what he had done.

Reynolds’s companions, including multiple NYPD officers, attempted to assist him in

pursuing the matter.

the incident, which he did not return.

undertaking efforts to appear as though he accepted responsibility for his misconduct.

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 7 of 23 PageID #: 7

39. Criminal charges were ultimately brought against Officer Reynolds

trespass upon her property.

Davidson County Grand Jury within one year.

Reynolds’s cross-examination, Ms. Halliburton testified as follows regarding what

happened on the night of the incident:

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 8 of 23 PageID #: 8

He just kept repeating that this was his house.

Exhibit #1, p. 41, line 3–p. 47, line 12.

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 9 of 23 PageID #: 9

Reynolds’s cross-examination, Ms. Halliburton testified as follows about what happened

on the day after the incident:

Id. at p. 49, line 19–p. 51, line 2.

had affected her and her family:

Personally, before, I struggled with a lot of stuff. And it took me to this

Case 3:20-cv-00044 Document 1 Filed 01/15/20 Page 10 of 23 PageID #: 10

Id. at p. 54, line 1–p. 56, line 12.