Opinion ID: 2979210
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Additional witnesses and evidence

Text: Hughes, Totman’s girlfriend, was also deposed regarding this incident. On the date in question, Hughes was in the women’s section of the booking area, and she heard an officer call for Totman to get his photograph taken. Hughes observed Totman and Officer Stachoulas get into a dispute, and she heard Totman say: “Is it my fault you can’t get a date?” According to Hughes, Officers Stachoulas and Hornback then “tackled” and “slammed” Totman. She testified: “Well, I heard [Totman] scream. I mean he was squealing like a pig. Please get off me. Please get off me. Squealing I mean it seemed like it—I know it was three to five minutes, but it seemed like thirty minutes.” Despite Totman’s pleas for the officers to stop, Hughes said “they kept saying quit resisting, quit resisting.” Much of Hughes’s view of the altercation was blocked by the counter separating the photograph and fingerprinting area from the holding area where she was sitting. She saw Officers Stachoulas and Hornback grab Totman by the arms and take him to the floor, but was then unable to see more than Officer Hornback’s head and neck because he was bent over. Hughes also saw “three to four officers just stomping.” She was not able to see if Officer Hornback placed his knee on Totman’s back, nor did she see if the officers twisted Totman’s arms. Hughes testified that, when she and Totman got out of jail a couple of hours later, Totman “looked really bad,” “was hunched over,” and “had a bruise over his eye.” A day or two after their arrest, Hughes took photographs of Totman, which purportedly showed “where [Totman’s] rib was broke.” One of the nurses on duty the night that Totman was arrested, Joyce Hill, gave a sworn statement as part of Metro’s internal investigation into the incident. She recalled treating Totman -7- No. 09-5764 Totman v. Louisville Jefferson County Metro Gov’t et al. by irrigating his eyes after he had been sprayed with mace or pepper spray. Later, when Totman was complaining of back pain, Nurse Hill examined him. She found no redness, bruising, or other signs of injury. Metro submitted Totman’s certified medical records from his March 6, 2006 visit to Norton Suburban Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, which was the day after his arrest. He was treated for a chest wall contusion, a contusion on his forehead, and a thoracic strain. The hospital staff took x- rays of Totman’s chest, but found “no evidence of a displaced rib fracture.” Metro also provided the district court with its Departmental Policy. This policy included extensive instructions on the proper use of force by corrections officers.