Buncombe resident awarded $50K after sheriff's deputy Asheville gas station strip search

A Black Buncombe County resident has been awarded $50,000 after a federal judge found a white sheriff's deputy violated his constitutional rights during a strip search at a highway gas station.

In his Aug. 3 decision U.S. District Court Judge Martin Reidinger said a jury had found that Deputy Jeff May had "gone rogue" and violated plaintiff Marcus Hyatt's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure during the 2018 traffic stop on Smokey Park Highway in Asheville. The judge added that Hyatt was not wrong to fear the deputy would attempt to frame him by planting evidence.

Race played a role in the case with accusations by plaintiffs that Hyatt was targeted because he was Black. The defense denied those allegations, pointing to bodycam footage that showed the officers being polite and checking on the comfort of those they detained.

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May made untrue statements about the smell of crack cocaine and falsified a field drug test to get a search warrant, said Reidinger, chief judge for the U.S. District Court of the Western District of North Carolina in Asheville. That led to Hyatt being ordered to strip naked in the gas station bathroom and "expose his most private areas to the officers," said Reidinger, he said.

No drugs were found during the stop and search, which lasted more than three hours and ended with Hyatt's release without charges.

The judge said his decision was based on "May’s unlawful search and seizure, the humiliation and degradation that Plaintiff Hyatt suffered as a result of the unreasonable strip search and the fear and anxiety caused by Defendant May’s actions in displaying a weapon and in fabricating evidence in order to obtain the search warrant."

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Claims in the lawsuit against other deputies participating in the traffic stop and strip search were dismissed by the judge. Those included claims by Hyatt's now ex-girlfriend Ashley Barrett, who will receive none of the award. Reidinger also dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against Quentin Miller, the county's first Black sheriff, and former Sheriff Van Duncan.

Hyatt was in a car being driven by Brandon Pickens, who was also strip searched but was not part of the civil suit.

Hyatt and Barrett in April 2021 had asked for a combined $500,000 for what they said were the wrongs committed against them, including "physical injury, personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering."

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Miller and the deputies had said the strip search by Deputy J.D. Lambert "was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, balancing the need for that particular search against the invasion of personal rights that the search entails."

Defense attorney Adam Peoples responded to Aug. 4 questions from the Citizen Times saying Deputies Jake "J.D." Lambert and Katie Beth Lewis "are grateful to finally be cleared of all liability."

"As for Jeff May, we maintain that the jury got it wrong, and we are investigating options to set the record straight," the attorney said.

A decision to appeal must be made in 30 days. Peoples declined to answer other questions, including whether Lambert and May still worked for the sheriff's office. By the time of the 2021 trial, Lewis was no longer a deputy. At that time, May and Lambert were members of the Buncombe County Anti-Crime Task Force.

A Citizen Times public records request for an employee database showed as of Aug. 2 May was a detective with an annual salary of $57,491. Lambert was not shown in the database. which was created using information provided by a public records request.

Lambert, who participated in the strip search, was also sued by Hyatt. But charges against him were dismissed after it was found by the jury and judge that he was not aware of May's untrue statements about the cocaine smell or field test.

Sheriff's spokesperson Aaron Sarver declined to respond to questions about the deputies' employment status and whether May would receive help paying the $50,000 for which the court said he was individually liable. Sarver said he was consulting with County Attorney Curt Euler.

Hyatt and Barrett's attorney Brian Elston said his clients were pleased with the ruling and not disappointed that the damages were significantly lower than what they had sought.

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"What we had asked for was for the court to find that what happened to our client was wrong and to hold someone accountable, and that is exactly what happened. And that is worth more to my client than any amount of money than he could have received," Elston said.

The attorney said they appreciated the judge's consideration and respected his "well-reasoned and thorough" ruling that spanned 63 pages.

Elston said they were discussing filing motions to recover costs and attorneys' fees in addition to the $50,000.

Reidinger made the decision following the 2021 trial in which a jury reached a verdict on several issues but deadlocked on others. The plaintiffs and defendants agreed for Reidinger to decide the remaining questions.

The judge said the jury had already found that May acted outside of his duty as a deputy obtaining a search warrant for the strip search "based on information he knew to be false."

"And he conducted that search while displaying a weapon," he said, something to which Hyatt testified. "In short, the jury found Defendant May to have 'gone rogue,'" Reidinger said.

In one of the more striking statements in the ruling, Reidinger said Hyatt's fear that drugs would be planted on his clothing once it was removed was "legitimate."

"After all, Plaintiff Hyatt had been detained for approximately three hours by this point, with the officers finding no illegal substances or items during multiple searches. Further, Defendant May had already made false statements regarding the smell of crack cocaine and finding a substance in the vehicle that tested positive for cocaine."

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Black man awarded $50,000 after Asheville gas station strip search