Brandon A. Williams v. Sergeant M. Mitchell, et al.

Norfolk, Virginia personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a civil rights violation theory.



In January 2020, Brandon Williams was detained by Norfolk, Virginia, police officer

John D. McClanahan on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Williams recorded his

interaction with McClanahan. At trial on the trespassing charge, McClanahan testified

falsely and Williams was convicted. Williams appealed his conviction and used

his recording to show that McClanahan had lied under oath. The appeals court

heard Williams' argument and dismissed the charges against him on September 15, 2020,

recognizing that he never should have been prosecuted.



On September 30, 2020, Williams was seriously injured in a car accident in Norfolk,

Virginia. Williams was operating his vehicle carefully when he was hit by Rex Aman,

who was driving over seventy-five miles per hour and swerving outside his lane. When

various Norfolk police officers including McClanahan arrived at the scene to investigate the

accident, they pointed at and talked about Williams. Officer Rodney Van Faussien

said, while pointing to Williams, "[t]his is the guy that gave McClanahan a ration of shit,”5

referring to Williams' defense of his trespassing charge. Aman's blood alcohol

level was .30––well above the legal limit––and the officers learned of Aman's high speed

from eyewitnesses.



Despite information from eyewitnesses, a debris field showing a high-impact

accident, and Aman's blood alcohol level, police officers falsely stated on the accident

report that Aman was driving the speed limit, had not been drinking, and that his car had

suffered a steering defect. This was allegedly done with the intent to deny

Williams his rights by minimizing the accident and deflecting blame from Aman.



The defendant filed motions for summary judgement

Motion for summary judgment granted.



Reversed