Being Hispanic in Oldham County, Kentucky is enough to be pulled over by a cop, according to one prosecutor. You can also be coerced into a plea deal if you have a certain last name.
Last July, Mauro Martinez was pulled over for speeding but he was not charged. Instead, he was cited for not having a license because he only had a Guatemalan ID at the time. During a court hearing about the citation, Assistant County Attorney Travis Combs pointed out that the defendant’s issue was that he was pulled over for being Hispanic. In a video recording of the hearing, prosecuting attorney John K. Carter says “that’s probable cause.”
After a video of the exchange was circulated by the Courier-Journal, Carter reversed course and said the speed at which Martinez was driving was probable cause. But the judge presiding over the case and Martinez’ defense attorney, Dawn Elliot, did not interpret Carter’s remarks that way.
Watch the video:
WDRB 41 Louisville News
“Clearly he had an opportunity to clear that up on the record over 24 hours ago, but now there’s buzz about it,” Elliot said. “My reaction and the judge’s reaction speaks for itself. We certainly interpreted him talking about probable cause for my client’s ethnicity.”
Elliot believes Carter’s comment highlights a growing trend of racially profiling Hispanics in the county. She claims that prior to Martinez’ trial, she was informed by an assistant attorney that there is a special form for “people that have that type of last name” to plead guilty. If people without driver’s licenses are stopped, as Martinez was, officers encourage them to sign the form and agree to two years of unsupervised probation. If they are caught driving again without proper ID, they can be sentenced to jail for 90 days.
The assistant attorney noted that Martinez was offered a plea bargain, but repudiated Elliot’s claim that Hispanics are disproportionately targeted. Elliot is calling for an investigation of the county’s officers.
Latinos, like other people of color, are racially profiled during traffic stops across the country. Many are stopped for minor offenses, and if they cannot provide valid licenses they are funneled into the criminal justice system. Police often use lack of ID to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
While the push to give undocumented immigrants licenses has gained traction in many states, Kentucky still bars non-citizens from applying for driver IDs. However, a bill to give undocumented people special licenses if they live in the state for at least three years received bipartisan support earlier this year. The bill was not voted on, but it could be revived in 2016.
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