Duanna Johnson

Duanna Johnson

On February 12, 2008, Johnson was arrested on a charge of prostitution, which was later dropped. Johnson was seen walking near Claybrook and Madison in Memphis, and later said that she believes the officer arrested her simply for being transgender in an area known to be frequented by transgender sex-workers. Johnson's lawyer said that the required elements for a prostitution arrest — a john, an exchange of sex for money — were absent in Johnson's arrest.¹⁾

Johnson was booked at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Memphis. ²⁾ It was while Johnson was waiting to be finger printed that she was beaten by on officer, while another held her down, and maced when she refused to comply with an officers orders after the officer insulted her.

Johnson said the officer, Bridges McRae, called her over to be fingerprinted, but she chose not to respond to the derogatory name he called her. “Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that wasn't my name - that my mother didn't name me a 'faggot' or a 'he-she,' so he got upset and approached me. And that's when it started,” Johnson said. The officer then said, “I'm giving you one more chance to get up,” and then began putting on gloves and wrapping a pair of handcuffs around his knuckes.³⁾

An 18-minute video leaked from the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center had no audio, but showed officer McRae approached Johnson (who is seated) and repeatedly punching Johnson in the face. Another officer, rookie James Swain, came over and held Johnson's shoulders as she tried to ward off McRae's blows.⁴⁾

After taking several blows, Johnson stood up and swung back. But she sat back down and officer McRae maced her. The video shows other people in the room turning away and fanning their faces. McRae hit her in the face again. On the video, Johnson is handcuffed and left on the floor. Nurse who arrived on the scene went immediately to officer McRae. Johnson said no one checked on her or came to see that she was OK.

The Shelby county Sheriff's department reported that the nurse employed by the department was called to assess the situation. The nurse noted that Johnson had been sprayed with mace and asked if she was OK. She determined Johnson was not in an emergency situation, and left to make arrangements for the Memphis Police Department to transport Johnson to The Med for treatment. The nurse later returned to provide officer McRae with treatment for a cut⁵⁾

Officers McRae and Swain

Johnson filed a complaint against the Memphis Police Department in March 2008, related to the beating she received from officer McRae. However it was not Johnson's complaint that brought to light the video and the events it depicted. Officer McRae filed an internal complaint against the detective who was in the booking area, for not helping him. It was McRae's complaint that caused the video to be reviewed by the District Attorney and the FBI, and to finally become public. (See “Newscast 2” below.)

The following morning, the Memphis Police Department issued the following statement:

The Memphis Police Department does not condone any misconduct of a police officer that will compromise official law enforcement duties or the rights or safety of our citizens.

As it relates to the February incident that occurred at the jail facility, the police department has been conducting a thorough internal investigation. The details surrounding the complainant, witnesses and law enforcement officials’ statements are part of an ongoing investigation and can not be released at this time.

As a standard departmental policy, a full, impartial hearing will be held with the accused officer.

Memphis Police can confirm the work status of the two primary officers involved in this complaint. Officer J. Swain was a probationary officer and has been separated from the Memphis Police Department. Officer B. McRae has been placed on non-enforcement status pending an administrative hearing.

Memphis Police can also confirm the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been notified and requested to look into the complaint further.

Regards,

Detective Monique Y. Martin
Memphis Police Department
Office of Public Information/Media Relations

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said in an interview that the beating was “horrible” and “disgusting.” ”(It) shouldn't be tolerated, and all the parties involved should receive appropriate punishment,” Herenton said.

Officer Swain was fired immediately after the beating, and McRae was assigned desk duty pending a hearing to determine his fate.⁶⁾

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin got the FBI involved after viewing the video. Godwin did not know how the video was leaked.⁷⁾ According to WMC-TV, the video was leaked by Johnson's attorney, Murray Wells, who felt it was an outrage that McRae was not immediately fired and no disciplinary actions were forthcoming.

Johnson announced that she would file suit against the Memphis Police Department for violating her civil rights.⁸⁾ On June 18, 2008, Johnson's lawyer gave the city an offer to settle the case for $1.3 million.⁹⁾

On June 26, about 40 people gathered at First Congregational Church to discuss the beating Johnson received from police. Jonathan Cole, of the Tennessee Equality Project, suggested establishing a liaison with the Memphis Police Department.¹⁰⁾

After the leaked video of Johnson's beating was broadcast, another local family came forward with claims of a violent run-in with McRae. According to a federal lawsuit, on December 19, 2005, truck driver Kirby Lloyd parked his tractor trailer in his mother's backyard. Lloyd started his other car and went inside to greet his mother. The lawsuit says Lloyed was “accosted” by two Memphis police officer, including McRae, when he went outside, slammed onto the driveway with excessive force, and arrested for a “fictitious offense.”

Lloyd sued for $300,000 compensation for medical bills and lost wages. His sister, Kim Merrell, was also arrested that night, and filed suite for $300,000. Both cases were dismissed and are currently being appealed.¹¹⁾

The Lloyds were not McRae's only accusers. His personnel file showed just three reprimands for minor offenses in four years, but a separate internal affairs file included four complaints in addition to the Lloyds:¹²⁾

• June 7, 2005: A man who had been riding a bicycle said he was arrested by McRae and another officer. He said McRae didnt' log the bike in the property room. Internal affairs found McRae wasn't on duty and wasn't involved in the incident.
• November 3, 2005: McRae was accused of repeatedly hitting a mentally ill man after the man got one had free from his handcuffs. McRae said the man lunged at him when he opened the back door of the squad car, and hit him in the mouth. The charges were not substantiated.
• June 21 2006: A man said he was carrying $1,200 when he was arrested for felony drug possession by McRae and another officer, but there was only $951 there when the officers counted the money in front of him and a supervisor. Investigators said the suspect didn't complain about the missing money at the time, and couldn't be sure the money hadn't fallen from his pocket. The complaint was not substantiated.
• April 5, 2005: A woman charged with expired tags said that McRae made derogatory comments, and would not move her handcuffs from the back to the front when she showed him where she'd just had neck surgery. The charges were unfounded.

On June 25, 2008, McRae was terminated after an administrative hearing, for excessive force in the videotaped beating of Johnson. Johnson did not speak in his own defense at the hearing, though he had prepared statement. His attorney advised him not to speak.¹³⁾

Following McRae's termination, previously unreleased video footage of the moments before the beating became public. McRae's attorney, Ted Hansom, claimed that the video showed that Johson took the first swing. The segment showed an exchange between McRae and Johnson, during which Johnson refused McRae's request to stand up and move to fingerprinting. Johnson claimed that McRae used derogatory terms in reference to her gender expression. In his police report, McRae wrote that Johnson became aggressive, and threatened to shoot him in the head when she got out of jail.¹⁴⁾

On the video, McRae approaches Johnson in what Hansom says is an attempt to handcuff her, and Johnson appears to pull away. Johnson's attorneys denied that she threw the first punch.

McRae and Hansom plan an appeal of his termination, but that appeal is on hold until a decision is made on whether McRae will face criminal charges.¹⁵⁾

On July 28, Johnson was arrested on charges of prostitution near a church or school, and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to police reports, Johnson flagged down an undercover officer, got into his car and said “I have some place to go. I have a three bedroom house on Dexter.” When the officer asked “What does it all cost?”, Johnson replied, “For everything, $30 and a beer.” The officer's report says that Johnson had condoms and a crack pipe in a purse.

Johnson's attorney, Arthur Horne, entered a not guilty plea for his client at arraignment. Horne added that the charges did not change what had happened to Johnson earlier.

“I think you can see from what has happened in the past, that she definitely is a public figure now, and people know who she is,” Horne said. “They're going to be watching her every move and we expected that.”

Johnson was scheduled to return to court in August 2008.¹⁶⁾

At the time of her arrest, the utilities at Johnson's small North Memphis home had been cut off for several months, and she needed to pay at least $2,400 to get them turned back on.¹⁷⁾

• Duanna Johnson - Beating Video
• Duanna Johnson - Newscast 1
• Duanna Johnson - Newscast 2
• Duanna Johnson - Officer Fired