‘I felt violated.’ Miami woman kneed on neck, hit with Taser speaks after cop’s arrest

Safiya Satchell knows police. She studied criminal justice at Temple University, and has a cousin and an uncle — whom she refers to as her father — who are law-enforcement officers in Philadelphia.

So she says she was shocked when a Miami Gardens police officer dragged her out of her SUV outside a strip club simply because he wanted to issue a trespassing warning. Then, Officer Jordy Martel pressed his knee on Satchell’s throat and shot her twice in the belly with a Taser stun gun before arresting her for resisting with violence and battery on a cop.

“I was humiliated. I was embarrassed. I was scared for my life,” said Satchell, 33, whose criminal charges have since been dropped. “I’ve always had respect for the law. My family, a lot of people who are close to me, are police officers. I felt violated.”

Satchell spoke publicly for the first time Monday, four days after the Miami Gardens police officer was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct. The confrontation — captured on smartphone video by her friend — contradicted Officer Jordy Martel’s account of the Jan. 14 incident, and was key evidence for prosecutors in filing charges.

Satchell had just moved to Miami from Philadelphia and was working as a bartender before the coronavirus crisis closed down bars. As she looks for a new job, Satchell is now considering enrolling in law school — to hopefully one day represent people falsely accused of crimes, she said.

Miami-Dade prosecutors announced Martel’s arrest as protests against police brutality and racism have taken place across the nation following the death of George Floyd. The Black man died after a white Minneapolis cop pressed his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Martel, the Miami Gardens police officer, is now awaiting trial while free on bond. He has been fired from his job. Satchell is African American. Martel is Hispanic.

His union-contracted defense lawyer, Douglas Hartman, has insisted the arrest was “politically motivated” by State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle, who is running for reelection. Hartman says the use of force was justified because Satchell struck the officer after refusing to cooperate.

He also pointed out that Satchell was arrested again on June 4 in a similar case, one that did not involved a Taser. In that case, Miami police officers said, they found Satchell had crashed her SUV into a bus bench and a light pole.

A Miami police officer, in his arrest report, said she was cursing and yelling at paramedics, smelled of alcohol and refused to hand over her driver’s license. “I’m not going to sit down because I’m Black and that’s how you guys beat Black people up,” she told an officer, according to an arrest report.

She was charged with misdemeanor disorderly intoxication and resisting without violence. Satchell also said her father “was a 25-year police officer,” according to the arrest report. She said the same during the Miami Gardens incident five months earlier.

“It seems ironic that she was arrested for doing the same thing she was doing when she encountered my client,” Hartman said.

Satchell’s attorney, on Monday, shot back — saying the June arrest won’t be admissible during Martel’s trial.

“The cellphone video speaks for itself. The officer’s criminal actions were not justified,” Jordan said. “I hope he has a better defense than an inadmissible misdemeanor.”

Jordan added: “We want the jury to see the video. We want the jury to hear the facts. We want the judge to decide the appropriate sentence in this case.”

Martel’s arraignment is scheduled for July 24. He is expected to plead not guilty. No trial date has been set. Because of the coronavirus pandemic shutting down courts, it’s unclear when jury trials will resume.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office will be hoping to have better luck convicting officers for rough arrests.

In recent years, prosecutors have charged a slew of officers for rough takedowns — but have lost three cases at trial. They convicted one, ex-Miami Sgt. Lester Bohnenblust, of battery for pushing a nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

In addition to Martel, prosecutors are also waiting to try two other cops charged in excessive force cases: Miami-Dade Officer Alejandro Giraldo, accused of tackling a woman who had reported a gun crime, and Homestead Police Officer Lester Brown, accused of ramming a handcuffed inmate’s head into a wall in a detention cell.

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 2:23 PM.