FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A woman who accused a fired Broward Sheriff's Office deputy of yelling racial slurs at a driver and taking a cellphone from her passenger who was recording a traffic stop, took the stand in his retrial Thursday.
Paul Pletcher received a mistrial in January, after Judge Michael Usan's mother was killed in a car crash and it was unclear when he'd return to the bench.
Pletcher faces charges of burglary, battery, petty theft, and criminal mischief stemming from the May 23, 2011, incident.
Neyda Osorio claims she had pulled out of a shopping center on the northwest corner of Broward Boulevard and U.S. 441, got into the left turn lane and made a U-turn to go east. She said Pletcher, who wasn't on duty at the time, pulled up alongside them, began yelling racial slurs and flipped them off. After he pulled Osorio over, she said she anticipated there may be trouble, so she asked her friend to use her cellphone to record the incident.
When Pletcher realized he was being recorded, he demanded the phone and then took it by force when she refused to hand it over. In the video, Pletcher can be heard yelling, "Give me the phone now." Osorio said Pletcher then threw the phone on the ground, smashing it.
Pletcher's attorney, Al Milian, claims his client was dealing with a driver who had priors, and -- despite the video -- can't prove what she claims.
Pletcher was fired by BSO a year after the alleged incident.
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