Traffic citations dropped against Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill
By Denise Royal, CNN
(CNN) — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill no longer faces traffic citations from a controversial traffic stop in September after one of the Miami-Dade police officers who pulled him over didn’t appear in court.
A Miami-Dade judge dismissed both citations for “lack of prosecution” because officer Manuel Batista did not show up, court records showed Monday.
The dismissal of the charges comes less than three months after the traffic stop showed officers pulling Hill out of his car, handcuffing him and placing him face down in the road after he did not immediately comply with their commands.
Other Miami Dolphins players, who had pulled over to offer assistance to Hill, were also treated aggressively.
Bystanders and police body-worn cameras captured the September 8 incident.
Hill was issued two citations stemming from the stop outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. He had previously pleaded not guilty to careless driving and not wearing a seatbelt.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the 30-year-old posted a link to an article about his dismissal, writing, “Where all the internet cops now?”
Danny Torres, another Miami-Dade officer involved in the stop was placed on administrative leave just days after the incident, as CNN previously reported.
“Officer Torres and Batista’s absence from court today evidences their knowledge of wrongdoing,” Hill’s attorney Julius Collins wrote in a statement to CNN. “It is our belief that Officer Torres and Officer Batista failed to appear in court so that they could not be questioned under oath.”
Miami-Dade Police said it was an “oversight” as the reason why the officer failed to show up for the hearing.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department is aware that a docket of citations issued to multiple individuals including the non-criminal citations issued to Mr. Tyreek Hill have been dismissed because the officer did not attend the hearing,” the police said in a statement.
“A citation dismissed due to this reason does not indicate that the citation held no merit. An internal review as to why the officer did not appear in court has revealed an oversight on his behalf. This matter will be handled administratively.”
CNN has reached out to Hill’s agent and the Dolphins for comment.
The-CNN-Wire
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