ATLANTA — A now-former sheriff’s deputy, accused of using excessive force during a traffic stop in south Georgia 18 months ago and now facing trial, is also about to face a federal lawsuit.
The deputy has already been fired, after being charged with felony aggravated assault.
Now the driver in that traffic stop, and her Atlanta attorney, said Wednesday they are going to file a civil-rights lawsuit against the former deputy.
On that Sunday morning in January, 2022, the driver ran a stop sign—she admits it.
Her license had been suspended because of a lapse in her auto insurance coverage, which she was disputing.
The Camden County Sheriff’s Deputy who pulled her over asked her to get out of her pickup truck. The driver asked why, and asked for the deputy’s supervisor.
Moments later, the deputy, Christine Newman, was pulling the driver out of the pickup and forcing her onto the pavement.
A plainclothes backup arrived at that moment and tased the driver as he helped the deputy turn the driver over, facedown on the pavement.
Deputy Newman cuffed the driver’s wrists behind her back.
Newman’s dashcam video shows the handcuffed driver standing up and walking toward Newman’s car, stumbling slightly. The video shows Newman slapping the driver in the face twice, then forcing the driver to bend forward while slamming the driver’s head into the front of Newman’s car.
The driver, Charis Faria, a 46 year old grandmother, said Wednesday those moments still haunt her.
“I don’t feel that I resisted in any way, shape or form,” Faria said. “It affects me tremendously. It’s very vivid in my mind. Very vivid in my mind.”
Deputy Newman, at first, received a two day suspension without pay, was placed on probation for six months, and was ordered to undergo training on use of force.
Two months later--in March, 2022--while still on probation, Newman was proclaimed Deputy of the Month, with the announcement posted on the Camden County Sheriff’s Facebook page.
It wasn’t until this past fall when the district attorney and the GBI began investigating.
And in January, a year after the traffic stop, a Grand Jury indicted Deputy Newman on felony charges including aggravated assault and violation of oath of office.
That's when Newman was fired; she is awaiting trial.
Charis Faria and her Atlanta attorney, Harry Daniels, are preparing to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against Newman.
“It’s a daily struggle,” Faria said Wednesday. “Every day is a struggle to get out there. I don't really want to go out, once I'm home from work I don't go out. I don't travel by myself. I want to go take my grandkids places, but I don't want to take my grandkids places without somebody else being with me, because I'm in fear for being stopped for a traffic stop and something like this occurring again.”
“The deputy decided to ram her head into her vehicle,” Daniels said, “which could have caused traumatic brain injury and even death.”
Daniels has also represented four others who have accused Camden County Sheriff’s Deputies of using excessive force against them.
“This is not just a bad apple,” Daniels said, “this is a bad apple orchard, because this is systemic. This is continuously happening. This is not a one-off.... We need to send a message, a message needs to be sent, not just in Camden County, but across the state of Georgia and across the United States, that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in any form, especially by those who have taken an oath to protect and serve.”
As of Wednesday night, 11Alive had not yet been able to reach former deputy Newman for comment. On Thursday, a spokesman for Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor said the Sheriff could not comment on pending prosecutions or litigations, as this excessive force case works its way through the criminal and, soon, civil courts.