The couple, whom police records note are Black, filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Dec. 5 against the city of Phoenix. It alleges that the actions of officers Jacob Viviano and Henry Nayrick, who are not named as defendants in the suit, amounted to battery, false imprisonment and invasion of privacy.
“The Phoenix Police Department used excessive force to violate Ms. Mills’ constitutional rights,” Benjamin Taylor, the attorney representing the couple, told Phoenix New Times. “This lawsuit seeks justice for her in order to hold Phoenix Police accountable for their actions.”
Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Phil Krynsky declined to answer questions from New Times about the incident, as well as a subsequent report from the Office of Transparency and Accountability that found police did not adequately conduct an internal investigation.
According to the police report from the incident, Viviano said he was told by the 911 dispatcher that there were “sounds of a physical fight and a female was yelling to get police at the residence” when the Mills had initially called police. In his report, Viviano noted that he and Nayrick arrived at the scene and saw the door and screen door of the house open and the couple arguing loudly. Viviano said when he got closer, he noticed Everette’s hand was bleeding and there were blood droplets on the floor and Julie’s dress.
In their lawsuit, the couple says Julie Mills walked out of her front door to greet the officers, who “both rushed inside the home and stood in front of the door.” She requested that the officers go back to the driveway to investigate the damage to her vehicle, but the officers declined. Julie Mills then called 911 again to request a police supervisor be sent to the house.
“I tried to inform them that I had reasonable suspicion that a crime occurred,” Viviano wrote in his report. But Viviano wrote that the confrontation became physical as both Everette and Julie insisted they did not give the officers permission to enter their house. In his report, Viviano claimed Julie tried to shove him, after which he decided to detain both for not allowing the officers into their home.
The lawsuit, on the other hand, claims that Viviano “threw Julie Mills down onto the floor, without justification.” Then, after a third officer arrived, the cops “began physically beating” Everette and “slammed him onto the floor.” The lawsuit says that when Julie tried to get up, Viviano tased her. The officer then tased Everette “as he was lying face-down on the floor and restrained in handcuffs” before turning back to Julie to tase her again.
The couple claims they “both suffered painful injuries” as a result.
A report by the Office of Accountability and Transparency determined that Phoenix police did not adequately investigate complaints brought by Everette and Julie Mills.
Matt Hennie
‘Incomplete’ internal investigation
New Times requested the body camera footage from the Phoenix Police Department, but that request has not yet been fulfilled. However, the incident was investigated by the city’s Office of Accountability and Transparency, which criticized the police department’s own internal investigation.However, because the OAT has been stripped of any real power over the police, it’s not clear if any of its recommended reforms have been enacted.
The oversight agency found that the police department’s internal investigation into the incident, which determined there was no misconduct, was woefully inadequate.
“OAT’s conclusion following review is that the investigation was not thorough and complete,” the report noted. “These allegations also have the potential for City liability as possible constitutional and federal law violations.”
The report stated that the case should have been referred to the department’s Professional Standards Bureau for a full and formal investigation. In a response that the department is required by OAT law to provide, the department agreed with that conclusion. “Had the complaint been handled by PSB, the individual allegations and the circumstances leading to the investigative conclusions could have been better documented,” the department said, noting it would update its manual to ensure its officers investigate all allegations.
It's not clear if Phoenix implemented those changes, which the department said it aimed to complete by Nov. 28. The department noted that while that bureau did receive the complaint, it only “investigated portions of it” before finding that the officers’ violent force was within policy but that one officer could benefit from “additional training/career development.”
It's also unclear which officer that was or whether they received additional training, nor is it clear whether the officers involved received any discipline. OAT lacks the enforcement teeth to mandate changes or discipline, meaning any reforms undertaken or discipline leveled by police is entirely voluntary.
OAT was created in 2021 to be a “robust, independent” civilian oversight organization, but its powers have since been watered down. Earlier this year, its director resigned after what he said was too much meddling from city officials. Additionally, a state law signed by former Gov. Doug Ducey took away OAT’s power to investigate police misconduct. Now, OAT can only investigate the internal investigations that police departments conduct and can only recommend changes.
The Mills’ lawsuit comes about six months after the U.S. Department of Justice finished its years-long investigation into Phoenix police, noting in its final report that the notoriously violent police department regularly committed a litany of civil rights violations. Those patterns included discriminating against people of color, using excessive and unnecessarily deadly force and arresting unhoused people without cause.
Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan was brought in to lead the department in September 2022 as it dealt with the probe. Sullivan will remain at the helm of the department until August 2025.
