By now you’ve probably read that the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson profiled Hispanics has been dismissed.
In his decision, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder wrote the DOJ’s key witness “abandoned common sense to bolster his own testimony”:
The Justice Department’s expert witness, John Lamberth, testified that he conducted a study in 2012 that showed the sheriff’s office stopped and issued citations to Hispanic drivers who committed traffic violations at higher rates than non-Hispanic drivers.
Lamberth said in court that he used people to look at each driver who passed an observation site to determine the driver’s ethnicity and whether the driver had committed a traffic violation.
In his decision, Schroeder points out that in other cases, Lamberth said standing beside a road and trying to identify drivers can’t be done accurately.
Schroeder wrote that “the problem with Dr. Lamberth’s testimony is that his methodology is seriously flawed and cannot be replicated.”“Dr. Lamberth repeatedly contradicts himself and abandons previously-held (and commonsensical) views to bolster the methodology he used in this litigation,” Schroeder wrote. “This type of self-serving testimony seriously undermines his credibility and leads the court to reject his expert testimony.”
As of Friday Johnson had not read the ruling, but will hold a press conference at 10a today to comment.
