CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston lawyer is suing three city police officers, alleging that they violated his civil rights during repeated DUI traffic stops.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court, Daniel G. Murdock maintains that he was pulled over twice without probable cause. The second stop was an overt attempt to pressure him into dropping his resistance to the first, the suit contends.

Court records indicate that Murdock, 40, was first arrested on Sept. 9, 2007, after Patrolman Mark Petty flagged him down on Lee Street on Charleston's East End.

Murdock had just turned his red 2003 Mustang onto the 1500 block of Lee Street from Elizabeth Street when he saw Petty standing roughly 80 yards ahead, waving a flashlight, according to a sworn statement submitted by Murdock.

After Murdock stopped and rolled down his window, Petty ordered him to pull across the street and park facing the wrong direction, the affidavit states.

"At that time, I had no knowledge of why I was being ordered to stop," Murdock wrote. Because he had not broken any traffic laws, he assumed Petty was running a checkpoint.

When Murdock asked Petty why he had been pulled over, the officer told him that his actions were a "request" that Murdock stop, and that Murdock had done so "voluntarily," the lawsuit states.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court by Patrolman R.S. Higginbotham, Murdock failed two field sobriety tests - he declined to do a third because of issues with his back - and registered a blood alcohol content of 0.13 when given a breath test at the police station. The legal limit is 0.08.

In his affidavit, Murdock maintains he submitted to a breath test only after Higginbotham wrongly denied him access to a blood test.

Murdock represented himself and fought the DUI charge, and tried to suppress any evidence collected after what he considered an illegal stop.

Court records indicate that Magistrate Traci Carper-Strickland dismissed the case Feb. 28 because no officer appeared to testify.

Just days earlier, Murdock was arrested on the same block and again charged with DUI on Feb. 18, again without probable cause, he maintains.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston lawyer is suing three city police officers, alleging that they violated his civil rights during repeated DUI traffic stops.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court, Daniel G. Murdock maintains that he was pulled over twice without probable cause. The second stop was an overt attempt to pressure him into dropping his resistance to the first, the suit contends.

Court records indicate that Murdock, 40, was first arrested on Sept. 9, 2007, after Patrolman Mark Petty flagged him down on Lee Street on Charleston's East End.

Murdock had just turned his red 2003 Mustang onto the 1500 block of Lee Street from Elizabeth Street when he saw Petty standing roughly 80 yards ahead, waving a flashlight, according to a sworn statement submitted by Murdock.

After Murdock stopped and rolled down his window, Petty ordered him to pull across the street and park facing the wrong direction, the affidavit states.

"At that time, I had no knowledge of why I was being ordered to stop," Murdock wrote. Because he had not broken any traffic laws, he assumed Petty was running a checkpoint.

When Murdock asked Petty why he had been pulled over, the officer told him that his actions were a "request" that Murdock stop, and that Murdock had done so "voluntarily," the lawsuit states.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court by Patrolman R.S. Higginbotham, Murdock failed two field sobriety tests - he declined to do a third because of issues with his back - and registered a blood alcohol content of 0.13 when given a breath test at the police station. The legal limit is 0.08.

In his affidavit, Murdock maintains he submitted to a breath test only after Higginbotham wrongly denied him access to a blood test.

Murdock represented himself and fought the DUI charge, and tried to suppress any evidence collected after what he considered an illegal stop.

Court records indicate that Magistrate Traci Carper-Strickland dismissed the case Feb. 28 because no officer appeared to testify.

Just days earlier, Murdock was arrested on the same block and again charged with DUI on Feb. 18, again without probable cause, he maintains.

During the arrest, Patrolman J.L. Doughty told Murdock that he was being charged in retaliation for his filing his motion to dismiss the first charge, the lawsuit contends.

When Murdock refused to answer Doughty's questions, the officer threatened him, saying he "would either be arrested and spend the night in jail, or 'spend the night in the hospital,'" the lawsuit states.

Petty then arrived, and told Murdock that if he would agree that the first arrest was made in "good faith," he would not be arrested and Petty would testify favorably for Murdock in the original case, the lawsuit maintains.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Doughty, Murdock failed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, then refused to take other field tests before he was arrested.

When tested at the station, Murdock's blood alcohol content registered at 0.042, the complaint states.

The second DUI charge against Murdock was dismissed at the request of a prosecutor on May 15, court records indicate. The records do not list the name of the prosecutor.

Murdock's suit, filed by Charleston lawyer Michael Payne, alleges that Petty, Higginbotham and Doughty violated his rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, including unlawful seizure, false arrest and false imprisonment.

The city of Charleston, the Charleston Police Department, Mayor Danny Jones and Police Chief Brent Webster are also named as defendants.

Charleston city attorney Paul Ellis said Wednesday the city had not yet been served with a copy of the suit. He declined to comment on pending litigation.

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.