TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published on April 4, 2023.
Smith County Clerk Karen Phillips and her son Derek have both multimillion-dollar lawsuits against Smith County in connection with a March 28 traffic stop that both of them have been accused of interfering with deputies' public duties.
Karen Phillips, 65, of Tyler, was booked into the Smith County Jail April 4 on a charge of interfering with public duties and released the same day.
She allegedly interfered with the arrest of her son Derek Phillips, who is accused of interfering when Smith County deputies tried to pull Cody Voss over for having his tail lights out, according to the sheriff's office.
Karen Phillips filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas on May 30 against Smith County, Sheriff Larry Smith, the detective who investigated the case and the two deputies involved in the traffic stop.
She claims that several of her constitutional rights, including her First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Amendment rights, were violated on March 28. She also states that the detective wrote an official arrest affidavit with "many false statements."
Karen Phillips' lawsuit is seeking $10 million in damages.
In the document, Karen Phillips claims the detective quoted the deputies without viewing the body camera footage, which led to inaccuracies of the event and "lousy detective work" in her opinion.
In the affidavit, it's mentioned that Karen Phillips tried to push one of the deputies away to stop them from arresting her son. She claims that she was poking the deputy to say Derek Phillips needed his glasses.
She said she never made statements saying she wanted to stop her son from getting arrested, according to the lawsuit.
"Screaming is not a crime. Cussing is not a crime. Having 'defective tail lamps' is not a crime," Karen Phillips wrote. "Calling someone an idiot is not a crime."
As her son was getting escorted to the patrol vehicle, the detective said in the affidavit that Karen Phillips yelled, "Shut up, you idiots!"
In the lawsuit, she requests that the two deputies be arrested for burglary, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, false imprisonment and criminal trespass without bail. She stated her Fourth Amendment right was violated because the deputies entered her home without a warrant.
Through the document, Karen Phillips said her personal sensitive data was revealed through the release of the body camera footage. This data include her name, job title, address, phone and dates of birth.
Because of this, she said she's received threatening emails and phone calls, including at her office. She cites the reason for these calls as Sheriff Larry Smith giving the unredacted body cam video to the media.
"Nightly calls from strangers and awful emails" have caused difficulty sleeping, "numerous nightmares" and waking up screaming. She added that false statements from the sheriff have put her relationships with sheriff's office employees under "extreme stress," according to her lawsuit.
The lawsuit states Smith releasing sensitive data has caused "mental anguish, anxiety, night terrors, depression, stress in most every relationship, fear, sadness and crying, anger and headaches."
On May 24, Derek Phillips and Voss filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas against Smith County and the two deputies involved in the traffic stop. They are seeking $150.5 million in damages.
According to the arrest affidavit, during the traffic stop, Voss pulled into the Phillips' residence and Derek Phillips pulled his vehicle onto the property. Derek Phillips started yelling at the deputy who was speaking with Voss.
In the lawsuit, Voss and Derek Phillips claim the deputies infringed on Voss' right to travel and assaulted Voss. The complaint also says Derek Phillips was peaceful and recorded the stop to "address unlawful government activity."
According to the affidavit, Derek Phillips was asked "multiple times" to step back from Voss and the deputy; however, the document says Derek Phillips continued to walk up and yell at the deputy.
The lawsuit claims that Voss and Derek Phillips had their constitutional rights violated during the traffic stop. They also allege the deputies tried to kidnap each of them.
During the incident, Derek Phillips ran from the deputies into the home. Karen Phillips reached her arm toward one of the deputies, trying to stop the pursuit of her son, according to the affidavit.
She yelled at deputies, "get out of my house" while the officers were trying to apprehend her son in a bedroom of the home, the affidavit explained.
In the lawsuit, Voss and Derek Phillips claimed that a deputy struck Karen Phillips with blunt force while she was recording twice.
Derek Phillips was arrested on site on charges of resisting arrest, interfering with public duties and evading arrest. He has since bonded out of jail, according to online records.
In addition to these claims, the lawsuit alleges that Lance Phillips, who has been removed from Smith County Commissioners Court meetings for trying to speak about his family during public comment twice, has suffered "high blood pressure and shock not being able to sleep" due to panic attacks.