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MURRAY — A Black woman arrested by a Murray police officer who claimed she was driving under the influence has reached a $152,000 settlement with the city.
The agreement resolves Donna Miller's allegations of racial bias in the traffic stop that left her with a suspended license, impounded car and a criminal charge that was later dismissed, she and her attorneys announced Wednesday.
"No one should have to experience the humiliation and degradation that I did simply because I was 'driving while Black,'" Miller said in a prepared statement. "I want my example to show Murray and other cities and police departments across Utah that racism is real and convince them to train their police officers to see and stop racial bias while doing their jobs."
Miller was pulled over on Aug. 21, 2018, as she was driving near Fashion Place Mall on her way to nursing school. She says she passed four field sobriety tests, including two breathalyzer exams that showed no alcohol was in her system. But she was detained for three hours at the police station, where officers ran additional tests.
The arresting officer said Miller "was a regular marijuana user to justify the DUI arrest," the ACLU said in a statement. But she says she does not drink alcohol or use illicit drugs as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
But attorneys for the city of Murray said Miller was pulled over after traveling out of her lane four times and showed "several clues of possible impairment" during the first two field sobriety tests. Blood test results returned weeks later found no illegal drugs or alcohol in her system.
Miller, 62, sued in June 2020, and the city of Murray announced a short time later it was increasing the frequency of implicit bias training for its police officers to an annual basis, her attorneys said. They praised her courage in coming forward and seeking accountability.
"Sadly, cases like Ms. Miller's are all too common in Utah," said Jason Groth, an attorney with the ACLU. He said Black people are 4.7 times more likely to be arrested in Salt Lake County for alleged possession of marijuana than white people.
Groth added that "based on the allegations in this case, it's easy to see how racial bias drives these numbers upward."
Attorneys for Murray said neither the city nor the officer admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Had there been officer body camera footage of the arrest, "the outcome of the matter would have been different," the city's attorneys said, adding that "no new policies or training will be necessary or part of the agreement."
