'Dude, I Blew Zero!': Viral Traffic Stop Finally Reaches a Jury

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Next week, I'm going to be sitting inside a federal courtroom this close to Fig Newton, Iowa, while the most watched traffic stop on the internet finally gets decided by a jury. Not reactions to body cam clips on TikTok, not arguments in comment section, although I love those. The trial is actually in De Moine, so it's not quite Fig Newton, but it's close enough to smell it. SO, IF YOU'VE BEEN following the Taven Galanakis case for three years or one year, or you just stumbled in here like five seconds ago wondering why half the internet has opinions about a 0000 breathalyzer, hit subscribe because starting June 1st, this stops being internet debate and starts being actual trial testimony. And America's attorney, that's me, who's been a lawyer for 25 years, who's helped over 12 million people, is going to BE THERE IN PERSON INSIDE THE COURTROOM breaking down the testimony, the evidence, the cross-examinations, and every major moment from opening statements to the final verdict. If you want to follow this trial as it actually unfolds instead of getting your legal analysis from a comment section that still thinks fruit of the poisonous tree is a smoothie ingredient, well, you're in the right place.

[00:01:05]>> What you got there?

[00:01:07]>> It's a smoothie. For the last time, I swear a quick recap. Just after midnight on August 28th, 2022, Officer Nathan Winters, seen here LOOKING LIKE HE'S STUFFED full of Fig Newton's.

[00:01:20]>> Hi gang, big fig here.

[00:01:22]>> And Lieutenant Christopher Wing pulled Taven Galanakis over in Newton. Yes, that's the actual name of the town. And yes, I I will never get tired of calling it FIG NEWTON FOR DRIVING WITH HIS BRIGHTS ON. David explains he has a headlight out and that's the reason his brights are on. Well, that's a reasonable explanation. I've been there.

[00:01:41]But the officers don't love it. They pivot to an owi investigation. Their reasoning, they say they smell alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slow movements, the full impairment script. Tabin denies drinking. He blows into the preliminary breath test. The result, zero point zero. Now, for most people watching the body cam later, that's the end of the story. But for officer Winters and Wing, it was apparently the start of round two. They shift to drug impairment, question Taven about marijuana use, and arrest him. Anyway, the footage hits the internet. Millions of views, national coverage, and then the lawsuit. Tav sues Officer Winters, Lieutenant Wing, Police Chief Rob Berdes, and the city of Fig Newton in federal court for arresting him without probable cause. Now, here's where most defendants would dig in, defend the arrest, and try to get out of the case as quietly as possible. That that is not what officers Winter and Wing did. Not at all. They counter claimed against Taven. They sued him for defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false complaints based on his Tik Toks, YouTube videos, GoFundMe updates, and posts criticizing the arrest. They argued his online statements damaged their reputations.

[00:02:57]Sorry, it it cracks me up every time.

[00:03:00]the the police officers reputations were damaged. Strategically catastrophic because the second you sue someone for defamation over the things they said about you, you put your reputation directly into controversy. So everything Tabin said online, including allegations about Winter's domestic abuse history, suddenly became fair game in discovery. Which brings us to the Fifth Amendment problem. At his deposition, Winters was asked detailed questions about allegations from his ex-girlfriend, abuse, a protective order, the whole picture. Winters pled the fifth repeatedly, which is his constitutional right. But he also wanted to sue Taven for defamation for talking about those exact allegations. Tavven's lawyers had a phrase for this, trying to use the Fifth Amendment as a shield and a sword. Look, you don't get to refuse to answer questions about whether something is true and then walk into a courtroom and tell the jury it isn't.

[00:03:52]The court agreed enough that the trial was at one point structured in phases to manage the prejudice. Then right before trial, the remaining counter claims got dismissed with prejudice. Gone. The officer's attempt to turn a wrongful arrest case into a defamation case. And with them dropping it entirely on the courthouse steps. With the counter claims dead and a lot of the original claims trimmed down, the trial is now laser focused on one question. Did officers Winters and Wing have lawful grounds to continue detaining and then arrest Taven Galanakis after a 0.00 breath test after his explanations and after everything the body cam recorded that night? That that's it. That's the case. And the last few weeks have been pure pre-trial trench warfare. Motions in limony over alleged prior drug use, GoFundMe fundraising, taxpayer arguments, jury instructions, witness lists, exhibit lists, and the final pre-trial order. Both sides fighting over what the jury gets to hear before a single juror walks in. A few things to keep an eye on once the testimony starts. First, the gap between the reports and the footage. One theme that runs through this entire litigation is the distance between what the officers documented after the fact and what the body cam actually shows field sobriety performance stated observations. The decision to keep going after the 0.0.

[00:05:16]Watch how that gap gets handled on cross. Second, this is going to feel more technical than the internet version of the case. You got police training standards, field sobriety testing protocols, Fourth Amendment probable cause analysis, objective reasonleness.

[00:05:31]The jury isn't deciding whether the stop felt unfair on YouTube rats. THEY'RE DECIDING WHETHER it was constitutional under federal law. And third, credibility. With the counter claims now gone, Winters takes a stand without the Fifth Amendment hanging over half his testimony. But the deposition record exists and so does the footage.

[00:05:52]Cross-examination is going to be a um long afternoon. I wonder if there will be snacks. I've been covering this case for over a year. We've done the body cam breakdowns, the counter claim analysis, the bifurcation fight, the fifth amendment dispute. All that was prologue. Next week, it's real. live witnesses, live crosss, live rulings, a federal jury deciding whether what happened on the side of the road in Fig Newton, Iowa, was lawful policing or a constitutional violation. So, if you've been following this case for the last 3 years, or even just the last year that I've been covering it, or if this is somehow your first time hearing about the traffic stop that basically turned the internet into a nationwide DUI task force, now is the time to subscribe.

[00:06:37]I'll be in the courtroom every day.

[00:06:39]daily breakdowns on this channel every evening. What the jury saw, what the witnesses said, what the lawyers argued, what the judge ruled, and I'll give you my analysis of all of it, but only if you hit subscribe. I will see you in court.

[00:06:57]Who's helped over 12 million people?

[00:06:59]What? I can't. Did you hear that?

[00:07:01]>> I did.

[00:07:02]>> 12 million.