HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Authorities have released video years after a woman claimed she was forcibly baptized by a Hamilton County Sheriff's deputy.
Shandle Riley claimed a deputy had threatened to arrest her during a traffic stop in February 2019 if she did not allow him to baptize her.
Riley died in 2022, but her case is not over. A judge allowed the civil case to continue after her death, saying the incident was "an overtly religious act with no secular purpose."
On April 13, 2022, authorities found Riley's body in a Soddy-Daisy home. An autopsy report concluded she died from an accidental drug overdose of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
In a cell phone video recorded by another deputy, Riley can be seen following deputy Daniel Wilkey into Soddy Lake before he baptized her. The two were later seen hugging in the video after the baptism happened.
You can watch the video at this link. Attorneys for Riley claimed she was coerced into the baptism.
"She may look like she has a happy face the whole bit, but the guy was in a position of superior power over her," said Robin Flores, who was representing Riley in the civil case and the criminal trial. "The case is not dead. It didn't die with her."
In February 2019, Wilkey pulled Riley over for illegally tinting her windows. During the traffic stop, authorities said Riley admitted to having marijuana in the car.
In a federal civil rights lawsuit, Riley claimed Wilkey told her he would only write her a citation for marijuana possession if she let him baptize her. She said she went along with it because she thought she might have been arrested if she did not.
"We believe that the video evidence is what supports all of Ms. Riley's claims," Flores said.
In motions filed in court in the last month, attorneys for Riley claimed Wilkey searched her inappropriately. She claimed he touched her "all over" her body, had her jump up and down multiple times, and shook her bra vigorously multiple times.
"The illegal seizure at the house, the duration of the seizure, as I put it in my brief, exceeded what was necessary for detention," said Flores.
In their response, however, attorneys for Wilkey and Goforth claimed the search never became inappropriate. They argued Wilkey had searched her bra vigorously because it was a "common hiding place for drug paraphernalia."
They also argued there is no evidence in any video filed in court that Riley was coerced into being baptized.
"Please point to me where there is any sign that Jacob Goforth, or anyone, coerced Ms. Riley into being baptized," said Jerry Tidwell, who represents Deputy Goforth in the case.
In their attorneys' briefs, they argued Goforth recorded the incident so Riley couldn't claim something happened that didn't.
"To say that he shouldn't have done that, I can understand people say that," said Tidwell. "However, tell me what law he broke."
The case is scheduled to go to trial in September 2022, but attorneys said they expect it will be delayed to sometime later this year or early next year.
Riley's lawsuit is seeking $10 million dollars in punitive damages for her estate.