Rayvion Johnson filed a notice of claim seeking $800,000 from Pinal County over a March 26 traffic stop in Casa Grande, according to Phoenix New Times. The demand puts the county’s response to the encounter—and how any eventual costs might be handled—under scrutiny, but it is not a finding of liability.
New Times reported that Johnson, then 18, was riding an electric bike when county attorney’s office investigator Richard “Hank” Mueller stopped him over an alleged stop-sign violation. A bystander recorded part of the encounter; Johnson was booked on two misdemeanors and a felony, spent a night in jail and was released. The county attorney’s office later declined to prosecute him, the outlet reported.
Johnson’s notice, filed September 16, seeks payment to resolve the matter without further litigation, New Times reported. Arizona’s notice-of-claim process requires a claim against a public entity to be filed within 180 days and to specify a settlement demand, according to the Arizona Law Now legal glossary. Johnson believes the stop involved racial discrimination; his attorney told New Times that Mueller’s history contributed to that suspicion. Those are Johnson’s position and his attorney’s explanation, not a legal finding about the stop.
Financial reports do not settle who pays
Pinal County’s audited reports describe fund accounting. The county’s FY2023 financial report says claims and judgments were paid from the General Fund. Its FY2024 report says claims and judgments are generally paid from the fund associated with the activity that gave rise to them. The eventual allocation of any cost remains unresolved: FY2023 report; FY2024 report.
Claim lands amid county authority disputes
The stop has also become part of a wider dispute between County Attorney Brad Miller and the Board of Supervisors. On October 2, supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize outside attorneys to file a State Bar complaint against Miller, the outlet reported.
The board’s disagreements with Miller also include his attempted agreement with federal immigration authorities under the 287(g) program. A judge barred the agreement without board approval in May, and supervisors referred separate disputes over staffing and Miller’s use of Signal to the Arizona attorney general, New Times reported.
The $800,000 figure is Johnson’s requested settlement amount, not a judgment or an indication that the county or an insurer will pay it. Whether the county contests or resolves the claim, and whether any eventual costs would be covered by the pool or paid from county funds, remains unresolved.
