Porterfield said that Mann and his partner, Reiber, never said why they stopped him at 9:20 p.m. after he left a worship service, parked briefly, and was driving a friend to get something to eat. Mann later would tell investigators that Porterfield was stopped because one of his brake lights was out. Defense attorney R. Patrick Link said his investigation "conclusively determined that the brake light was not malfunctioning at the time of the stop, which was the entire reason for the encounter."