'Belltown Hellcat' testifies in Seattle reckless driving trial—what he said
RAW: Miles Hudson 'Belltown Hellcat' testifies in Seattle trial
Miles Hudson, infamously known as the "Belltown Hellcat," took the stand Wednesday in his trial for reckless driving in Seattle.
SEATTLE - Tuesday was the second day of Miles Hudson’s reckless driving trial in Seattle Municipal Court.
The city called three witnesses in an effort to show Hudson was speeding and driving dangerously through Belltown and streets of downtown Seattle in his Dodge Charger.
During Tuesday's proceedings, Attorney Sheley Anderson called Hudson to the stand, where he gave his version of events. Assistant City Prosecutor Christopher Karr also questioned Hudson.
Keep reading for a full transcript of Hudson’s testimony.
What did Miles Hudson say during his reckless driving trial testimony?
Attorney Sheley Anderson: "I'd like to call Mr. Miles Hudson this morning. Do you swear or affirm that your testimony will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "All right, have a seat. State your full name for the record, and please spell your last name."
Hudson: "Miles Oliver Hudson."
Anderson: "Then please spell your last name."
Hudson: "H, u, d, s, o, n."
Anderson: "Thank you. Mr. Hudson, how old are you right now? "Okay, and in February 2024. How old were you in 2024?"
Hudson: "Ummm."
Anderson: "I want to ask you just some general questions about yourself. So you're 22 years old?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "And so are you from Washington? From Seattle?"
Hudson: "I'm from Seattle, from the south end."
Anderson: "Okay, and we watched a video that shows you and two other Dodge Chargers, what looked like to be racing. Do you recall looking at the video?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "Okay, February 2024, between the dates of February 1 and February 24, 2024, were you racing?"
Hudson: "Hell, no. Sorry, no."
Anderson: "We're on the stand, and so we're not going to say any curse words."
Hudson: "I'm sorry about that."
Anderson: "Okay. February 2024, your answer is no, you weren't racing? And I'm sorry to stop you, because it's a reporter. It needs to be yes or no. I can hear what you're saying, but I can't tell the record. Yes or no, please, thank you."
Hudson: "No, I was not racing."
Anderson: "And I like that. You're speaking up. We're able to hear you. We watched a video where it's you and two other Dodge Chargers. If you weren't racing, explain, what are we seeing in that video?"
Hudson: "So, the journey everyone saw in that video … you all saw the final result of, you know, me and the homies, from a content creator, bro, I kind of entertain people you know, not to get into it. I don't want to get off, you know … into any of other things. But I was doing good things to get money, you know. So I started doing content creation when I was, I guess on. Back then, you know, I wasn't, at first, I wasn't, you know, doing our things, money, you know, started doing content creation. I realized, you know, you make a living, little crazy like that. So I have to entertain people. You all saw the end result of, I would say, like a movie.
Anderson: "You have to entertain people. At any point, we had witnessed that you had showed an officer your followers. Do you recall showing an officer a follower?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "What's a follower? What does that mean? Help me understand what that was."
Hudson: "Someone who watches you and keeps up with you and like likes your videos and stuff."
Anderson: "And you, we heard testimony that you have a social media account. SRT miles, what is that?"
Hudson: "My social media page where I post all my stuff."
Anderson: "Okay, on your social media page, is that like Instagram? Is it Tiktok? Help me understand."
Hudson: "It's Instagram."
Anderson: "It's a Instagram account, okay. And on that, that is where you have a number of followers?
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "And so when you say a content creator, what is a content creator? Help me understand what that is."
Hudson: "So you gotta entertain people, bro. So, you know, you're basically like, you know, some people don't take it to the next story. But like, with me, like, there's little, not crazy production, but there's a little production to it, little rehearsals, like, for example, like the video you guys saw, like, you know, had the homies pull up, you know, we, we stage, like … we stage some Need for Speed stuff, you know. So, content creators, someone who entertains and they get income off the tower."
Anderson: "Okay, you said a lot, so I'm gonna try to unpack it. For content creator creation, how do you come up with the topics of what you're going to do? Is that a process or did someone tell you what to, what content?"
Hudson: "I mean, like, I'm in a group chat with stuff, but, like, a lot of my content is solo, too. But you know, we come up with ideas, you know, and we'll film it, like ..."
Anderson: "I was asking about the content creation and the topics of how you come up with it. You had stopped with saying you and your friends."
Hudson: "Okay, so, you know, I do a lot of solo stuff, but I do stuff, you know, with like, a group of people too. So basically, we'll come up with, like, think of it as, like, scenes, like, just, just stuff, you know, people watch, you know, you know, a lot of the homies are car guys and stuff. So, you know, we came up with some Need for Speed stuff. We had to, you know, film it like legally, but we had to, you know, there's a lot of after effects and, like post production, like stuff you got to do."
Anderson: "Need for Speed. This need for speed … is that what you're referencing? This video, is that was played before the jury?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "This was a Need for Speed content?"
Hudson: "Yeah, content, yeah, absolutely."
Anderson: "Okay, I'm still talking about the video. How do you do the timing of when you post? Content creation, is there like a schedule? How did you share that you come up with the topics, when do you post what videos you've created? What's that process?"
Hudson: "Um, well, like, when I film it? Like, when do I post it?"
Anderson: "Yes."
Hudson: "So, you know, we'll come up film the video, Like, I'm gonna be honest, a lot of my videos take, you know, a couple hours, whatever. At first, you know, when I was smaller, 100,000, 200,000 followers, I was doing, you know, small edits myself, whatever. But, you know, I have an editor, like, once I like, 300 like, 60k something like that, something around there. So, you know, I really send the video off, but what I do is, I like, pump videos like, I'll pump videos into like, like, I'll get them out, and then I'll send them to my editor, and then, like, I basically just have like, a vault of videos even, like, right now I've even been posting for a while. So, like I have like, videos from like, October of like, 2020- … yeah, 2023 like, when I first got my car and stuff. So like, yeah…"
Anderson: "Okay."
Hudson: "I feel like I answered that really long, like …"
Anderson: "I heard you, let me see if I can try to unpack it. You, I heard you say you've got a number of videos in a vault."
Hudson: "Absolutely."
Anderson: "Explain to me, help me understand what that means."
Hudson: "So, like on my SD card, like, basically I film a whole bunch of videos and then, like throughout the year, I'll disperse the videos."
Anderson: "So when you post, it doesn't mean that that's when the the video was actually reached its final production. Is that correct?"
Hudson: "No, no."
Anderson: "No, explain, what do you mean by no? When you post it, is that done on the same day that your video was created?"
Hudson: "No. Not even like near it, because, you know, there's a process you gotta sit on. Like, like I said, I have an editor and stuff. Like, you got to send all your clips, and then he'll take however long. And then once you film it, you just kind of keep going. So, like, you know, you'll film other stuff. You can kind of forget about it. You see looking, you know, your SD of just videos, dumb videos, you know, send me the, uh, you know, Google Drive and stuff. And I just got, like, a whole bunch of edited videos that I just posted."
Anderson: "Okay, for this Need for Speed video, you had stated that you hired an editor."
Hudson: "Not for the video specifically, but once I got to a certain size and I couldn't like, I mean, I could edit all my videos, but it was just more efficient to film the videos and have them edit it, you know."
Anderson: "So, yes, so for this video with the red charger and the other charger, there were some edits."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "If it wasn't racing, what we see in the speedometer, a digital reading of 107 miles per hour, if you weren't going 107 miles per hour, help me understand, what are we looking at in that video?"
Hudson: "Okay, so you're looking at the finished product of, you know, the video, so absolutely not. I was not driving 100 and something. I got that car when I was 20 years old. I don't know if I'm supposed to say my age, but you know, that was my first like crazy car. And I love that car. I would never die like that. It's crazy."
Anderson: "Okay, so help me understand, we see in the speedometer,107 miles per hour."
Hudson: "Okay, so what's that?"
Anderson: "In making a video and your content creation, how do you get a speedometer to read 107 miles per hour?"
Hudson: "Okay, so, like I told you this … this video in particular, was edited by my editor, that I used to edit, you know, when I was small, it I used to edit. It's a simple mask. It's like, basically an overlay …"
Anderson: "On the speedometer we're seeing in the video, it says 107 miles per hour."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "You stated that you weren't racing, that the car did not go 107 miles per hour."
Hudson: "Absolutely not."
Anderson: "Help me understand your knowledge of how can we see in a video, it says that on a speedometer, if it really wasn't going on that? What's that process, if you're aware of how to do that?"
Hudson: "It's a simple mask. So, essentially, what you do is, you blur out whatever number that is like, let's say the speedometer says it's 15. You blur, not blur, but you kind of blend it with, like the background, and then you add your mask. It's a dynamic mask, and you can change the numbers. Simple editing process."
Anderson: "You stated that you've edited. What are some of the tools that you use in editing?"
Hudson: "I at first … I used DaVinci, but right now I use Premiere Pro, and some things I use in editing, like sound effects, heavy on the effects. That's why the car will be, sound remotely near that. You know, you can download it on the mp3, put it on the editing software and just change it to whatever you want."
Anderson: "On this day with the red charger and the other charger, did you know them?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "And did you know what you were going to say when you saw them?"
Hudson: "Yeah it was a skit, it was rehearsed."
Anderson: "Okay, and what do you mean it was a skit, it was rehearsed? What do you mean by that?"
Hudson: "I mean they don't just, you know, in the video you saw them, you know, the Nerf guns and the ski out, hanging out the car. Obviously, that's not real life, you know. To be an entertainer, you gotta make it look real, and you just gotta entertain."
Anderson: "Okay, so that was a pre-written script."
Hudson: "Yeah, a skit, yes."
Anderson: "And there were props. We saw an orange and white plastic thing. What was that?"
Hudson: "A blaster, a little Nerf gun?"
Anderson: "A Nerf gun. Was that part of the script, part of the story?"
Hudson: "Mmmmm, absolutely."
Anderson: "Did you just so happen to randomly run into two other chargers that night and happened to say, ‘Hey, do you want to race?’ Was that at random?"
Hudson: "No, it was part of the skit."
Anderson: "We heard sound effects."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Anderson: "Describe for me your knowledge of how to do a sound effect. What is that process? What does that entail?"
Hudson: "You download whatever sound effects you want. So you know you can go on YouTube or any, just website with sound effects. You download it, you can then import it into your editing software."
Anderson: "Now, we could hear your voice, but we couldn't see your face. The video shows you holding, holding a phone. No, it doesn't show holding a phone. The video shows the vantage point."
Hudson: "Like the point of view?"
Anderson: "Yes. Would you drive at 107 miles while holding a phone?"
Hudson: "Absolutely not."
Anderson: "Tell me more about that. Why would you not do that?"
Hudson: "I mean to anyone who doesn't know, you know, Hellcats are rear-wheel drive cars, you know, you need, like both hands on the steering wheel if you're going a crazy speed. And that's, that's my baby, like what? So with the vantage point, so, like, you know, like, if I'm recording myself, I obviously can't have two hands on the wheel. So, yeah."
Anderson: "Okay, no further questions."
The prosecution questioned Miles Hudson
Assistant City Prosecutor Christopher Karr: "Afternoon. Couple of questions for you here. Your name is Miles Oliver Hudson?"
Hudson: "Yes."
Karr: "And we watched a couple of videos of you interacting with Officer Murphy and Officer Vaaga on March 20 and March 27, right? That's you in those videos, right? Okay, it's you sitting in the Dodge Charger, colloquially known as the Hellcat, right? In those videos?"
Hudson: "The Dodge Charger? Yeah."
Karr: "Yeah, that's you, right? Yeah, okay. And the video that we watched that was from your Instagram account. That's also your video, right?
Hudson: "The video you watched?"
Karr: "That we all watched together."
Hudson: "The first or second one?
Karr: "The one where Ms. Davis was just talking to you about."
Hudson: "Yeah, yeah that's mine, yeah."
Karr: "That's your video."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "That's your voice in the video."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "That's your vehicle in the video."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "Okay. Now you said that video was not filmed on February 24 of 2024, right?"
Hudson: "Is that the day I posted it?"
Karr: "Yeah."
Hudson: "No, that was not filmed …"
Karr: "When did you film it?"
Hudson: "I'm gonna be honest, probably early March."
Karr: "Of 2023?"
Hudson: "No, no, I got the car. Probably, I'm gonna be honest. I couldn't really tell you, but if I were to assume, probably like early March or late. Oh, I'm tripping March is after that, I'm sorry. I'm tripping. I'm sorry. I'm coming off a sickness, yeah, because I can't film it before, you know, I posted, so obviously I was wrong. Can you ask me the question again?"
Karr: "Did you film it in February?"
Hudson: "No."
Karr: "Did you film in January?"
Hudson: "I could have filmed it in January, because I know it was around, you know, the end of the holidays and stuff."
Karr: "So late December, early January."
Hudson: "Possibility."
Karr: "Okay, but it was in 2024, that you filmed that video."
Hudson: "If, if it was late December, it was 2023 but if it was January, obviously 2024, yes."
Karr: "Okay, thank you. And it's your testimony today that the video that we watched all together in court multiple times is edited."
Hudson: "Absolutely."
Karr: "That it is a feature film, essentially."
Hudson: "I'm not gonna say I have the production of the movies. Me and my friends, you know, trying to entertain some people make a couple bucks."
Karr: "And your Instagram, you hold yourself out to be someone who is very passionate about these cars, right?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "Who likes to drive fast, right?"
Hudson: "I mean, it's a persona."
Karr: "A certain persona, right? That's the content you're trying to create."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "And that's what your followers expect to see from you."
Hudson: "Not necessarily, you know, my two most popular videos have nothing to do on my car, unless you know the views have fluctuated from the last time I checked. But you know, there's a good amount of people that follow me for the car content, and I have to, you know, provide them with content and, you know, make the movie, right?"
Karr: "But the content that you are saying today is made up."
Hudson: "So I'm not saying it's, I'm not saying the whole video was made up. I'm talking about the racing aspect, and me walking up to them sheistys, and they have, you know, the gel blaster, the gun. It's, it's not, I mean, it's made up, but it's a skit. I'm not saying it happened. It's a skit."
Karr: "Okay, thank you. I appreciate that clarification. Now, you didn't actually do the editing yourself, though, right?"
Hudson: "I'm gonna be honest. So …"
Karr: "Like, that was your testimony, is that you sent it off to an editor?"
Hudson: "No, yeah, I sent it off to an editor. But, like, the editor doesn't know, like, what I like, what I have to tell them, you know, like, I don't go and tell them a pick this sound effect, pick this, but, you know, I can tell them what I want, because I know those, those, there's a lot of cut out from those clips, but that was probably like, it was a lot of footage."
Karr: "And so, just a couple more questions, your Instagram handle is SRT.miles? That's yours?"
Hudson: "Um, it was, it is and was I just changed left out the dot."
Karr: "Okay, so it's SRT miles?"
Hudson: "Yeah SRT miles no dot."
Karr: "And that's where you posted all of this content here that we watched in court."
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "Okay, and you make money off of this, right?"
Hudson: "Yeah."
Karr: "You make a lot of money off of this."
Hudson: "I don't speak on that."
Karr: "Well, that's the question, do you make a lot of money off this?"
Hudson: "What's a lot?"
Karr: "How about you define that for me?"
Hudson: "That's subjective."
Karr: "All right, and, that's not something that, um, actually I'm not gonna ask, I'm going to withdraw that question. Okay, Your Honor, I have no further questions. Thank you."
A verdict is expected in Hudson's trial on Thursday.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Municipal Court of Seattle and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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