A Kentucky prosecutor is under fire for apparently telling, in open court, that he believes being Hispanic is "probable cause" to be pulled over in a traffic stop.

Oldham County, Kentucky attorney John Carter made the remark during a court appearance on Oct. 14, in reference to a case involving a Guatemalan man who was cited for driving without an American license.

The incident occurred when Mauro Martinez was pulled over by police last July for speeding, which he denies. However, instead of being charged for going over the speed limit, Martinez was cited for not having a license because he only had a Guatemalan ID at the time.

At a court hearing about the citation, assistant county attorney Travis Combs pointed out that the defendant believes that he was pulled over simply for being Latino. In response, a video recording captured Carter saying, "That's probable cause."

Martinez's attorney Dawn Elliott then replied to Carter's comment by saying, "I'm going to act like I didn't hear that." Judge Diana Wheeler also chimed in saying, "I am too."

After a video of the exchange was published in the Courier-Journal, Carter said that he was referring to the moving violation on the citation as probable cause, and not the fact that Martinez is Hispanic.

"I was looking at the citation," the attorney told The Courier-Journal. "I thought they were talking about the cop not citing him with a speeding charge."

However, the judge presiding over the case and Martinez's defense attorney did not interpret Carter's remarks that way.

"Clearly he had an opportunity to clear that up on the record over 24 hours ago, but now there's buzz about it," Elliot said. "My reaction and the judge's reaction speaks for itself. We certainly interpreted him talking about probable cause for my client's ethnicity."

Elliot also told WDRB on Thursday, "It's our contention that he was stopped because he was driving while brown. We were all kind of shocked that an elected official would make a statement like that."

She added, "The officer on the citation stated he was speeding, yet he didn't charge him with a moving violation."

According to Elliot, Carter's comment highlights the issue of racially profiling Hispanics in the county. She is also calling for an investigation of the county's officers.