Article Author:
Associated Press
Ben Finley
Norfolk, Virginia (AP) — US Army lieutenant pepper sprayed, beaten and handcuffed during traffic stop in Virginia His federal judge found the jury guilty of wrongful imprisonment, assault, and assault charges, and ruled.
However, in a summary judgment on Tuesday, the two officers involved were granted constitutional protections for black and Hispanic soldiers against excessive force and unjust seizure, and freedom of speech. said he was protected from facing Kalon Nazario's allegations that he had violated his rights to They allegedly threatened to arrest him if he complained about their actions.
U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young also said the officer who pulled Nazario in the first place was a soldier with a gun in his SUV, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Virginia state law. was accused of illegally searching for , I will leave the question of damages at that point to the jury. Nazario had a concealed carry permit.
The December 2020 incident of a uniformed officer blocking traffic in the small town of Windsor came after Nazario filed a complaint in April 2021, after police body camera images and his mobile phone were released. Citing a video of the phone encounter drew national attention and outrage. He has never been charged with any crime.
Nazario walked out of his station in the dark when Officer Daniel Crocker radioed that he was about to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows. He was driving a car, the lawsuit says. Body camera video later showed a temporary tag taped to the inside of the rear window.
"Lt. There appeared to be no safe place to stop on the shore, so for the safety of the officer and himself, Lt. Nazario drove less than a mile under his speed limit until he reached the well-lit parking lot of a BP gas station.
According to a report cited in the lawsuit, Crocker said the driver was "escaping police" and considered it a "dangerous traffic stop." Joe Gutierrez was driving and joined him.
The situation escalated when both officers quickly turned their guns on Nazario and tried to drag him out of the vehicle with his hands in the air, according to the complaint. Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Nazario many times.
When Nazario came out and asked for an overseer, Gutierrez "knelt down" on his feet and knocked him to the ground. says the lawsuit.
Officer Gutierrez was later dismissed for disobeying department policy during a stop. A special counsel concluded late last month that Gutierrez should not be criminally prosecuted under Virginia law, but should be investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for possible civil rights violations.
On Tuesday, a federal judge charged Nazario with getting pulled over for an improperly displayed license plate, evading police, obstructing justice, and failing to comply when he refused to leave. Vehicles that have been determined to have good cause to do so.
But Mr. Young argued that Virginia law "only exonerates local officials from lawsuits alleging negligence," and that Nazario's false imprisonment under state law, He said he could proceed with the assault, assault allegation.
Young explained his summary judgment in Crocker's gun search, writing that "a firearm was not adequate evidence for a crime of escape or obstruction of justice." But he said Nazario's claim that Gutierrez knew about the search and did not intervene could go to trial, which Gutierrez claims he knew nothing about.
Gutierrez's attorney, Jessica Ann Swauger, did not immediately respond to her email requesting comment.
Jonathan Arthur, one of his attorneys representing Nazario, said the judge's ruling was a victory, even though three federal claims were dismissed.
"Whether under federal law or state law, the jury is going to speak," said Arthur. I hope that they will rise up and say that this conduct is unacceptable."[62][63] Crocker's attorney, Anne C. Lahren, said the remaining questions were "typical" questions for jurors, He said decisions at this stage in civil cases are rare. She also noted that the judge had ruled that the suspension itself and the subsequent order of the officers were lawful.
``Lieutenant. "This would not have been necessary if Lieutenant Nazario had only followed the police's lawful orders from the beginning of the traffic stop."[66]