Attorney specializing in police
misconduct says people predisposed to trust officers
By Nick B. Reid
nreid@seacoastonline.com
January 12, 2014 2:00 AM
A prominent New Hampshire
attorney who specializes in police misconduct cases said he believes Seabrook
police are guilty of using excessive force in a video released this week, but
it won't necessarily be easy to prove in court.
Richard Lehmann of the
Concord-based firm Douglas, Leonard & Garvey, P.C., is a former county
attorney in New Hampshire. Since leaving that office, he has represented a
Boscawen man who sued police in that town for using excessive force in 2011, as
well as a girl who claimed the New London police chief pressured her to pose
for nude photos in exchange for charges being dropped against her last year.
His reaction to the video was
simple: "It's excessive force."
But he said that's not an easy
point to make in the courtroom, given that people are generally predisposed to
trust police officers.
"It's always hard to prove
because police go into court — for better or for worse — with credibility, and
the public is inclined to believe them unless there's a very clear reason not
to," he said.
Lehmann said he'd be interested
to hear what the officers will say happened before the events depicted in a
YouTube video that has received more than 150,000 views in the week of its
release. Three officers were suspended after the video's release and the state
attorney general's office is investigating their conduct. In the video, one
officer throws a seemingly defenseless suspect head first into a wall, then
another pepper sprays the subject while he's on the ground.
Scott Gleason, an attorney
based out of Haverhill, Mass., who is representing the alleged victim, said
it's a rarity to have such a video to accompany police reports. He said the
video proves the reports filed in this case include "blatant and repeated
misrepresentation of fact."
"That stuff just doesn't
happen," he said. "It's an absolute rarity to literally be looking at
a video of what I believe to be clear and unmistakable criminal behavior and
then to have somebody — anybody, a police officer or otherwise — writing a
report about the event that just transpired and have it be so noticeably
false."
New Hampshire Assistant
Attorney General Jane Young said her department is investigating the incident
to see if there's any violation of law. "It's not limited to any specific
crime," she said. "We're doing a comprehensive investigation."
And if the state were to decide
to press charges against any officers involved, it's not too late, she said,
despite the fact that the video is more than four years old.
While the statute of
limitations for any misdemeanor, such as simple assault, would have passed
after one year, the law provides up to six years for any felony prosecution,
such as second-degree assault, which occurs when a person "knowingly or
recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another."
But in the case of a public
servant, the law allows even more time. For any offense based upon misconduct
in office by a public servant, a prosecution can commence during any period of
time the defendant is in public office or within two years thereafter,
according to state law.
On the federal side, U.S.
Attorney John Kacavas said his office could determine whether the incident
involved any civil rights violations.
Lehmann said in his experience,
"It's so rare that police officers get prosecuted for any on-duty
conduct."
He said most police are
upstanding, but in those cases when they aren't they can still sometimes get
away with it.
"In some of these cases
it's pretty clear the authorities are giving the police perhaps too much
benefit of the doubt," he said.
But that doesn't mean Gleason
won't try to hold accountable the officers, whose behavior he described as
"beyond despicable."
"Make no mistake about it:
I don't see any other way than to prosecute them in any manner and means
possible," he said.
