Shawn Coughlin, 46, is
accused of violating the civil rights of prisoner John Leighton Jr., who was
arrested in Plymouth on second-offense drunken driving charges on Nov. 19,
2011.
By Rich Harbert
The video begins with a
handcuffed drunken driving suspect sitting on a bench in a police holding cell,
about to make an unauthorized cellphone call.
It ends six-and-a-half
minutes later, with the man sitting on the floor, still handcuffed but now also
shackled at the ankles.
For about one minute in
between there is what federal prosecutors describe as a beat-down.
The video could be
instrumental in determining the fate of a former Plymouth police sergeant
accused of beating the suspect after his arrest.
Shawn Coughlin, 46, is
accused of violating the civil rights of prisoner John Leighton Jr., who was
arrested on second-offense drunken driving charges on Nov. 19, 2011.
Leighton was also charged
with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, two counts of
assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and speeding.
Jurors in U.S. District
Court in Boston viewed the video repeatedly Tuesday during the second day of
Coughlin's trial.
Coughlin is also accused of
lying to cover up the incident.
In opening arguments
Monday, the defense sought to portray Leighton as a drunken driving offender
with a history of violence against police.
Prosecutors painted
Coughlin, an 18-year veteran officer, as a "bully with a badge" who
abused his powers in the incident.
The defense insists
Coughlin was only coming to the aid of a fellow officer when he tussled with
the handcuffed prisoner he had booked only a year earlier for assaulting a
different officer.
The video, which has no
sound, starts with Leighton sitting on a bench just after 3 a.m. Nov. 19, 2011.
Within a minute, it is clear he is trying to make a call on his cellphone while
his hands are cuffed behind his back.
Officer Jonathan Yule goes
into the cell to take the phone. Leighton gives it up but is not happy and
leaps to his feet in protest.
Testimony suggests he
swears at Yule, prompting the officer to push him back on the bench.
Leighton may have kicked
out.
Yule felt a small jab in
his knee but is turning to leave the cell when Coughlin comes in.
For the next 60 seconds,
the three struggle until Coughlin slams Leighton onto the bench and, later,
with the help of Yule, onto the floor.
Prosecutors say
freeze-frame images show Coughlin repeatedly striking Leighton's back and head.
Three minutes into the
video, the violence is over.
As the officers leave,
Leighton is on the floor curled up against the wall. Slowly he moves to a
sitting position.
Six minutes after the video
begins, police return to take Leighton's boots as evidence for charges that he
assaulted them. Coughlin and Yule allegedly wrote reports after the incident
calling Leighton the aggressor, saying he kicked at them as they tried to
subdue him.
Leighton, who was on
probation at the time, served 48 days in the county jail before his attorney
obtained a copy of the videotape and showed it to prosecutors.
Both Coughlin and Yule were
placed on paid administrative leave after the police department learned of the
incident.
Yule was never criminally
charged. He eventually resigned to pursue other opportunities. Coughlin was
eventually terminated from the police force but he has appealed the firing and
can still take the case to an arbitrator.
