Judge refuses to throw out criminal charges against Orlando police officer
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando police officer charged with “wantonly” firing at driver asks judge to toss case
OPD's David Johnston, who fired 23 times at moving vehicle, wants criminal charges dropped
A judge Thursday refused to throw out criminal charges against an Orlando police officer accused of needlessly firing 23 shots at the driver of a car headed his way in a downtown parking garage.
David Johnston, 25, of Ocoee, a two-year department veteran, is charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle and discharging a gun in public.
He says he's not guilty.
He was not in the courtroom for Thursday's hearing but was in the Orange County Courthouse.
Defense attorney David Bigney asked Circuit Judge Wayne Wooten to dismiss the case, arguing that because Johnston fired the shots in the course of his duty, he should be given sovereign immunity.
Assistant State Attorney Linda Drane Burdick called that "absurd."
Wooten listened to more than an hour of argument and evidence then made his ruling: He refused to throw out the charges.
"One unjustified shot," said the judge, "is one shot too many."
Wooten said he had expected Johnston to testify and explain "what he heard, what he saw, what his reactions were," the judge said.
That didn't happen. Instead what he got was an argument from Bigney that Johnston was in fear of his life and had the right to use any amount of force to stop the suspect.
The night of the shooting, Feb. 24, 2014, Johnston grabbed his AR-15 rifle from his patrol car and stood at the foot of an exit ramp to a multistory parking garage not far from Amway Arena as other officers tried to arrest Derrick Lattimore, accused of threatening to kill his girlfriend earlier in the evening.
When other officers confronted Lattimore on the fifth floor of the City View garage, he sped away in his Pontiac Firebird toward Officer Anthony Watts, who opened fire. So did another officer.
Johnston was four floors below, near the exit and was separated from Lattimore's car and all vehicles in the garage by a closed steel gate, according to police records.
When he saw Lattimore's car approach, Johnston opened fire, according to a video-recording of the incident.
Lattimore was not hit. His vehicle crashed into a wall.
An Orange County grand jury indicted Johnston concluding that Lattimore was no longer a danger to officers when Johnston opened fire and that he "wantonly" shot at the suspect.
Bigney suggested Johnston was panicky and believed the suspect was armed.
"The official duty was to stop the suspect," Bigney said. "We know this suspect was fleeing. He was a fleeing felon."
If the officer was wrong, Bigney said, Johnston should face an internal police department investigation — not criminal charges.
That internal investigation has not yet started. The police department placed him on paid leave. A department spokeswoman said the internal investigation would begin once the criminal case had concluded.
Wooten set a tentative trial date of May 4.
Bigney offered a single piece of evidence at Thursday's hearing: Eight minutes of radio traffic leading up to the shooting. On it, you can hear officers say, "Put your hands up. … Shots fired."
Also there was a warning that the suspect's car was headed toward Johnston.
A 17-year old boy has been
left badly bruised after an altercation with a Louisiana police officer at a
Mardi Gras parade in an incident captured on cell phone by a friend of the
victim.
Footage
shows Brady Becker, 17, being punched repeatedly in the face by plain clothed
detective Nicholas Breaux in the incident which occurred on Friday night at
Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie.
Becker
was arrested and charged with inciting a riot, resisting an officer, battery of
a police officer and being in possession of alcohol while under the age of 21.
According
to the arrest report Becker is alleged to have shouted 'f*** the cops' multiple
times at the detectives, but friends of the boy who were present deny that and
say the attack was unprovoked.
Becker's
friend, Jacob Jenson, 16, said the incident started when one of the detectives
walked up and told him, 'If I punch you in your face, would I still be a
f****** cop?'
Jensen
said neither he nor anyone else in his group had yelled at the men, who they
were aware were police, reports
He said
he told the detective he wanted no trouble, but then the man asked him again in
an even more aggressive fashion.
At this
point Becker decided to defend his friend.
'I said,
'What the F is going on,' trying to find out why he's getting in his face.
That's when he starts beating me up,' Becker said.
The
detective then tackled Becker to the ground and beat him quite severely.
Becker
suffered a cut to his left eyebrow, a fractured right cheek and jaw and black
eyes. He was detained overnight and his vision still remains blurry.
At a
press conference on Thursday Becker denied that he had done anything wrong.
'I felt
like I was just sticking up for my friend,' he said.
He said
his arrest has caused him and his friends to look differently at police
officers.
'We look
at cops like they are our enemies,' he said.
How
Becker and his family are calling for the detective to be stripped of his
duties.
'He just
threw me on the ground and started beating me like that, and I really feel like
he was committing a crime,' said the teen.
The boy's
family say they have already filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office, but
the department claims it has not received a formal complaint, which would
trigger an internal investigation.
Case
against officer charged with assault set for trial, judge denies motion to
revoke bond
By Theresa Ghiloni
OFFICER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
Case against officer charged
with assault set for trial, judge denies motion to revoke bond
Circuit judge reviewing lower
court ruling in case of public safety officer charged with felonious assault
Blackman-Leoni officer accused
of felonious assault pointed gun at floor while giving fellow officer 'eerie
stare', testimony reveals
Blackman-Leoni public safety
officer charged with felonious assault against co-worker
JACKSON, MI - The case against
a Blackman-Leoni Public Safety officer charged with felonious assault is
expected to go to trial in May.
During a pretrial hearing for
Brent Doxtader on Friday, Feb. 13, Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson
set a trial date for May 18 and also denied a prosecutor's request to revoke
Doxtader's bond after a recent violation.
The felonious assault charge
against Doxtader was issued in July by a special prosecutor, assigned at
Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka's request.
Washtenaw County Assistant
Prosecutor Dianna Collins, who was filling in for Washtenaw County Assistant
Prosecutor Brenda Taylor at the pretrial, asked Wilson to detain Doxtader after
he recently violated a personal protection order taken out against him by his
ex-wife.
"There's not enough here
to revoke his bond," Wilson said of the police report. "Not based on
the statement I'm reading in here. They've got the child that they are sharing.
It's got to be very difficult to not be able to communicate and still have to
jointly raise a child."
Collins said there was also an
earlier violation when Doxtader contacted a union representative and another
officer from the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety, which was not
brought before the court.
"The concern is that the
defendant is not complying with court orders," Collins said.
Doxtader faces up to four years
in prison for the charge that stems from a January incident when Doxtader
entered the living quarters at the Leoni Township fire station on Fifth Street
and allegedly threatened other officers.
During a preliminary
examination in September Blackman-Leoni Public Safety detectives David Lubahn
and Robert Shrock testified Doxtader entered the headquarters, shook Shrock's
hand and then "bear-hugged" Lubahn, knocking off his glasses.
Lubahn testified Doxtader
stepped back about 6 feet, unholstered his gun and pointed it at the ground.
After staring at Lubahn for several silent moments, Doxtader announced he was
there to "f--- something up."
Lubahn testified he felt as if
Doxtader's "unusual" gestures were a form of "saying goodbye and
he was going to kill us."
In January Wilson denied a
motion filed by Doxtader's attorney, Michael Vincent, overrule a lower court's
decision to proceed with the case, finding probable cause to believe Doxtader
committed the crime.
Before the pretrial concluded
Feb. 13, Vincent asked for a copy of Doxtader's bond conditions to hopes to
avoid future infractions.
Doxtader has been free on a
$2,500 bond since July 24, according to court documents.
