By Lynh Bui, E-mail the writer
A Prince George’s County police
officer who was suspended after video emerged showing him beating a University
of Maryland student with another officer in 2010 will return to full duty,
police said.
Earlier this week, Cpl.
Reginald Baker was found not guilty of two charges related to the incident by
the Prince George’s police department’s internal administrative trial board,
police spokeswoman Julie Parker said. Baker had faced one charge of not
reporting force and one charge of using excessive force.
They found Officer Reginald Baker
not guilty of both charges.
Neither Harrison nor Baker
reacted audibly as the verdict was read, and dozens of police officers and
others in the courtroom sat in almost complete silence. As Baker stepped back
from the defense table, he frowned slightly and glanced toward his convicted
colleague, who stared straight ahead.
Harrison and his attorneys
declined to comment after the hearing. Baker referred comment to defense
attorney William Brennan, who said he was “very gratified” with the verdict
that Baker was not guilty.
“We believed all along that he
had not committed any crime and that he had served Prince George’s County to
the best of his ability as a police officer,” Brennan said.
Baker and Harrison had been
charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office in the beating of
McKenna, after the student’s attorneys released a video of the incident to
local news outlets. At the officers’ trial this week, prosecutors and defense
attorneys haggled over why that video did or did not show a police abuse of
power.
After the trial, McKenna said
he was “definitely glad that some justice has been done” but he hoped the
Department of Justice would continue probing the case.
“There was a broader crime
committed here, and it spans way further than two cops charged in this,”
McKenna said. He declined to take questions.
Sources familiar with the case
said the county had already agreed to pay McKenna a $2 million settlement and
$1.6 million in settlements to nine others involved in incidents that night.
Though the jury delivered
different verdicts for each man, Harrison and Baker were tried together on
essentially the same case. Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Ruddy argued in
court that both initially tried to hide their misdeeds in different ways, then
tried to rationalize them once they learned they had been caught on tape. The
video, Ruddy told jurors, was “the most important evidence in this case because
it’s the independent witness.” And what it showed, Ruddy said, contradicted
nearly everything Baker and Harrison said on the witness stand.
“They came up with
justifications and reasons, most of which made no sense, most of which defy
what you see,” Ruddy said.
The video shows Baker was the
first officer to make contact with McKenna, driving him to the ground before he
and Harrison began hitting him with their batons. After the verdict, Prince
George’s State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said jurors might have drawn a
distinction because a prosecution expert had said taking McKenna to the ground
was reasonable, but clubbing him while he was prone was not.
David Simpson, an attorney for
Harrison, had argued his client should not be held criminally responsible for
four seconds of force and placed blame for the incident on McKenna, whom he
termed a “criminal” because he unlawfully approached a police line.
“We’re not here because of the
police officers,” Simpson said. “We’re here because of McKenna.”
In court, Ruddy said that both
officers failed to fill out a use-of-force report, and that Harrison initially
lied to an investigator about his role in the incident. He said that had video
not captured the beating, the officers likely would have evaded detection.
“That’s why they did not report
it, because that’s not justified,” Ruddy said. “Without that video, we would
not have known how John McKenna was beaten.”
Brennan and Simpson said in
court that the officers did not fill out a use-of-force report because a
sergeant was on the scene of the incident and already knew about the use of the
baton. Simpson acknowledged that Harrison initially lied to an investigator but
said he came forward the next day and turned himself in. He said Harrison had
been worried because he saw the police chief on TV, threatening to fire those
involved.
Alsobrooks said the split
verdict was a “victory” for prosecutors, as it showed they will not “stand by
and watch” police officers use excessive force. She said she respected jurors’
decision on Baker, though she felt the charges were reasonable.
Harrison faces a maximum of 10
years in prison at his Dec. 14 sentencing. Brennan said Baker was hoping to
return to work as a police officer.
Prince George’s Police Chief
Mark Magaw said he respected the jury’s verdict. He said Harrison and Baker
remain suspended with pay and would undergo administrative procedures to
determine their future employment status.
