U.S. Department of Justice
April 01, 2014 • Office of Public Affairs (202)
514-2007/TDD (202) 514-1888
WASHINGTON—Today, a federal
jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota sitting in
Bismarck, North Dakota, convicted Lindrith Tsoodle, 58, of one felony count and
one misdemeanor count of using excessive force on persons in his custody in
November and December 2010. Tsoodle was also convicted of making false
statements to a federal law enforcement officer and was acquitted of tampering
with a witness.
Tsoodle, a former police
officer with the Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department in New Town, North
Dakota, on the Fort Berthold Reservation, was found guilty of violating the
rights of two people in his custody by using excessive force. Specifically, he
was convicted of twisting the neck of a handcuffed suspect, throwing him to the
ground, and kneeing him in the abdomen. He was also convicted of, on a separate
occasion, excessively tightening the handcuffs of an arrestee, slamming him
against the wall, using pepper spray on the arrestee, and striking him with his
hands and a baton. Both assaults occurred while the suspects were restrained
and were not posing a physical threat to the defendant.
Additionally, Tsoodle was found
guilty of making various false statements to a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
Special Agent, who interviewed the defendant following one of the assaults.
“Our constitutional system of
government requires police officers to abide by the laws they enforce and to
protect the constitutional rights of all persons in their custody,” said Acting
Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division. “The
Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division will vigorously prosecute
law enforcement officers who use excessive force.”
Tsoodle faces a statutory
maximum penalty of 10 years for the federal excessive force count, a statutory
maximum sentence of one year for the misdemeanor, and a statutory maximum
penalty of five years for the false statements count.
This case was investigated by
the Minot Resident Agency of the Minneapolis Division of the FBI and was
prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan and Trial Attorney
Nicholas Durham of the Civil Rights Division.