Judge gives James Harrison
probation before judgment Tuesday
COLLEGE PARK, Md. —A Prince
George's County Police officer who was convicted of assaulting a University of
Maryland student in 2010 during a riot after a basketball game could get a
clean slate.
Officers James Harrison and
Reginald Barker were accused of assaulting University of Maryland student John
McKenna during a celebration after Maryland beat Duke in March 2010. Video
captured Harrison hitting McKenna with a baton after he was already on the
ground.
Barker was acquitted and has
since returned to the force, while Harrison was found guilty.
"He got 30 days of home
detention, and that's all he got," said Terrell Roberts, McKenna's
attorney.
But earlier this week, Judge
Beverly Woodard, the same judge who heard the initial case, threw out
Harrison's sentence and instead gave him probation before judgment, meaning the
conviction could disappear from his record if he doesn't break the law during a
one-year probation period. He could even be a police officer again.
Officials with the Prince
George's County State's Attorney's Office said they weren't thrilled with the
change.
"We just felt that it was
not appropriate to take the jury's voice away and to basically overturn the
conviction," said John Erzen, with the Prince George's County State's
Attorney's Office.
There was concern during the
first trial after it was revealed Woodard's ex-husband was the first Prince
George's County officer to be convicted of use of force in 1988. There was no
mistrial because she promised to be fair.
Calls to Harrison's attorney
were not returned Tuesday, but McKenna's attorney said the decision is a
mockery of justice.
"In a case like this that
received all this attention because of the gravity of the case, the importance
of the case, it merited some reasons for doing what the judge ended up doing,
and there was no reason given for this kind of action," Roberts said.
