MENSAH M. DEAN
A PHILADELPHIA JURY yesterday
convicted former police officer Kevin Corcoran of obstructing justice, a charge
that stems from his heated arrest and quick release of an Iraqi War veteran
last year.
The Common Pleas jury of five
women and seven men found Corcoran not guilty of two other charges - false
imprisonment and official oppression.
Corcoran, 34, a 10-year police
veteran at the time of his dismissal in March, could receive 1-to-2 years in
jail when sentenced on Jan. 9 by Judge Robert Coleman. He remains free on bail.
The two-day trial centered on
Corcoran's clash with Roderick King and three of King's friends on 13th Street
near Lombard just after 2 a.m. on March 31, 2013.
King, 31, an Air Force retiree,
testified that Corcoran arrested him and took him for a ride to a darkened
street after he and his friends complained that the officer nearly hit them
with his marked SUV as they crossed 13th Street.
Corcoran testified that he
arrested King for being drunk and disorderly, but he released him after King
tearfully told him that he had served in Iraq - working on F-15 fighter jets.
"I felt bad for the guy .
. . I said, 'I'm going to cut you a break,' " Corcoran testified Thursday.
King testified that he was not
drunk and felt at the mercy of an enraged cop who slapped cellphones from his
hand and a friend's hand during the dust-up.
Corcoran did not charge King
with a crime and failed to document the incident, according to trial testimony.
Assistant District Attorney
Michael Bonner said the charge Corcoran was convicted of speaks to his arrest
of King and his slapping the vet's cellphone to the ground.
"I think he was just one
rogue police officer that, by no means, represents the entire Philadelphia
Police Department that otherwise has outstanding officers that protect and
serve every day," Bonner said after leaving court.
Defense lawyer Fortunato Perri
Jr. said he planned to appeal because he believes the jury verdict is
"inconsistent based on the evidence."
He added: "He was
acquitted and exonerated of all the underlying offenses, so it would be
inconsistent for him to be found guilty of obstruction of justice having to do
with those offenses he was acquitted of."
Corcoran, a married father of
two, appeared downcast upon seeing each juror stand to affirm the verdict.
His conviction marks the second
week in a row that a former city cop has been found guilty of a crime.
Last week, Richard DeCoatsworth,
28, was convicted of simple assault. His ex-girlfriend testified that the
once-celebrated cop punched and choked her during a May 2013 argument.
