Although Fellow Officer heard White Cop say, “Yeah, I slipped & fell. I’ll go with that" - after ‘Launch Kicking’ Latino Man Off the Roof of a Building, Jury Found Cop Credible in Mistrial

From [HERE] The excessive force case against an Adams County Sheriff's Office deputy ended this past week in a mistrial.

About 8 p.m. Friday, after less than five hours of deliberations, a Weld County jury told the court it was unable to agree on whether to convict or acquit 34-year-old James Cook of felony second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury. In response, Weld District Court Judge Julie Hoskins declared a mistrial.

A decision has not yet been made about whether Cook will be retried, said Krista Henery, spokeswoman for the Weld District Attorney's Office.

The charge stems from March 21, 2017, when Cook, a K9 handler with the Adams County Sheriff's Office, along with 10 other officers from four separate police agencies, were trying to locate Alejandro Martinez, a suspect in an earlier reported domestic violence incident.

Police had been looking for Martinez for well over an hour when he was found hiding up in a pine tree at 12988 Weld County Road 4. Officers ordered Martinez, in English and Spanish, to give himself up. But Martinez climbed onto the roof of an outbuilding and nonchalantly lit a cigarette.

When he didn't give himself up, Cook, along with his K9, Bayou, went up on the roof after him. Moments later, Martinez was on the ground with a broken pelvis. A Weld deputy later filed an excessive force complaint, saying Cook kicked Martinez off the roof.

A four-day jury trial took place last week. Cook took the stand Friday in his own defense testifying he slipped on some debris and, while falling to the ground, inadvertently kicked Martinez, causing him to fall off the roof.

While helping Cook and Bayou off the roof, responding officers noticed Cook had injuries to his left elbow and left arm, as well as rips near the left knee of his pants. One officer commented, saying it looked like Cook had taken a hard fall.

"Deputies say they saw Mr. Martinez 'launch' off the roof, 'explode' off that roof and 'slam' into a tree," Weld Deputy District Attorney Tate Costin said. "Those words are important because they're not consistent with someone simply falling off a roof." [MORE]

At least one Weld deputy heard Cook respond, “Yeah, I slipped and fell. I’ll go with that.” The comment is what prompted the excessive force complaint. Cook denied at trial making any such comment.