No trial date yet for Racist Springfield Cop in Criminal Case for Videotaped Flashlight Beating of Unarmed Black Man
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Officer Asher drove away from the court in a white sedan with a broad smile, a cigar in his mouth and giving thumbs-ups to a half-dozen protesters who stood outside the building holding signs that read: "Asher is guilty" and "Stop police brutality
From [HERE] CHICOPEE - Dogged by a clutch of civil rights protesters, retired Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher appeared in court on Friday, though a judge declined to set a trial date.
Asher was charged in connection with the alleged 2009 beating of a motorist during a traffic stop. Asher was caught on amateur videotape [HERE] stomping and beating Melvin Jones III with a police flashlight on the hood of a car during an arrest on Rifle Street. Jones was beaten unconscious, sustained broken facial bones, nose, teeth, and was at least partially blinded in one eye. Jones claims that he was struck at least 15 times with the flashlight. Officers also allegedly called him nigger during the assault. He was pulled over by police for having a faulty muffler. [MORE]
Jones and his lawyers contend Jones was unconscious for most of the alleged beating, while Asher and his lawyer have argued he used necessary force to subdue Jones, who made a grab for an officer's gun during a struggle. A witness told the FBI he saw Jones slump to the ground after the first couple of blows. [MORE] and [MORE]
"I think the video helps us. When the resistance stopped, the force stopped. It's as simple as that." Asher's lawyer, Joseph W. Monahan IIII, said outside Chicopee District Court Friday morning.
Asher, who also was caught on amateur videotape in the 1990s kicking a black suspect while he was on the ground in handcuffs, was fired by Fitchet late last year. However, the ouster was largely symbolic as Asher received a disability retirement the day before he was fired.
The case has been moved from Springfield to Holyoke to Chicopee in response to defense motions to mitigate pretrial publicity when it goes to a jury.
Judge Maureen Walsh set a final pretrial motions hearing for June 9.
Jones, who is being held without bail following a domestic dispute and a shop-lifting arrest, was not present. Drug charges related to the 2009 traffic stop were recently dismissed.
Asher retired from the police force with disability benefits earlier this year; three other officers implicated in the alleged beating were not charged criminally and are back on the job after serving suspensions.
Asher drove away from the court in a white sedan with a broad smile, a cigar in his mouth and giving thumbs-ups to a half-dozen protesters who stood outside the building holding signs that read: "Asher is guilty" and "Stop police brutality."
Prosecutor Elizabeth Dunphy Ferris said she will seek Asher's entire disciplinary record from the police department as evidence.
In his civil suit, Jones says that the six cops named in the Massachusetts police brutality complaint tried to cover up the assault on him. The three other cops that were at the traffic stop, Officers Michael Sedergren, Theodore Truiolo, and Lt. John Bobianski were disciplined. Jones is seeking unspecified monetary damages and fees and wants a jury trial.
