Meriden Police Chief's Son Arraignment today for Police Beating that Led to Cracked Skull of Handcuffed Latino Man

From [HERE] Police Officer Evan Cossette is expected to plead not guilty to police brutality and obstruction of justice charges when he appears today before a federal court magistrate in New Haven, his lawyer said Monday.

Cossette was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on a charge of police brutality following an investigation into a 2010 incident in which he shoved a handcuffed Latino prisoner into a jail cell, cracking the his skull. The criminal investigation of Evan Cossette, the son of Police Chief Jeffry Cossette, started after the videotape of the jail cell incident surfaced and two officers, Brian Sullivan and Donald Huston, complained to city officials that Evan Cossette had received favorable treatment because he is the chief's son.

Cossette was also charged with obstruction of justice for filing a false report of the incident.

The videotape shows Cossette pushing the handcuffed prisoner, Pedro Temich, backward into the jail cell, causing Temich to cut open his head on a concrete bench. The indictment calls it a "firm shove" of the "compliant and handcuffed" Temich, causing him to fall back.

The tape shows Evan Cossette entering the cell at least six times and moving the unconscious Temich around, twice propping him up against the bench and another time putting him back on the floor so that the man's handcuffs could be removed. There is blood visible on the floor where Temich fell.

A dispatcher who saw the unconscious Temich in the cell made the first call for medical help. Temich was taken to MidState Medical Center in Meriden and required 12 stitches in the back of his head.

The incident wasn't reported to police administrators until six weeks later. [MORE]

Raymond Hassett, of Hassett & George, in Simsbury, will represent Cossette at today’s arraignment, when the officer will hear the charges against him. Hassett will argue for the terms of Cossette’s release and enter a not guilty plea if it’s requested, Hassett said.

Hassett said it was too early to discuss a defense strategy until he has all the evidence and supporting information from Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. McConnell.

The Simsbury attorney is no stranger to defending police officers and high-profile cases. He recently represented Windsor Locks Officer Michael Koistinen, who was charged in the 2010 death of 15-year-old bicyclist Henry Dang.

Koistinen faced charges of first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, misconduct with a motor vehicle, negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and two counts of criminal attempt to commit tampering with the physical evidence, according to The Hartford Courant.

Koistinen, who was fired from the Windsor Locks police force, rejected a plea deal in the teenager’s death last year, but one week before the case was set to go to trial in July, he pleaded no contest to second-degree manslaughter and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and five years of probation.

Hassett also represented a Milford police officer involved in a disturbance outside a bar, and is representing one of four East Haven police officers charged with racial profiling and harassment in another federal civil rights case. He also represents a Superior Court judge charged with driving under the influence and using a racial slur at a police officer.

“The difference here,” Dow said, “is that you have a claim endorsed by the United States of America and that poses a difficulty.”