Post by Critique on Jan 17, 2007 2:47:10 GMT -5
January 16, 2007
RIVERSIDE – Jury selection in the second trial of an ex-Beaumont police officer accused of beating a handcuffed suspect in the back of his patrol car is slated to get under way Tuesday.
Former Beaumont police Officer Christopher A. Chester, 35, is charged with two counts of assault, including one of assault under color of authority, according to court documents.
Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Sichel declared a mistrial on Oct. 11 when Chester was tried the first time. The judge was responding to defense complaints that the Riverside County District Attorney's Office was late in turning over documents to be introduced as evidence.
Chester's attorney at the time was Michael Stone, the Pasadena-based defense lawyer who helped get one of the Los Angeles police officers charged in the 1991 Rodney King beating acquitted of state charges.
According to court documents, on Aug. 9, 2005, Chester arrested David Alan Dietrich in front of the man's Beaumont apartment after Dietrich allegedly brandished a metal cane at Chester and a fellow officer sent to the address on a disturbance complaint.
A brief struggle ensued during which Dietrich grabbed the second officer's baton before being subdued, according to documents.
Chester cuffed Dietrich and put him in the back of a patrol car. En route to the Beaumont Police Department, Dietrich spat on Chester through the metal screen separating the front and back seats, the officer later told Riverside County sheriff's investigators.
“Officer Chester felt the spit in his right eye and mouth,” according to interview transcripts.
The policeman pulled off the road and went around to the rear of the vehicle in “an attempt to secure Dietrich to the left rear passenger seat,” the transcripts said.
In the meantime, another Beaumont police car arrived. A dashboard camera in the arriving car recorded the struggle that led to the charges against Chester.
“Chester reached in, grabbed Dietrich by his hair, and pulled him toward him,” according to transcripts. “Officer Chester used his right fist to punch Dietrich two to three times .... Officer Chester justified his actions by stating that, in his mind, punching Dietrich was the only way he was able to control his violent behavior.”
Dietrich, who was treated for a bloody nose, told authorities he was struck “10 to 15 times in the face.” Dietrich was charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and exhibiting a deadly weapon not in self defense.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20070116-0341-trial.html
RIVERSIDE – Jury selection in the second trial of an ex-Beaumont police officer accused of beating a handcuffed suspect in the back of his patrol car is slated to get under way Tuesday.
Former Beaumont police Officer Christopher A. Chester, 35, is charged with two counts of assault, including one of assault under color of authority, according to court documents.
Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Sichel declared a mistrial on Oct. 11 when Chester was tried the first time. The judge was responding to defense complaints that the Riverside County District Attorney's Office was late in turning over documents to be introduced as evidence.
Chester's attorney at the time was Michael Stone, the Pasadena-based defense lawyer who helped get one of the Los Angeles police officers charged in the 1991 Rodney King beating acquitted of state charges.
According to court documents, on Aug. 9, 2005, Chester arrested David Alan Dietrich in front of the man's Beaumont apartment after Dietrich allegedly brandished a metal cane at Chester and a fellow officer sent to the address on a disturbance complaint.
A brief struggle ensued during which Dietrich grabbed the second officer's baton before being subdued, according to documents.
Chester cuffed Dietrich and put him in the back of a patrol car. En route to the Beaumont Police Department, Dietrich spat on Chester through the metal screen separating the front and back seats, the officer later told Riverside County sheriff's investigators.
“Officer Chester felt the spit in his right eye and mouth,” according to interview transcripts.
The policeman pulled off the road and went around to the rear of the vehicle in “an attempt to secure Dietrich to the left rear passenger seat,” the transcripts said.
In the meantime, another Beaumont police car arrived. A dashboard camera in the arriving car recorded the struggle that led to the charges against Chester.
“Chester reached in, grabbed Dietrich by his hair, and pulled him toward him,” according to transcripts. “Officer Chester used his right fist to punch Dietrich two to three times .... Officer Chester justified his actions by stating that, in his mind, punching Dietrich was the only way he was able to control his violent behavior.”
Dietrich, who was treated for a bloody nose, told authorities he was struck “10 to 15 times in the face.” Dietrich was charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and exhibiting a deadly weapon not in self defense.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20070116-0341-trial.html