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Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley Won’t Try Officer Who Beat Citizen
With A Flashlight
Los Angeles Times. Article Date: February 4, 2005
Steve Cooley will not file charges against John Hatfield, an LAPD officer, despite a videotape showing him strike a Compton resident, Stanley Miller, with his metal flashlight. Cooley’s office feels there is not enough evidence to prove that the force used by Hatfieldofficer was without “lawful necessity.” Mayor Jim Hahn disagreed with the decision by saying, “Let me be clear: I do not agree with that. I saw what I saw.” LAPD Chief William J. Bratton described the officers’ tactics as “awful.”
The video showed Hatfield repeatedly striking and kicking at Miller after Miller raised his arms in apparent surrender and other officers had brought him to the ground. The DA’s office said that “the amount of force used was minimal and reasonable under the circumstances.”
The LA Times noted that criminal cases against officers have been difficult to win. Cooley’s office has lost twice trying to convict Jeremy Morse and other officers for beating Donovan Jackson. That case, like the Rodney King case, was also videotaped. Additionally, a civil jury awarded a multi-million dollar verdict to Morse and his partner, finding that the Inglewood Police Department unfairly disciplined them.
:: FIRING OF OFFICER IN TAPED BEATING IS URGED
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