Posted on 04/30/2015 1:52:00 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
State police investigating alcohol agents’ arrest of University of Virginia student Martese Johnson have forwarded a report including several hundred pages of documents to Charlottesville’s top prosecutor.
Details on the findings were unavailable, and it’s unclear whether the report, which also includes hours of recorded interviews, will be made public.
Requested by city Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman, the probe is one of two state police launched in the wake of Johnson’s arrest early March 18 outside a Corner pub. Gov. Terry McAuliffe also ordered an investigation.
Chapman, who was prosecuting a murder trial Wednesday, was unavailable for comment. The law firm representing Johnson said it had not yet received the state police report but expected it to exonerate him.
“We have already reviewed the reports from the arresting ABC agents and the local police on the scene and our position remains that the police lacked justification to arrest or brutalize young Martese,” Richmond-based Williams Mullen said in a statement.
In a tussle with state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents outside Trinity Irish Pub, Johnson’s head smashed into a brick sidewalk on the Corner. Images of Johnson, 20, who is black, with his face bloodied — 10 stitches were needed to close a gash on his forehead — and an agent kneeling over him along with video in which he could be heard screaming stoked outrage following his arrest.
Authorities charged Johnson with obstruction of justice and public intoxication. His lawyer said last month that he plans to plead not guilty.
Early March 18, Trinity co-owner Kevin Badke has said, he turned Johnson away when the third-year student cited the wrong ZIP code for the Illinois ID he presented at the door.
Johnson’s lawyer, Daniel P. Watkins of Williams Mullen, has said his client did not present a fake ID. Agents conducting a St. Patrick’s Day operation approached Johnson after he was turned away. In addition to calling for a state police probe, McAuliffe signed an executive order March 25 requiring ABC to retrain its officers in use of force and cultural diversity. Additionally, Travis G. Hill, chief operating officer of ABC, on April 20 took direct control of the agency’s law enforcement bureau from the bureau’s director, Shawn Walker.
In response to McAuliffe’s request, the state police Professional Standards Unit is conducting an administrative review of the Johnson arrest to determine whether agents complied with ABC policy. The probe launched at Chapman’s request was a criminal investigation focused on the circumstances of the arrest. Johnson’s case is not the first time ABC has come under fire over the arrest of a UVa student.
In 2013, ABC agents arrested third-year student Elizabeth Daly, 20 at the time, after mistaking a crate of sparkling water she bought for beer.
Six plainclothes agents surrounded Daly and two friends in her SUV in the darkened parking lot outside Harris Teeter at the Barracks Road Shopping Center. One agent drew a weapon and another tried to smash open a window with a flashlight.
Frightened and later saying she didn’t recognize the agents as law enforcement, Daly fled in her SUV, leading to felony charges of assaulting and evading police. Chapman later withdrew those charges.
Daly’s family settled for $212,500 after suing the state and ABC agents for $40 million.
Given how quickly this one dropped off the front page, I think things don’t bode well for young Martese.
Story didn’t get ramped up by CNN to a race riot!
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