How L.A.'s new top federal prosecutor erased felony verdict in deputy's excessive force case

Los Angeles Times ^ | 12:18 PM PT | Brittny Mejia, James Queally

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It took a federal jury an hour to convict a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy of using excessive force after he assaulted and pepper-sprayed a woman outside a supermarket in Lancaster in 2023.

The prosecutors made their case in a three-day trial in February, ultimately persuading jurors to find Trevor Kirk guilty of a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. Kirk faced up to 10 years in prison.

But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson sentenced Kirk to four months in prison, after last week granting the government’s request to dismiss the felony charge. With that dismissal, Kirk faced up to a year in prison.

Ahead of sentencing, the government had requested probation that included three months of home detention and 200 hours of community service. The defense team asked for a term of two months of home confinement and 300 hours of community service.

“In my view, the jury verdict was fully supported and the case was not unfairly argued, as the government at some early point argued,” Wilson said after handing down his sentence. “The job of a police officer is a very difficult one ... but with those factors in mind, there is a responsibility to act appropriately.”

Kirk declined to speak during the sentencing hearing. Tom Yu, an attorney representing Kirk, said they plan appeal Wilson’s earlier denial of their motion for an acquittal.

The sentencing capped off a controversial case that saw the federal government abandon a conviction and take the highly unusual legal step of offering Kirk a misdemeanor plea deal after jurors had spoken. That plea deal played a role in the resignation of several federal prosecutors last month and raised concerns over how the office will handle pending cases against law enforcement.

The post-trial plea agreement landed the same...

[mikey_hates_everything]

Lancaster, CA? Awful place. There’s a good chance she deserved whatever she got from that Deputy.

[packrat35]

There’s a good chance that she didn’t. But police covering up for the own is nothing new...

[pfflier]

Putting a cop in the general prison population is like a death sentence.

[Salvavida]

"Although the woman matched the description of a suspect Kirk had received from a dispatcher, she was not armed or committing a crime when he confronted her, court records show."

Sounds like ineffective counsel, because there is your reasonable doubt.

[JohnBovenmyer]

The good thing is a bunch of Biden era prosecutors resigned in protest.

[ConservativeMind]

Sounds exactly like what happened to a former police officer I know who committed a crime that he pled guilty to doing (video evidence), then got later expunged.

[RightOnTheBorder]

His victim was mouthy and filming him. She ignored his command to put her hands behind her back. He gave her about 5 seconds before he slammed her to the ground. She continued to resist so he maced her.

We have an entire generation of cops trained to be paramilitary thugs because they can’t tell the sharks from the guppies. I have no doubt that his defense of performing as he was trained is accurate.