A federal judge on Monday ordered the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to turn over the raw video footage of a police officer allegedly using excessive force during an arrest last fall.
In her one-page order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia G. Rosenberg directed that footage of the Oct. 16 incident involving Clinton Alford Jr. and Officer Richard Garcia be given to Alford’s attorney, Caree Harper, by noon Wednesday.
“Today a judge validated my client’s right to have a copy of the raw video footage of the brutal beating that included him being kicked and hit by members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Newton Division,” Harper said in a prepared statement.
Harper said she would bring a computer forensic expert and witness to the City Attorney’s Office on Wednesday to authenticate the videotape.
A spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Garcia, 34, was charged last week with one count of felony assault for using what prosecutors described as unlawful force when arresting Alford after he had surrendered.
Garcia pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to return to court June 1, when a date is expected to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Alford’s arrest was captured by a security camera on a nearby building. Unlike other police-civilian encounters that have made headlines, the footage has not been made public.
However, several police officials who saw the recording described the scenario in interviews with the Los Angeles Times. One called it “horrific”; another said the officer kicked Alford like a “football player kicking a field goal.”
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told reporters last week that he was “shocked by the content of the video” showing the arrest of the 22-year-old man near 55th Street and South Avalon Boulevard.
Officers contend they arrested Alford because he matched the description of a robbery suspect.
After running from police, Alford surrendered but Garcia allegedly assaulted him while the suspect was on the ground.
Harper alleges that Alford was on the ground being restrained by other officers when an officer kicked and stomped on him, then repeatedly struck him in the head and body.
Beck said that after he saw the video of the arrest, he “immediately ensured that the officers were sent home.” The chief said he “contacted personally the district attorney and expressed my desire for her folks to not only look at this case but to file criminal charges.”
Alford has filed a lawsuit against the city over the arrest, and recently accused police of harassing him since he did so.
According to Harper, prosecutors dropped all charges against Alford. She has been pushing Beck to release the video of the arrest in the name of transparency.
Garcia faces up to three years in jail if convicted, prosecutors said.
— City News Service