Last week I blogged about the Justice Department's effort to vacate a police officer's conviction for using excessive force. On behalf of the victim, co-counsel Caree Harper and I objected. And earlier today, the judge agreed with our arguments and denied the motion to dismiss. The found the proposed dismissal would be "contrary to the public interest" because it was designed to interfere with judicial sentencing authority. The ruling is an important step in protecting judicial review of the appropriateness of dismissals proposed by federal prosecutors.
I've previously described the facts of the case, involving a take-down by police of J.H. When she began recording the officer on her phone, he responded by slamming her to the ground and pepper spraying her. You can see for yourself: the relevant events were captured on video. The Justice Department filed a civil rights charge against the officer and, following a jury trial in February, he was convicted. But then the Department moved to reduce the charge down to a misdemeanor and asked the judge (Stephen Wilson, a Reagan appointee) for a sentence of probation. The judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor, but rejected the Government's proposed probationary sentence as too lenient. The judge instead imposed a sentence of four-months in prison, in light of the officer's clear betrayal of the public trust. The Department then moved to dismiss the entire case, under Fed. R. Crim. P. 48(a). (I have discussed the history of Rule 48(a) at greater length in an earlier post in connection with the Eric Adams case.)
On behalf of the victim, Ms. Harper and I objected to the dismissal motion, urging the judge to reject it. Our argument was the Government was trying to control sentencing:
