ST. LOUIS — Lawyers for a former St. Louis police officer convicted of a role in the beating of an undercover colleague will ask a judge for 26 months in prison at his sentencing next week, rather than the 10 years prosecutors are seeking.
In a sentencing memo filed Monday, Dustin Boone's lawyers said a decadelong sentence would be "disproportionately high." They say Boone did not participate in the initial attack on Detective Luther Hall on Sept. 17, 2017, but simply held him down later. They say his actions were prompted by other officers "acting as though" they were making a lawful arrest.
They also attack the culture of the St. Louis police department, saying it condoned and even encouraged violence, and calling it a place "where being cavalier about violence, particularly racial violence, was far too prevalent."
