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2nd Springfield police brutality case due for evidentiary hearing in District Court
SPRINGFIELD – A suspect’s alleged attempt to grab an arresting officer’s firearm and amateur video purporting to capture police brutality will be subject to an evidentiary hearing scheduled to start in Springfield District Court on Monday.
Although some elements of the case echo those being weighed in the police-brutality trial of former Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher in Chicopee District Court, this one involves a different suspect and a different set of officers.
The incident on Jan. 9, 2011, took place more than two years after Asher’s controversial arrest of Melvin Jones III on Rifle Street, and some of the officers involved in the case have apparently been disciplined, although details of the disciplinary action have not been made public.
In this case, a 24-year-old Connecticut man, arrested during a disturbance while in traffic at bar-closing time in the downtown entertainment district, claims he was brutalized by police officers and then subjected to falsified charges – including his alleged attempt to grab an arresting officer’s firearm.
The allegations against the officers are laid out in a motion to dismiss the charges against the defendant, Michael Ververis, of Middletown, Conn.
Witnesses cited in the motion say the six officers pulled Ververis out of a vehicle and began punching him in the face, head and chest. Ververis alleges that one of the officers choked him and that he briefly lost consciousness.
One of the motion’s key arguments states that police confiscated a cell phone used by a close-at-hand witness to capture the arrest and then erased the recording, “thereby depriving the defendant of access to exculpatory evidence” which would show he did not make a grab for an officer’s gun.
The motion cites, however, two other videos taken by bystanders which the defense says documents their claims there was police violence against Ververis. Those videos, which the motion extensively parses, can be viewed online at www.justiceformichael.org.
Lawyers for Ververis say they will call the six officers allegedly involved in the arrest, as well as Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, his aide, Sgt. John Delaney and Internal Affairs Sgt. Stephen W. Wysznski to testify at the hearing. Delaney said Friday that if called, he will testify.
The cell phone used to take the third video of the arrest was seized by police who allegedly threatened the woman taking it with arrest, according to the motion. When the phone was returned to its owner, identified in court documents as Raquel Peroza, nearly three months later, she discovered that the footage of Ververis’ arrest had been deleted, the motion states.
Social activists, including members of the Springfield-based Arise for Social Justice and Out Now say they plan to attend the hearing to show their support for Ververis.
“We remain resolved and determined to continue protesting and raising awareness about Michael Ververis’ case, and the ongoing incidents of police brutality in Springfield,” said Ellen Graves, of Arise.
According to a police report filed by Sgt. Steven Kent, as summarized in the motion, the incident occurred shortly after the 2 a.m. bar-closing time. Kent and fellow officers, while attempting to break up a potential fistfight involving 10 people in the Stearns Square area, saw a silver sports utility vehicle stopped in traffic, “effectively blocking all northbound traffic attempting to enter Worthington Street.”
That statement appears to be contradicted, however, by one of the videos, taken from a second-story Worthington Street apartment; it shows traffic to be at a standstill as the incident unfolded.
Kent’s report states that Ververis was leaning out the front passenger-side window “in an obvious attempt to incite” the would-be brawlers.
Kent said he ordered Ververis to stop his behavior and for him and the rest of his party to leave the area. The driver initially ignored Kent, and Ververis continued to yell out the window, challenging the officers and demanding their badge numbers, according to the cited report.
The SUV then drove 75 feet down Worthington Street and stopped, again causing traffic to back up, according to Kent’s report. When Kent approached the vehicle, Ververis reportedly spat in his direction.
Ververis resisted when Kent attempted to remove him from the SUV and struggled when the other officers joined in the effort, according to the report.
As police attempted to take Ververis to the ground, he “took hold of (Kent’s) service weapon and began to pull,” according to the motion, again citing Kent’s report. That caused Kent to “escalate” his use of force in attempting to place Ververis in restraints, according to Kent’s report as cited in the motion.
Ververis faces charges of disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer, attempted larceny of a firearm and resisting arrest.
The motion states that following Ververis’ arrest, Capt. Robert Cheetham reviewed Kent’s narrative, as well as prisoner injury reports and suggested that the department’s Internal Affairs Unit conduct an investigation.
Ververis and civilian witnesses cited in the motion paint a very different picture of the events which led to Ververis’ arrest.
Ververis, according to the motion, told Wysznski that as the SUV, driven by Thomas Derosa, approached Worthington Street, a “tall white police officer” swore at them and told them to leave the area.
Ververis said Derosa initially couldn’t move due to traffic. When Derosa was able to turn onto Worthington Street, he heard a crack and said, “He just hit my taillight.”
In that same second-floor video, the female apparently shooting it exclaims, “Yo, I saw him. He hit his car.”
According to the motion, Kent maliciously damaged the taillight. There is, however, no direct evidence in the videos, which are chaotic and profanity-laced, that Kent ever did so.
Ververis said that when Derosa got out of his SUV to view the damage, police grabbed Derosa, forced him back inside, swore at him and said, “Go back to Connecticut,” Ververis said.
Derosa asked for the officer’s badge number and police, apparently believing that Ververis had done the asking, converged on the passenger side and began to punch him, according to the motion. The motion, citing civilian witness statements, says six officers converged on the car and were involved in the struggle with Ververis.
Ververis said that once at the station, he asked a black police officer to loosen his handcuffs, which were “very tight.” The officer loosened the cuffs and then readjusted them even tighter.
According to the motion, Kent received notice of interdisciplinary charges on April 7, 2011. The charges he faced included alleged violations of the department’s rules and regulations regarding documentation of the seizure of evidence, use of force in making arrests, respectful treatment of the public, the submission of truthful reports and withholding evidence.
A hearing was held in October, and the motion states that Ververis received a letter from Fitchet on Nov. 12 in which the commissioner wrote, “It was determined that some of the employees receive discipline in response to your complaint.”
Delaney confirmed that there was a hearing regarding the case in October but said he could not immediately provide information on its outcome.
Ververis’ attorney, Luke Ryan, of Northampton, said Thursday that the city’s Law Department has yet to comply with his request for the identities of those disciplined and the nature of their punishment
Although some elements of the case echo those being weighed in the police-brutality trial of former Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher in Chicopee District Court, this one involves a different suspect and a different set of officers.
The incident on Jan. 9, 2011, took place more than two years after Asher’s controversial arrest of Melvin Jones III on Rifle Street, and some of the officers involved in the case have apparently been disciplined, although details of the disciplinary action have not been made public.
In this case, a 24-year-old Connecticut man, arrested during a disturbance while in traffic at bar-closing time in the downtown entertainment district, claims he was brutalized by police officers and then subjected to falsified charges – including his alleged attempt to grab an arresting officer’s firearm.
The allegations against the officers are laid out in a motion to dismiss the charges against the defendant, Michael Ververis, of Middletown, Conn.
Witnesses cited in the motion say the six officers pulled Ververis out of a vehicle and began punching him in the face, head and chest. Ververis alleges that one of the officers choked him and that he briefly lost consciousness.
One of the motion’s key arguments states that police confiscated a cell phone used by a close-at-hand witness to capture the arrest and then erased the recording, “thereby depriving the defendant of access to exculpatory evidence” which would show he did not make a grab for an officer’s gun.
The motion cites, however, two other videos taken by bystanders which the defense says documents their claims there was police violence against Ververis. Those videos, which the motion extensively parses, can be viewed online at www.justiceformichael.org.
Lawyers for Ververis say they will call the six officers allegedly involved in the arrest, as well as Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, his aide, Sgt. John Delaney and Internal Affairs Sgt. Stephen W. Wysznski to testify at the hearing. Delaney said Friday that if called, he will testify.
The cell phone used to take the third video of the arrest was seized by police who allegedly threatened the woman taking it with arrest, according to the motion. When the phone was returned to its owner, identified in court documents as Raquel Peroza, nearly three months later, she discovered that the footage of Ververis’ arrest had been deleted, the motion states.
Social activists, including members of the Springfield-based Arise for Social Justice and Out Now say they plan to attend the hearing to show their support for Ververis.
“We remain resolved and determined to continue protesting and raising awareness about Michael Ververis’ case, and the ongoing incidents of police brutality in Springfield,” said Ellen Graves, of Arise.
According to a police report filed by Sgt. Steven Kent, as summarized in the motion, the incident occurred shortly after the 2 a.m. bar-closing time. Kent and fellow officers, while attempting to break up a potential fistfight involving 10 people in the Stearns Square area, saw a silver sports utility vehicle stopped in traffic, “effectively blocking all northbound traffic attempting to enter Worthington Street.”
That statement appears to be contradicted, however, by one of the videos, taken from a second-story Worthington Street apartment; it shows traffic to be at a standstill as the incident unfolded.
Kent’s report states that Ververis was leaning out the front passenger-side window “in an obvious attempt to incite” the would-be brawlers.
Kent said he ordered Ververis to stop his behavior and for him and the rest of his party to leave the area. The driver initially ignored Kent, and Ververis continued to yell out the window, challenging the officers and demanding their badge numbers, according to the cited report.
The SUV then drove 75 feet down Worthington Street and stopped, again causing traffic to back up, according to Kent’s report. When Kent approached the vehicle, Ververis reportedly spat in his direction.
Ververis resisted when Kent attempted to remove him from the SUV and struggled when the other officers joined in the effort, according to the report.
As police attempted to take Ververis to the ground, he “took hold of (Kent’s) service weapon and began to pull,” according to the motion, again citing Kent’s report. That caused Kent to “escalate” his use of force in attempting to place Ververis in restraints, according to Kent’s report as cited in the motion.
Ververis faces charges of disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer, attempted larceny of a firearm and resisting arrest.
The motion states that following Ververis’ arrest, Capt. Robert Cheetham reviewed Kent’s narrative, as well as prisoner injury reports and suggested that the department’s Internal Affairs Unit conduct an investigation.
Ververis and civilian witnesses cited in the motion paint a very different picture of the events which led to Ververis’ arrest.
Ververis, according to the motion, told Wysznski that as the SUV, driven by Thomas Derosa, approached Worthington Street, a “tall white police officer” swore at them and told them to leave the area.
Ververis said Derosa initially couldn’t move due to traffic. When Derosa was able to turn onto Worthington Street, he heard a crack and said, “He just hit my taillight.”
In that same second-floor video, the female apparently shooting it exclaims, “Yo, I saw him. He hit his car.”
According to the motion, Kent maliciously damaged the taillight. There is, however, no direct evidence in the videos, which are chaotic and profanity-laced, that Kent ever did so.
Ververis said that when Derosa got out of his SUV to view the damage, police grabbed Derosa, forced him back inside, swore at him and said, “Go back to Connecticut,” Ververis said.
Derosa asked for the officer’s badge number and police, apparently believing that Ververis had done the asking, converged on the passenger side and began to punch him, according to the motion. The motion, citing civilian witness statements, says six officers converged on the car and were involved in the struggle with Ververis.
Ververis said that once at the station, he asked a black police officer to loosen his handcuffs, which were “very tight.” The officer loosened the cuffs and then readjusted them even tighter.
According to the motion, Kent received notice of interdisciplinary charges on April 7, 2011. The charges he faced included alleged violations of the department’s rules and regulations regarding documentation of the seizure of evidence, use of force in making arrests, respectful treatment of the public, the submission of truthful reports and withholding evidence.
A hearing was held in October, and the motion states that Ververis received a letter from Fitchet on Nov. 12 in which the commissioner wrote, “It was determined that some of the employees receive discipline in response to your complaint.”
Delaney confirmed that there was a hearing regarding the case in October but said he could not immediately provide information on its outcome.
Ververis’ attorney, Luke Ryan, of Northampton, said Thursday that the city’s Law Department has yet to comply with his request for the identities of those disciplined and the nature of their punishment
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