Arbitrator orders officer seen hitting suspect rehired
EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — An arbitrator has ruled that a police officer fired after he was seen on video hitting a man during a traffic stop be reinstated to an Ohio police force.
The ruling issued Monday says Euclid’s mayor didn’t have cause to fire Patrolman Michael Amiott. Video showed Amiott punching Richard Hubbard III during an Aug. 12, 2017 traffic stop in the Cleveland suburb.
The police union argued Amiott used reasonable force to control Hubbard when he resisted arrest and wounded an officer.
Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail says she believes the firing was warranted, but will accept the ruling.
Hubbard and his attorney, Christopher McNeal, called the ruling “dumfounding. McNeal says it’s sending a “shameful and dangerous message.”
Euclid’s law director says Amiott must meet several conditions, including more training.
Judge rejects politician’s bid to overturn conviction
CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge has denied an imprisoned Cleveland-area politician’s motion to overturn his conviction on more than two dozen corruption charges.
A U.S. District Court judge on Monday rejected arguments that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2016 narrowing the definition of an official act invalidated instructions given to the jury in former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora’s 2012 trial.
Philip Kushner, an attorney for Dimora, said the decision was disappointing and he was reviewing it. He says he would talk to Dimora about the possibility of an appeal.
Prosecutors said Dimora accepted more than 100 bribes, tried to fix several court cases and had contractors work at his home for free or reduced prices. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Dimora denied any wrongdoing.
Police department defends officer punching suspect
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police department is defending the actions of an officer seen in a cellphone video punching a man who had been stopped for questioning about drug activity more than two dozen times.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports Akron police Maj. Jesse Leeser says the 30 windmill punches delivered Sunday to a 47-year-old man resisting arrest is a tactic taught by the department.
Leeser says the punches are meant to loosen a suspect’s grip.
The video shows two Akron officers struggling to handcuff the man and using a stun gun on him. When more officers arrive, one of them puts his knee in the man’s back and begins punching him.
The man, wanted for a parole violation, was charged with resisting arrest, providing a false identity and marijuana possession.
State appeals court OK’s doctor testimony in baby death case
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio appeals court has ruled that doctors can testify in the case of a former high school cheerleader charged with killing and burying her newborn baby near her family’s house.
Attorneys for Brooke Skylar Richardson wanted to bar prosecutors from presenting testimony from an obstetrics-gynecology practice’s medical staff, citing physician-patient privilege that she won’t give up.
Three 12th District Court of Appeals judges in Middletown ruled unanimously Monday that the public interest in detecting crimes to protect society outweighed doctor-patient privilege in this case.
Authorities first learned of the baby from a doctor. Prosecutors said Richardson buried the full-term baby shortly after giving birth within days after her senior prom in early May 2017.
Richardson’s attorneys plan to appeal the ruling. Her trial is on hold in southwest Ohio.
