Officer to Face Trial in Assault Case
An Oxnard police officer accused in two incidents of using excessive force will stand trial in January for assault under the color of authority, a Ventura County judge said Thursday.
Robert Flinn, a five-year department veteran and member of the Oxnard Police SWAT team, is accused of striking a burglary suspect over the head with a flashlight and, on another occasion, of kicking a suspect in the face. He will go to trial Jan. 16.
Defense attorney William Hadden said he plans to show that in one case a suspect whom Flinn was arresting experienced a nosebleed because he has a history of snorting drugs. In the other case, Hadden said, the suspect was tackled to the ground after eyeing Flinn’s gun and refusing to surrender after a long chase.
But prosecutors say that the 29-year-old police officer was meting out “a little street justice.”
A disposition hearing on the case is scheduled for Jan. 6.
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