Officer Cleared in Brutality Case to Return to Duty

An Oxnard police officer on administrative leave since being accused of beating a suspect last year will return to duty Monday, Oxnard officials said Friday.

In early March, a Ventura County jury found Officer Robert Flinn not guilty of two counts of police brutality but deadlocked on two other charges.

The case stemmed from an alleged beating early last year and another in late 1995.

In the case last year, Flinn allegedly struck a robbery suspect in the head with a police flashlight after a foot chase. In the other incident, he allegedly kneed a man in the face.

Flinn has been on unpaid administrative leave since last summer.

After the court case was completed in March, investigators with the Oxnard Police Department internal affairs division also looked into the incidents. That investigation focused on whether police procedure was followed, according to attorney Alan Wisotsky.

Wisotsky said Friday that Flinn was also cleared of any policy violations. That, combined with a decision by the district attorney’s office not to retry Flinn on the outstanding criminal charges, makes it appropriate for the officer to return to work, Wisotsky said.