Testimony Begins in Officer’s Civil Rights Trial

Oxnard Police Officer Robert Flinn beat an unarmed burglary suspect on the head with a metal flashlight during an arrest two years ago, then lied to cover it up, a prosecutor said Tuesday as the officer’s civil rights trial began in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

U.S. Atty. Jonathan S. Shapiro told jurors in his opening statement that evidence will show that Flinn bloodied and then blamed suspect Juan Lopez, and in doing so violated the 31-year-old’s constitutional rights.

“Robert Flinn took a metal flashlight in his right hand, and hit a suspect with it--a suspect who was unarmed, a suspect who wasn’t moving,” Shapiro said. “The evidence will show that he tried to cover it up.”

But defense attorney Barry Levin said his client made a proper arrest.

“The evidence in this case will clearly show it was Officer Flinn’s duty to apprehend Lopez, who had just committed a serious felony,” Levin said in his opening remarks.

Levin said Flinn used “necessary and reasonable” force to bring down Lopez, who had allegedly run from police after being caught with battery chargers from an Oxnard garage.

Flinn used the flashlight to strike Lopez in the chest--not over the head, Levin said. He suggested that Lopez’s injuries, namely a gash above one eye, were sustained when he hit his head on a concrete driveway, where he was caught.

During opening statements, Flinn, 30, sat with his hands folded on the defense table. His wife, Monika, and members of the Oxnard Police Department were seated in the courtroom gallery several feet behind him.

The officer’s trial in federal court comes more than a year after he was acquitted in state court on police brutality charges. A Ventura County jury found Flinn not guilty on two charges of using excessive force during the arrest of Lopez and deadlocked on two other charges.

Federal investigators began looking at the case after the trial ended and eventually took it before a grand jury, which indicted Flinn in May on two counts of civil rights violations.

Flinn is accused of violating Lopez’s right to not have police beat him, and to not have false charges leveled against him. A seven-year veteran of the force, Flinn faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted as well as $500,000 in fines.

After weeks of pretrial motions, jury selection began Tuesday morning in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Steven V. Wilson, who tried to cull prospective jurors harboring pro- or anti-law enforcement views from the panel.

“We don’t want anyone who has a predisposition one way or another,” the judge said. “The stakes are high here. It’s an important case for the government and it is an important case for Robert Flinn. . . . Both sides deserve a fair shake.”

In less than an hour, the lawyers agreed on a panel of eight women and four men and then launched into opening statements.

Standing at a podium, Shapiro told the jury that on Jan. 27, 1996, Flinn responded to a report of a burglary in progress at an Oxnard residence. When he arrived, Flinn saw Lopez, who ran. Flinn followed.

When Lopez stopped after a foot chase through an Oxnard neighborhood, he turned toward the officer and raised his arms to surrender, the prosecutor said. It was at that point, Shapiro said, that Flinn smashed his flashlight on the suspect’s head.

Officer David Hawtin, who arrived at the scene at that moment, is expected to testify that he witnessed the beating from about 20 feet away and later confronted Flinn about it.

“We will prove this case through the eyewitness testimony of Officer Hawtin,” Shapiro said.

In his opening remarks, Levin disputed the prosecution’s theory. He told the jury that Flinn will take the stand and set the record straight.

The officer will testify that after Lopez stopped, he turned and stared directly at Flinn’s gun. That prompted Flinn to move closer and “take down” Lopez by striking him in the chest with the flashlight.

Levin said the evidence will show that Lopez received eight stitches to his head after receiving a “superficial” injury that is not consistent with a blow from a metal flashlight.

He said Flinn will explain that he struggled with Lopez on the ground, and that both of them received minor injuries. After the fight, Levin said, Flinn filed a battery report against Lopez--a move that prosecutors contend was a cover-up.

After opening statements, Shapiro called his first witness: Sgt. Ronald Whitney, the Oxnard field supervisor working on the day of the alleged beating.

Whitney told the jury that neither Lopez nor Flinn initially mentioned a scuffle occurred when he arrived at the scene. But later, while Lopez was lying on a gurney in the hospital, he told Whitney that officers beat him.

“He said one of them hit him with a flashlight,” Whitney testified. Lopez also indicated that he thought it was Hawtin--not Flinn--who hit him.

On cross-examination, Whitney explained that it is department policy to turn in an officer who uses excessive force. But he said when he spoke with Hawtin on the day of the incident, the officer said nothing about Flinn striking a fleeing suspect on the head.

Whitney also acknowledged on cross-examination that he did not submit Flinn’s flashlight or clothes for lab testing.

“It never occurred to you, did it?” Levin asked.

“No,” Whitney responded.

A 19-year veteran of the Oxnard Police Department, Whitney also admitted under fierce questioning by Levin that he lied to a superior in a recent, unrelated investigation. He stated on redirect examination by Shapiro that “it was a grave error” he corrected the day after he did it.