Policeman Defends Arrest Tactics

With a judo-like punch to the chest and the quick sweep of a leg, Oxnard Police Officer Robert Flinn knocked his lawyer to the floor of a federal courtroom Friday, drawing gasps from the jury in his civil-rights trial.

It wasn’t a commentary on the adequacy of his defense.

Flinn was demonstrating--at the prosecution’s request--exactly how he took down a fleeing burglary suspect during a much-disputed 1996 arrest in a residential Oxnard neighborhood.

The 30-year-old officer is accused of beating suspect Juan Lopez over the head with a metal flashlight, and then covering it up by filing a false battery charge against Lopez. Flinn has denied those charges.

On Friday he took the witness stand for a second day and told jurors he made a proper arrest of a suspect who had fled a crime scene and then threatened a police officer. At the conclusion of his testimony, Flinn demonstrated how he apprehended Lopez.

In a one-two move that lasted only a few seconds, Flinn smacked attorney Barry Levin in the chest and then knocked him to the floor by kicking his legs out from under him. Levin was not hurt. As he stood up, he gingerly brushed his suit and smiled.

The momentary theatrics capped a long day of testimony by Flinn, who recounted in vivid detail how he chased Lopez over fences and through backyards before facing him in a driveway where the alleged beating occurred.

According to Lopez, who also testified this week, Flinn came at him with a heavy steel flashlight and struck him over the head at least four times. Lopez said he had turned and raised his arms in a surrendering pose just before he was hit--a point of contention with Flinn.

Flinn told jurors that Lopez--a 31-year-old heroin addict with a criminal record--did not put his hands in the air, but crouched down with his knees bent and looked at Flinn.

“More specifically,” Flinn testified, “he looked at my waist. My perception at that point was that he was looking to see which side my gun was on.”

At that point, Flinn said, he gripped his department-issue flashlight in his left hand and came after Lopez. Flinn said he struck Lopez in the chest with a “judo-like” blow and then clipped Lopez’s legs, knocking him to the ground “very hard and very fast.”

Responding to a question by Levin, Flinn said he was not angry at Lopez. Prosecutors have suggested Flinn was trying to “punish” Lopez for running from police.

Continuing his testimony, Flinn said Lopez struggled and squirmed after he was knocked to the ground. At one point, Flinn said, Lopez’s arms were tucked under his body, which concerned Flinn and a second officer, Victor Boswell, who arrived at the scene moments later.

Flinn said he and Boswell feared Lopez might be armed. To force his arms free, Flinn said he hit Lopez three times on the shoulder with his left hand, which was holding the flashlight.

“Mr. Lopez was resisting up until the time the handcuffs were placed on him,” Flinn said, adding, “I did not strike Mr. Lopez in the head with my flashlight.”

During the confrontation, Lopez suffered a cut above his left eye and a contusion to the back of his head--wounds the defense maintains were caused when Lopez hit the concrete driveway.

Flinn said he also was injured while trying to wrestle Lopez’s arms free. It was for that reason, he testified, that he filed the battery charge.

As for the allegations of excessive force, Flinn said he was “set up.” He told the jury that another officer, David Hawtin, approached him in the hallway of the hospital where Lopez was taken and told Flinn that Lopez had accused him of police brutality.

And Hawtin said he also witnessed an unwarranted beating, Flinn said.

“I told him, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ and I walked away,” Flinn said.

On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jonathan Shapiro questioned whether Flinn had followed proper police procedure during the arrest, and he suggested the defendant had exaggerated his story to make Lopez appear more menacing.

Shapiro also quizzed Flinn as to whether he could have averted a physical confrontation with Lopez.

“Officer, you had time, opportunity, to take your [pepper] spray out, didn’t you,” Shapiro asked. “And you had time to wait for backup, didn’t you?”

Flinn said he did not.

“You wanted to physically engage him, didn’t you?” Shapiro continued.

But Flinn denied picking a fight with Lopez. He said he was too far away--about 30 feet--to use his pepper spray. And he said waiting for other officers was not an option.

“There was no time,” he said.

After Flinn was formally notified by the Oxnard Police Department that he was under investigation for using excessive force, he was instructed not to discuss the arrest with anyone.

But Flinn acknowledged Friday that he violated that rule. He admitted to contacting Boswell the night the allegations were made, and calling him on the phone afterward.

Flinn told the jury that he and Boswell were “naive.” But he denied asking the officer to lie for him.

The defense called its final witness, an expert on police tactics, late Friday afternoon. The prosecution is expected to conclude its rebuttal case next week.