Charges Stand in Taped Beating

A judge refused to dismiss criminal charges against Jeremy J. Morse, a former Inglewood police officer charged in an arrest caught on videotape that shows him slamming a teenager onto the trunk of a police car.

Eleven days after the controversial July 6 arrest, Inglewood Officers Morse and Bijan Darvish were indicted on charges of assault under color of law and filing a false police report, respectively.

Morse was fired in October after the police chief reviewed the incident; Darvish remains with the department. Trial was set for March 3 for the defendants, both 25, who appeared in court Friday.

Defense lawyer John Barnett argued that the prosecution failed to inform a grand jury of two so-called experts -- including one from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office -- who say the officers’ use of force was within reason.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Hollingsworth said he denied the defense’s request Friday because he believes the case should go to trial. He rejected a similar motion last month on behalf of Darvish. A lawyer for Darvish filed an appeal earlier this month, saying that the prosecution did not provide jurors with important information, including the use-of-force experts.

Barnett said Friday that he will consider whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

“But we’ll be prepared to go to trial and explain to a jury why [Morse’s] actions were not unlawful,” he said.

The incident began when police began questioning the teenager’s father. Videotapes -- one recorded by an amateur cameraman and another by surveillance cameras at the gas station where the arrest occurred -- showed police struggling with 16-year-old Donovan Jackson before handcuffing him.

Tapes then reveal Morse lifting the teenager by the back of the collar and beltline, carrying him to the squad car, slamming Jackson down on the trunk and hitting him in the jaw. The bystander’s videotape was broadcast nationwide, prompting protests of police brutality and drawing the attention of U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft.

Morse has said that he had to hit Jackson because the teenager had grabbed his testicles and would not let go. His defense lawyer argued Friday that Morse had to lift Jackson and place the teenager in the squad car because Jackson was resisting arrest by going limp. Both sides agreed that a key element of the trial will focus on whether Jackson was conscious.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman questioned the credibility of the defense’s expert witnesses -- Senior Dist. Atty. Investigator David Ishibashi and Inglewood Officer G.D. Sanford, the department’s use-of-force instructor. The district attorney’s office has emphasized that neither man has qualified in a courtroom as a use-of-force expert.

Morse and Darvish are each free on $25,000 bail. They return to court Jan. 29 for a pretrial hearing.