2 Inglewood Officers Plead Not Guilty to Felony Counts

Two Inglewood police officers pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges in the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old who was slammed onto the trunk of a squad car and punched in the face.

Later in the day, county prosecutors decided they will not file charges against the boy, Donovan Jackson, who sheriff’s deputies said refused to follow their orders while they were citing his father at a gas station for expired registration tags.

Jeremy J. Morse and his partner, Bijan Darvish, entered their pleas in Los Angeles County Superior Court after their indictment Wednesday by the county grand jury in connection with the July 6 incident. The indictment, unsealed Thursday morning in the downtown courtroom, charges Morse with assault under the color of authority and Darvish with filing a false police report. Both charges carry possible three-year prison sentences.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is still reviewing the citation issued by sheriff’s deputies to Jackson’s father, Coby Chavis, for driving with a suspended license and with expired registration tags, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had referred the cases against Chavis and Jackson to county prosecutors for possible criminal filings.

Judge Dan Oki said at the arraignment hearing for the two officers that the case would be transferred to Inglewood, where the beating occurred.

A videotape of the incident, taken by a man staying in a hotel across the street, sparked a public outcry over alleged police brutality and racial profiling. Asked whether he would seek a change of venue, Morse’s attorney, John Barnett, said he would analyze whether his client could receive a fair trial in Inglewood.

Barnett insisted Thursday that a gas station surveillance tape, which has not been made public, shows a more complete version of the incident that could help clear his client of the assault charge.

Darvish, according to sources close to the case, was indicted because he failed to include in his police report that Jackson was thrown onto the trunk of the patrol car, as seen in the now-infamous video. Darvish’s attorney countered Thursday that there was nothing false in the report.

The indictments drew mixed reaction in Inglewood and throughout the state.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said she was pleased that the officers were indicted by the grand jury but that she wants two other Inglewood officers who were at the scene to be disciplined. Such action, Waters said, would help to change the culture in the Inglewood Police Department, which she said allows officers to protect one another.

She also praised the swift response by the district attorney’s office, saying the community needed a quick resolution.

“I think when there is swift action on police abuse incidents that it gives the people of the area more confidence in the justice system,” Waters said.

Waters also said she remains concerned about the role of two sheriff’s deputies in the incident.

“They initially got involved in stopping Mr. Chavis even though it was out of their area,” Waters said. “They were the ones that kind of triggered this whole thing.”

Sheriff’s officials, who acknowledged that the deputies questioned Chavis in territory patrolled by Inglewood police, said they are not aware of any wrongdoing on the part of the deputies.

Inglewood Police Assn. President Neil Murray said he was disappointed but not surprised by the indictments. “This is a very, very sad day,” he said. “Two of our brothers have been accused of committing a crime that we don’t believe they committed.”

Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., the attorney representing Jackson and his mother, predicted that the defense attorneys will have a difficult time winning the case. “Nothing is going to clear his client. He will never be able to explain a 16-year-old in custody ... slammed” into a police car, Cochran said.

During the brief arraignment hearing, Oki read the charges aloud and asked the officers how they pleaded. Morse and Darvish, both wearing dark suits and standing next to their attorneys, responded, “Not guilty, your honor.”

Oki set bail for each defendant at $25,000 and gave both until 4:30 p.m. to post $2,500 bond with the court, but then extended that until this afternoon because of a paperwork problem. Morse and Darvish were booked and photographed on the 16th floor of the courthouse and released on their own recognizance, authorities said.

Morse, 24, and Darvish, 25, are scheduled to appear at the Inglewood courthouse on Aug. 13 for pretrial motions and to set a trial date.

Morse was charged with hitting Jackson after arriving at the gas station where a sheriff’s deputy had approached Chavis to check on his registration tags.

According to a sheriff’s report, a struggle ensued with a deputy when Jackson ignored their commands. Darvish, in his report, said he and Morse assisted the deputies in controlling Jackson. Darvish said he struck Jackson twice before he was handcuffed, according to his report.

Then, after the boy was handcuffed, Morse, who is white, was seen on videotape lifting the boy, who is black, off the ground and slamming him onto the patrol car. Morse then punched Jackson in the face. Darvish, in his report, said Morse hit Jackson after he grabbed Morse’s testicles.

On Thursday, Cochran disputed the official account of the incident, saying it was “creative report writing” and said that the evidence will show that Jackson did not grab Morse’s testicles but rather that an officer grabbed the boy’s testicles.

“If not for the video, these police officers would have, as usual, gotten away with this,” Cochran said.

Relatives of Jackson have said he is developmentally disabled and does not fully process commands. That could play a key role in the case, according to legal experts.

UCLA criminal law professor Peter Arenella said juries usually give officers the benefit of the doubt when they use force if there is any type of resistance by a suspect. In this case, however, the chances of Morse’s conviction on the assault charge will depend heavily on whether he was aware that the boy was disabled.

“The boy’s mental status will become a very important issue in this case,” Arenella said. “The racial composition of the jury could also have a significant impact on whether the officers are given any benefit of the doubt.”

On the charge against Darvish, one of the primary issues will be whether jurors believe the officer intended to deceive anyone by omitting that the boy was slammed onto the trunk of the patrol car. In his report, Darvish wrote that the officers “assisted Jackson to his feet and had him stand facing the police vehicle.”

Morse was placed on paid administrative leave after the incident. Darvish has remained on active duty. Four investigations were launched into the officers’ conduct after the tape was repeatedly aired on national television.

Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Thursday that his office moved with “unprecedented speed” when it began its inquiry into the incident July 8 and convened a grand jury two days later. The grand jurors heard 13 witnesses, including several law enforcement officials and Jackson and his father.

The grand jurors returned their sealed indictment about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to Oki. “We used the grand jury as a tool to ensure a thorough and expeditious investigation,” Cooley said after the hearing.

Cooley added that the investigation is continuing, but declined to say whether other officers or deputies would be charged. On Thursday, his prosecutors gave defense attorneys the investigative reports and copies of the gas station surveillance tape and the videotape by unemployed deejay Mitchell Crooks.

Morse’s attorney, Barnett, said the gas station surveillance tape shows the beginning of the incident and “the circumstances that caused the use of force to occur.” Barnett said Jackson resisted arrest, hitting Morse in the throat and ear, scratching his neck and later grabbing his testicles. That grab justified a punch in the face, he said.

“It was a proper, reasonable use of force, given the circumstances,” Barnett said, adding that he is convinced the evidence will show his client is innocent.

Barnett said that the indictment is difficult for Morse, but that the officer has “faith in the system and faith in God that the truth will come out and that he will be vindicated.”

Darvish’s attorney, Ronald G. Brower, said his client gave a statement to police that he was looking down at his injured knee when Morse put Jackson on the trunk but that he heard a thump.

“Officer Darvish never tried to hide from anybody the fact that that actually took place,” Brower said.

By not pursuing an indictment against Darvish for assault, Brower said, authorities determined that it was lawful for his client to punch Jackson before he was handcuffed.

The defense attorneys pointed out that neither officer was indicted for any racially motivated crime.

The indictments were a major topic of conversation around Inglewood on Thursday afternoon.

“To me it looked like [Morse] lost it,” said Johnny Jackson, 51, speaking at a record shop, VIP Music on Market Street.

He said the other officers at the scene deserved suspensions at the least.

Faye Kelly, 52, said that Morse and Darvish deserved prison time, but wasn’t confident that either officer would ultimately serve any. “It’s an excellent idea to charge them, but they’ll get off,” she said. “They’ll find some loophole to get them off.”

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Times staff writers Daren Briscoe and Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.