Looks like all the hoopla over police brutality and drunk and disorderly Shockoe-bros from Shamrock the Block this past March has come to a head.
Looks like all the hoopla over police brutality and drunk and disorderly Shockoe-bros from Shamrock the Block this past March has come to a head.
NBC 12 is reporting a judge has dismissed all charges, including assaulting a police officer, against Jason Dotson, one of the men showed getting tossed around in the video. You can also see Dotson landing a few punches on the cop who was restraining him. Here’s the vid if you need a refresher:
NBC had a reporter in the court room, and they lay out the argument pretty well:
Defense attorney John Rockecharlie argues it is the beginning of cell phone video, which captured the attention of the city, that makes the case.
“There it was in black and white for all to see exactly what happened,” Rockecharlie said of the video, which was shown in court Thursday.
Jason Dotson did not have any comment after the charges were dismissed, but described those first few seconds in an exclusive interview after his last court appearance.
“He touched me,” Dotson recalled. “As he was saying ‘get back’ he kind of stuck his arm out. I didn’t go towards him he just came and pushed me. He proceeded to hit me in the ribs and then that’s when he grabbed my neck.”
Rockecharlie maintained Dotson was allowed to question the officer’s actions.
“It’s age old law from the founding of the commonwealth that a person has a right to resist an unlawful arrest and that there was no lawful reason for the officer to put his hands on him in that fashion, so as he resisted the whole last half of that tape, he was doing so in self-defense,” Rockecharlie argued.
Its exciting to see this kind of video evidence allowed to enter a court room – no charges or issues were brought up concerning the person making the video, so make sure to keep your cell-phone camera rolling the next time a cop starts to get handsy.
