Santa Monica police chief stands by officers’ actions
A Los Angeles jury last week found two Santa Monica Police officers not guilty of using excessive force against a teenager arrested for public drunkenness 2 1/2 years ago.
Ken Cooper sued SMPD officer Michael Von Ackin and former SMPD officer Brent Ferguson, alleging he was beaten by them after he and his best friend, Matt Speck, were pulled over on Fifth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 1999.
After a day of deliberations, the 12-person jury came back with a verdict clearing the officers of any wrongdoing last Wednesday after a week-long trial in downtown Los Angeles Superior Court.
Cooper was seeking $75,000, plus punitive damages.
According to Deputy City Attorney Tony Serritella, SMPD officers pulled Speck over on suspicion of drunk driving. After failing a field sobriety test and finding a keg of beer in the bed of the truck, Speck was arrested for DUI and placed in the back of a police car, Serritella said.
Cooper, who was asleep in the truck’s back cab, became agitated when officers woke him up. When officers determined Cooper could not care for himself, they placed him protective custody — destined for a night in the “drunk tank,” Serritella said. Cooper, clearly drunk, resisted and kicked officers. He was handcuffed and placed in the same police car Speck was sitting in, Serritella said.
Then, Speck slipped out of his handcuffs and seat belt, and managed to kick out the passenger-side back window of the police car. Both teenagers were taken to jail, where Cooper’s blood alcohol was registered at.22, more than twice the legal limit. Serritella said Cooper sustained minor injuries in his scuffle with police officers.
A third teenager who was a passenger in Speck’s truck was not arrested and allowed to find transportation home.
Friends since they were 10 years old and residents of Little Rock, Calif., a suburb of Lancaster, Speck and Cooper were 18 years old at the time, said Cooper’s attorney, Ellen Hammill-Ellison. They were in Santa Monica trying to find the home of a girl they knew.
Hammill-Ellison said she presented enough evidence that proved Von Ackin and Ferguson were guilty, but the jury ignored it because the alleged incident was overshadowed by teenagers who were involved in illegal activities.
“It was a disappointing verdict but not a surprise because the reality of this jury, like many juries, is that they could not bring themselves to follow the law,” she said. “They couldn’t bring themselves to condone 18 year olds drinking... 18-year-old drunken boys cannot win against police officers.”
She added that when they entered the courtroom after deliberating, jurors didn’t make eye contact with either side’s attorneys.
390,“This is the body language of a jury that was not proud of its decision,” Hammill-Ellison said. “They were marching to the drum of the police.”
According to testimony by Speck and Cooper, they alleged that Von Ackin and Ferguson slammed Cooper’s head into the truck when he was being led to the police car and then again slammed him head first into the trunk of the police car, Hammill-Ellison said.
She said Speck became enraged while he watched the officers beat Cooper. Testifying that he once saw a suspect kick out a police car window during an episode of the television show, “Cops,” Speck attempted to free himself to rescue his friend.
“All of that behavior Matt saw, he said ‘F--- them’ and decided to something about it,” Hammill-Ellison said, adding Speck, a skinny, agile teenager, managed to work his way out of the seatbelt and handcuffs in an attempt to stop officers from hurting Cooper anymore.
When Speck told them to stop beating Cooper, one of the officers allegedly said, “shut up white trash, you are in my world now,” according to Hammill-Ellison.
She noted that the boys were drunk and may have not cooperated fully with officers, but that isn’t enough of a reason to slam Cooper’s head into the truck and police car.
Cooper also testified that in his attempt to be awakened, Von Ackin struck him on the leg with a flashlight hard enough to leave a substantial bruise the next day, which Hammill-Ellison showed the jury pictures of.
“The evidence went in like a knife through butter,” she said. “The jury didn’t weight the facts and apply the law... It was always a tough case and I felt it deserved to go to trial.
“The judge gave us a very good trial,” she added.
SMPD Chief James T. Butts Jr. said he is satisfied with the jury’s verdict.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome and not surprised because we are one of the least sued departments in the state of California,” Butts said. “It’s a professional organization in that our officers’ actions are often found to be appropriate.”
“I’m very pleased with the outcome and not surprised because we are one of the least sued departments in the state of California.” — — JAMES T. BUTTS JR. Santa Monica Police Department Chief
Cooper is now a college student at California State University of Northridge studying to be a solar scientist.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 14, 2002. Read the original PDF.