Prince George’s County police officer Bryant Robust was sentenced Thursday to 1 12 months in jail adopted by three years of probation for his actions throughout a visitors cease in 2019 that left Demonte Ward-Blake paralyzed from the neck down.
Maryland
Maryland officer to serve year in jail for arrest that paralyzed man
At Robust’s sentencing listening to Thursday, the courtroom was filled with about 50 folks, a lot of them police workers there to help him. Three Prince George’s officers who had labored alongside Robust and developed friendships with him through the years spoke on his behalf, saying he’s collegial, has a powerful work ethic and is devoted to his household and younger son.
Civil rights legal professional Malcolm Ruff spoke on behalf of Ward-Blake’s household, whom he’s representing in a federal civil lawsuit in opposition to the county and Robust. Ruff advised the decide that Ward-Blake was a cherished and gregarious 24-year-old earlier than the visitors cease, however his paralysis pressured him right into a wheelchair and triggered agonizing ache.
Ward-Blake died late final 12 months on the age of 26 from accidents he suffered in an unrelated taking pictures.
Cotton stated she had spent a whole lot of time enthusiastic about Robust’s case and weighing why she had discovered him responsible. The decide stated she thought-about the character of the costs and the extent of Ward’s accidents; the impression on his household and the neighborhood; and the truth that Robust had no prior felony historical past.
“Clearly this can be a defendant who has a powerful help system,” the decide stated.
Cotton acknowledged the “superior accountability” legislation enforcement officers need to preserve communities secure. However she stated officers even have an obligation to guard neighborhood belief, and when that belief is damaged, “that’s an superior failure, too.”
The decide sentenced Robust to a complete of 20 years with all however one 12 months suspended, that means he might serve that point at a later date if he’s present in violation of the phrases of his probation. Robust’s legal professional, Shaun Owens, had requested the decide to defer the officer’s detention in the course of the appeals course of. Cotton denied that, in addition to a request for house detention.
Ward-Blake’s mom, Rena Ward, bowed her head as she listened within the courtroom beside neighborhood organizers and different girls impacted by police violence. Ward stated she was disillusioned Robust hadn’t been given extra jail time however that she needed to “give it as much as God.”
“If he was right here,” she stated of her son, “[the sentencing] most likely would have been stiffer.”
The $75 million wrongful demise lawsuit his household filed in February continues to be pending.
Ward-Blake was pulled over on Oct. 17, 2019, for expired tags. Throughout the cease, a Prince George’s police officer pulled his gun from his holster — which enraged Ward-Blake as a result of his girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter was within the again seat. Robust was amongst a bunch of different officers who quickly arrived on scene.
Although Ward-Blake was compliant with all officer instructions, together with when he was detained, positioned in handcuffs and sat on the curb, he verbally berated the officers, in response to movies of the visitors cease and testimony throughout trial.
As a result of Ward-Blake wouldn’t cease yelling, Robust arrested him for disorderly conduct and walked him to the facet of his cruiser, the place he performed a physique search.
At trial, prosecutors and Robust’s protection attorneys disagreed on what occurred subsequent.
Prosecutors argued that Robust, fed up with Ward-Blake’s cursing, snapped and slammed the person headfirst into the concrete in a maneuver known as a “takedown.” The state stated that motion constituted extreme drive.
Robust’s protection attorneys, nonetheless, stated Ward-Blake tried to flee police whereas Robust was looking out him. They argued that the lads fell to the bottom collectively in a battle, and that Ward-Blake’s paralysis was the results of a tragic accident.
At trial, Cotton discounted the protection’s concept and stated Robust “didn’t act as an affordable officer would.” She known as his actions “extreme” and “unjustified.”
She made that argument once more throughout sentencing.
Cotton didn’t, nonetheless, take note of Robust’s historical past of utilizing drive with others. Prosecutors introduced proof in the course of the listening to a few beforehand undisclosed incident from November 2018 — one 12 months earlier than Ward-Blake was paralyzed — when Robust wrongfully detained somebody who matched a theft suspect description. The person, prosecutors stated, protested the arrest. Robust took him to the bottom, cuffed him and hit him a number of instances, an motion the police division’s inner investigation later discovered extreme.
Prosecutors argued this confirmed a sample of conduct that the decide ought to contemplate earlier than sentencing Robust. However Cotton disagreed, saying the matter was administrative, not felony, and due to this fact irrelevant.
Robust’s police powers stay suspended till the police division’s inner affairs workplace completes its personal investigation into the visitors cease.
Robust’s supporters watched from the gallery — a number of, together with his father, in tears — as he hugged his legal professional and stripped off his swimsuit jacket, tie and button-down shirt. Then a bailiff secured cuffs round his wrists and walked him out of the courtroom.