[Explicit Language / Parental Discretion Advised] A Dover, Del., police officer who faced no criminal charges in 2013 for knocking a surrendering man unconscious with a jaw-breaking kick could face jail time, after all.
In 2013, then-attorney general Beau Biden (Vice President Joe Biden’s son) failed to get a grand jury indictment against Cpl. Tom Webster for injuring Lateef Dickerson without cause. But a judge in a civil rights lawsuit recently ruled that a video of the event could be released publicly, and current Attorney General Matt Denn brought the case again, resulting in an indictment for second-degree assault Monday.
In the aftermath of Ferguson, Mo., video evidence has played a decisive role in at least one case against a police officer accused of excessive force against black suspects. In North Charleston, S.C., police brought murder charges against the officer who shot a fleeing black man in the back and then appeared to plant evidence to suggest the man had been armed with a Taser. Officials admitted that no charges would have been brought if a bystander had not recorded the shooting.
