CROWN POINT -- A Hammond police officer testified Friday in Lake Superior Court
that Officer Gerald Doughty used "unreasonable" force while arresting a
motorist during a traffic stop in August.
Officer Thomas Strabavy was called to the witness stand during a hearing for a
motion to suppress evidence in the Aug. 15 arrest of Hammond motorist Anthony
O'Connor.
Ben Murphy, O'Connor's lawyer, was attempting to have evidence -- blood taken
from O'Connor after his arrest -- barred from O'Connor's trial for drunken
driving.
O'Connor was arrested and allegedly beaten by Doughty just steps from his home
in an alley behind the 4900 block of Ashe Street. O'Connor also is charged with
resisting law enforcement and reckless driving.
Murphy called Strabavy, who was Doughty's back-up during the arrest, as the
first witness. Murphy asked Strabavy what he saw when arriving on the scene.
The officer answered that he saw, "O'Connor in the middle of the alley with his
hands in the air."
Strabavy said O'Connor, "appeared to have a license and registration in his
right hand."
Murphy then asked if Doughty struck O'Connor.
"Yes," Strabavy answered.
Strabavy also acknowledged that Doughty struck O'Connor three times and Doughty
was unprovoked by O'Connor prior to the beating. Strabavy said it was his
opinion that Doughty's actions were "unreasonable."
Deputy Prosecutor Yolanda Lewis, in her cross examination, asked Strabavy if he
had witnessed O'Connor's actions when he exited his car.
"No," he said.
Doughty said he was patrolling the area to assist Strabavy because Strabavy was
concerned that a gang-related firebombing could happen in the volatile
neighborhood.
The video shows O'Connor exiting his vehicle with his hands in the air
immediately after he was stopped by Doughty. O'Connor continued to walk toward
Doughty with his hands raised, while Doughty retreated. The two then
disappeared briefly from the video. When they re-appeared, Doughty charged
O'Connor while O'Connor was retreating. Then videotape showed Doughty striking
O'Connor three times with a baton, hitting him with the collapsible metal rod
in the shoulder, neck and torso. Doughty then tackled O'Connor and was assisted
by Strabavy in handcuffing O'Connor.
There is no audio on the tape. Doughty told the court he ordered O'Connor not
to exit the car and to get back in the car. Doughty said he was ordering
O'Connor to "hit the ground" the whole time O'Connor was walking toward him.
Lewis asked Doughty what he was thinking when O'Connor was approaching him.
"That he wants to harm me," Doughty said.
Doughty said he was trained by the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy to retain a
reactionary distance between himself and the subject. When Doughty ran out of
space, he said he took action.
"I ran out of cover," he said. "I elected to use the baton to take him into
custody."
O'Connor's hands were still in the air when Doughty struck him with his baton.
A short while after O'Connor was handcuffed and on his knees, O'Connor tried to
stand up. The tape shows Doughty approaching O'Connor and kicking him in the
midsection. Doughty testified that O'Connor was ordered to stay on the ground.
Doughty called the blow a "frontal kick to the diaphragm to displace wind" in
order to quiet down O'Connor, who was yelling obscenities, according to Doughty.
Murphy asked Doughty if O'Connor ever pushed him during the arrest.
"No, he did not," Doughty said.
O'Connor was transported to St. Margaret Mercy Hospital after the arrest.
Doughty requested that blood be drawn to determine O'Connor's blood-alcohol
level. Murphy alleged that O'Connor's blood was sampled without his consent.
Murphy called to the stand Richele Wright, an emergency room nurse who helped
treat O'Connor. She testified that Doughty requested a blood test and that
O'Connor did not consent to a blood draw.
Doughty earlier testified that he overheard the nurse say that O'Connor
consented to the test.
"There is contradicting testimony," Murphy said. "The nurse testified that Mr.
O'Connor did not consent. Mr. O'Connor was resistant. There was force used
here."
Wright said at least three security guards, two nurses and a lab technician
helped administer the blood test. She admitted in cross-examination by Lewis
that she was not the one who did the test.
Murphy cited the Indiana Implied Consent Law when he argued that reasonable
force can be used to extract blood within three hours of arrest. O'Connor was
arrested at 11:04 p.m. and blood was not taken until 2:20 a.m.
"He had the right to refuse," Murphy said. "The means employed were
unreasonable."
Doughty, who was wearing a charcoal sportcoat, a blue striped shirt,
multi-colored tie and gray slacks at Friday's hearing, has been on paid
suspension and faces the loss of his job. Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr. and Police
Chief John Cory said in October that Doughty beat the defenseless O'Connor
without provocation.
Friday was the first chance for the public to view the videotape of the
beating. The videotape was reviewed Oct. 12 by the Police Department's Board of
Captains disciplinary committee. The board exonerated Doughty of misconduct,
only to have Dedelow and Cory reverse its findings two days later.
Police Capt. Michael Solan said during a closed-door Fraternal Order of Police
Lodge 51 meeting that the public should never see the videotape because those
who do not work in law enforcement would not understand why Doughty used his
metal baton to repeatedly strike the defenseless O'Connor.
Doughty declined comment after the hearing. Lewis was unavailable for comment.
Murphy said justice needs to be served.
"I think I'm basically protecting everyone's rights from the intrusion of a
police officer," he said. "When a police officer steps out of line, someone has
to step up."
Jason Thomas can be reached by e-mail at jthomas@howpubs.com or by phone at
(219) 933-3267.
