Attorney of man punched by officer again seeks to dismiss charges

Less than three minutes after being pulled over for passing stop bar pavement markings, Richard Hubbard III was on the ground getting punched by Euclid police officer Michael Amiott.

Had Amiott obeyed Euclid Police Capt. Kevin Kelly on Aug. 12, Hubbard would not have been pulled over at all.

“You were in attendance at a roll call that I had earlier addressed, in which I specifically said to all officers in attendance that although legally permissible, I did not want officers stopping cars for stop bar violations as the primary probable cause for a traffic stop,” Kelly wrote in an Aug. 16 letter to Amiott.

Hubbard, 25, of Cleveland, was charged with resisting arrest as well as three traffic citations, including driving with a suspended license.

Kelly charged Amiott with violation of rules, unbecoming conduct, unsatisfactory performance, insubordination and use of force stemming from the Aug. 12 incident.

“These actions have caused serious damage to the public confidence in the Euclid Police Department and the city of Euclid,” Kelly wrote to Amiott.

On Aug. 18, Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer found Amiott guilty of violation of rules, unbecoming conduct, unsatisfactory performance and insubordination. Meyer noted in a letter to Amiott that he merged use of force into unbecoming conduct and unsatisfactory performance.

Meyer suspended Amiott without pay for 15 days and recommend Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail suspend him for an additional 30 days, which she did Sept. 1. Amiott’s suspension ends Oct. 15.

Hubbard and his girlfriend Yolimar Tirado — who is also facing charges stemming from the incident including obstructing official business — had pretrial hearing in Euclid Municipal Court Oct. 12. Attorney Christopher McNeal, who is representing both, has filed a second motion to dismiss all charges against his clients.

McNeal said his first motion, which was dismissed, was “challenging the sufficiency of the complaint.”

“At that time I was not privy to the actual evidence that was in possession of the state, nor had I actually conducted substantive investigation of my own,” he said.

The new motion filed Oct. 5, he said, is based on the evidence he’s been able to obtain, which includes the Kelly and Meyer letters.

“I’m asking them to dismiss this case, as they should, based on the outrageous police misconduct,” he said.

The prosecution has until Oct. 23 to respond to McNeal’s motion for dismissal. He then has until Nov. 6 to respond to the prosecution.

When Amiott returns from his suspension, Meyer will determine the division to which he’ll be assigned. When Meyer determines Amiott may return to uniform patrol duty, he will be place with a department field training officer for at least 60 days. He will be monitored by the field training officer, who will document his performance on a daily basis. Meyer will select the officer or officers assigned to that task.