Video prompts ruling to allow case against officer to go to trial
A Houston police officer holds a young man’s head against a skyblue wall at a city lockup and moments later fresh blood can be seen on video dripping from the wall and on the white linoleum floor of the holding cell.
These images captured in 2014 surveillance videos at the municipal facility on Riesner helped convince a federal judge this week that a federal civil rights complaint should proceed to trial against the officer on charges he slammed the handcuffed man’s head into a metal door jamb and pressed it against the wall, causing him to lose consciousness. A medical provider administered 10 stitches to his forehead.
The video recordings of the exchange were an essential element in convincing the judge the claim had merit, said attorney Randall L. Kallinen, who sued on behalf of the former jail detainee’s father.
Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ruled Tuesday that the treatment of Reuben Williams Jr., who was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in 2014, should be reviewed at trial on charges the officer violated Williams’ constitutional rights. The lawsuit alleges that Officer Salvador R. Corral committed assault and battery under state law while leading the man to the cell. The judge granted a trial on the claim the officer used excessive force.
The judge removed the city of Houston from liability in the case, meaning Williams’ lawyer didn’t show a pattern or practice of abusive behavior.
A spokesperson for the city declined to comment on the matter.
Williams’ father sued the officer and the department for unspecified damages in 2016.
Police suspended the officer with pay during an internal investigation, but he was reinstated, a department spokesman said.
The police department’s internal affairs division disciplined Corral after the incident for “not being aware of his surroundings,” according to Kallinen.
Corral remains on duty in the traffic enforcement division, according to Jodi Silva, a spokesperson for the department. He has been with the police department since 2009.
“We cannot allow this behavior by our public employees to continue,” Kallinen said.
The officer maintains he was acting in self-defense after Williams spat on him and urinated in his patrol car.