Police officer’s trial postponed

The trial has been postponed for a Euclid police officer facing charges stemming from an August 2017 incident where he was seen on video kicking and punching a black motorist during a traffic stop.

Jury selection was set for April 30 in Euclid Municipal Court for officer Michael Amiott, who is facing two counts of assault and one count of interfering with civil rights stemming, all misdemeanors.

The trial is among those that have been suspended as courts grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic. No new date has yet been set.

Amiott’s trial is being overseen by visiting judge Guy L. Reese. The retired Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge was assigned to the case by the Ohio Supreme Court after Euclid Municipal Court Judge Patrick J. Gallagher recused himself.

A witness video of the Aug. 12, 2017, incident has been viewed millions of times on Facebook. The Euclid Police Department later released dash camera footage of the incident.

Charges against Richard Hubbard III — the man Amiott pulled over — and Hubbard’s girlfriend Yolimar Tirado were later dismissed. The pair is suing Amiott, the city of Euclid and police officers Matt Gilmer and Kirk Pavkov over the incident. That case is pending in federal court.

Amiott’s defense attorney Kimberly Kendall Corral in November filed a motion asking Reese to move the case out of Euclid Municipal Court. Corral argued that a change of venue is needed to ensure Amiott has a fair trial by a “jury untainted by pretrial publicity.”

Reese denied the motion in December, saying that he “feels that in order to proceed or to even grant a motion for a change of venue, the court should at least initially attempt to set a jury here in the city of Euclid.” Special Prosecutor Dominic Vitantonio was hired by the city in June to determine whether charges should be filed against Amiott. The charges were brought against the Euclid officer in August, shortly before the statute of limitations ran out.

Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail fired Amiott in October 2017, but his termination was overturned almost exactly a year later as arbitrator Gregory P. Szuter found that the mayor did not have just cause to fire him. Amiott was assigned to administrative duties following the announcement of the charges.