Back in April, we discussed the beating of Francis Pusok as he was trying to escape from police on horseback in the Southern California desert. Now, the three California deputies from San Bernardino County, Nicholas Downey, Michael Phelps, and Charles Foster will face criminal charges in the beating of Pusok. Each were charged with one count of assault by a public officer, and all three deputies are scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Sept. 8. If convicted, each deputy faces between 16 months to three years in prison. They all remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome.
Pusok’s attorney James Terrell believes eight of the 10 deputies should have been charged (not just the three involved in the incident). The other seven deputies who responded are not being criminally charged because of what was said on the voice recorders that the deputies carry on their belts. The helicopter footage that caught the incident indicated that Pusok appeared to have been kicked 17 times, punched 37 times, and struck with batons four times, a review of the video showed, and 13 blows appeared to be to the head. Mr. Pusok did file a lawsuit in response to the beating and settled it with San Bernardino County for $650,000. There has also been an internal probe of 10 deputies, along with an FBI civil rights probe.
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