From [CBS] A white Boynton Beach officer accused of falsifying records in a 2014 excessive force case was found not guilty by a jury Friday afternoon.
Sergeant Philip Antico who is also white was, however, found guilty of obstruction of justice. [racist suspect with wife in photo]
Prosecutors proved Antico helped officers doctor reports to justify their use of excessive, deadly force against a Black suspect, Byron Harris, who led officers on a car chase after crashing into a Boynton officer in August 2014. The trio of white cops was unaware that a PBSO helicopter was flying overhead and recording after they forced a car off the road the morning of August 20, 2014.
A grand jury indicted three officers for using excessive force apprehending the car’s passenger, Jeffrey Braswell, and then trying to cover up what happened.
On Nov. 9, a federal jury [probably all white] returned mixed verdicts for three current and former Boynton Beach police officers in the beating and cover-up case.
Officer Mike Brown was found guilty of using excessive force but acquitted former officers Justin Harris and Ronald Ryan of similar charges. Officer Brown was the only officer to use a gun to hit Braswell. Jurors found all three officers not guilty of falsifying records, as part of the alleged cover-up.
However, in this trial, Antico, as their supervisor was found guilty of arranging for the officers to falsify reports about the beating and lying about it to the FBI. That is, he arranged for three officers to rewrite their police reports to justify the use of force, authorities allege Antico also faces an obstruction of justice charge. [MORE]
Helicopter video from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office captured the entire incident. The indictment says cop Brown “repeatedly struck” Jeffrey Braswell “with his hand that clasped his firearm.” Braswell was restrained in the passenger seat with a seat belt on. Cops, apparently threw him out of the car and then pounced on and beat and kicked him after they handcuffed him. [MORE]
Federal prosecutor Susan Osborne said in court on Monday that Sgt. Antico tried to “take care” of the officers under him, helping them revise their paperwork.
Sgt. Antico faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been released.