From the TimesUnion {HERE}

Jury says race was factor in cop's treatment of suspect
 
Albany police officer William Bonanni was found guilty by a federal jury in Utica on Wednesday of brutalizing a black suspect during an arrest in Arbor Hill six years ago.

Bonanni, a 17-year veteran of the force, has been the target of numerous civilian complaints for using excessive force against minorities, but there is no indication he was ever disciplined as a result, according to departmental records filed in the lawsuit.

The civil verdict by the federal jury concluded that race was a factor when Bonanni stood on the handcuffed man's head, grinding the victim's face into the asphalt in front of numerous police officers. The victim, Phillip Lewis, 43, also claimed that Bonanni pulled down Lewis' pants on Livingston Avenue and separated his buttocks to look for contraband as onlookers screamed for the police to stop.

The jury deliberated just three hours following a two-day trial before handing up a decision that found both Bonanni and the city of Albany equally liable for compensatory damages totaling $65,000.

The city is responsible for what happened to Lewis because the police department has a history of not properly training, supervising or disciplining Bonanni, according to the verdict.

The federal jury will reconvene next week to determine how much in punitive damages Bonanni should pay to the victim, who was convicted of weapons charges and served a four-year prison sentence in connection with his arrest on Nov. 23, 2002.

Still, the jury looked past Lewis' criminal conduct -- he was accused of beating another man with a loaded handgun -- in determining that Bonanni had used excessive force and violated Lewis' constitutional rights on the basis of his race.

Bonanni has spent much of his time on the force on administrative leave, suspension or restricted duty for misconduct allegations. The department also has received at least eight formal complaints against him for brutality. All of the complaints were filed by black people, and nearly all of them included allegations that Bonanni kicked or punched someone in the head while he was handcuffed.

"The jury concluded, and I think it was certainly supported by our arguments, that this officer's modus operandi was when a suspect questions his authority, particularly an African-American suspect, that the police officer's response was excessive physical force," said Patrick G. Radel, a Utica attorney appointed to represent Lewis.

"My client knows very well that the vast majority of police officers perform honorable service, and this case was not about those police officers," Radel said. "This case was about one bad officer and the police department's failure to discipline, train or supervise him."

David Brickman, Bonanni's attorney, questioned the trial's outcome.

"We're not pleased with the jury's verdict, and due to numerous errors in some of the (judge's) rulings we intend to appeal," Brickman said.

For the city's part, according to Radel, there was no explanation for why Bonanni has remained a police officer despite a slew of disciplinary problems, including his indictment on felony assault and perjury charges in 1997 in connection with the beating of a black, handcuffed college student in a police garage.

Bonanni, 40, was later acquitted of those charges, along with another officer, Sean McKenna, after the alleged victim, Jermaine Henderson, refused to testify against them at trial. McKenna subsequently resigned from the force and lives out of state.

Lewis filed his lawsuit four years ago while serving time in Groveland State Prison. He researched federal laws while behind bars and submitted a handwritten complaint that survived two lengthy and technical motions for dismissal from city attorneys.

In December 2006, U.S. District Court Judge David N. Hurd appointed Radel to help assist Lewis, who'd been handling his case without an attorney. The lawsuit filed four years ago by Lewis has provided a rare public glimpse at a large portion of Bonanni's personnel file. The records, which were docketed in U.S. district court, show that since being hired by the department 17 years ago Bonanni has been investigated for using excessive force against black people eight times.

Bonanni was cleared by internal affairs investigations in every complaint except the Henderson investigation, when the department sustained the brutality charges but did not fire him, records show.

Still, the city offered no documentation, including any decision from an arbitrator or other hearing documents, to bolster its contention that department officials sought to fire Bonanni for the Henderson beating. That gap, among others, apparently weighed heavily with the federal jury this week, according to Radel.

"The jury concluded that the city was deliberately indifferent to his conduct," Radel said.

Bonanni also testified during this week's trial that he never underwent any special training or counseling as a result of the Henderson case, according to Radel.

Kevin Tuffey, who was chief of the Albany department for nearly five years until resigning in 1999, took the stand Monday and told the jury that when he left the force he did not believe Bonanni was fit to be an officer, according to Radel. Tuffey's brother, James, is currently chief of the force but did not testify at the trial.

Chief James Tuffey recently tried to fire Bonanni in connection with allegations the officer had come to work intoxicated in November 2006. Instead, that case was settled during an arbitration proceeding recently and Bonanni was reinstated to the force.

Tuffey declined comment on the verdict late Wednesday, saying the case was not over because the jury must still issue a ruling on punitive damages against Bonanni.

Sgt. Joseph Pickel, the supervisor who confronted Bonanni during the alcohol-related incident, was on the scene with Bonanni during the 2002 arrest of Lewis and also testified at this week's civil trial.

The accounts of the incident given by Pickel and officers Lawrence Heid and Joseph Shanahan, who is now the personal driver for Mayor Jerry Jennings, differed significantly, Radel said.

"The stories didn't make any sense," Radel said. "They brought in three guys, all of whom are his buddies and none of their stories matched up. The eyewitness testimony of the police officers was riddled with inconsistencies."

In addition, attorneys for the city claimed in their motion papers, and in court, that when Lewis was being arrested Bonanni was sitting nearby but in a patrol car with the man who'd been pistol-whipped by Lewis.

But a police report listed Bonanni as the arresting officer, according to court records.