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It happened in America.
In the early morning hours of December 29, 2019 in northwestern St. Johns County, Florida, CHRISTOPHER BUTLER, an impaired driver, and convicted felon, was driving slowly and erratically on I-95, eluding police for several miles before he pulled into a parking lot.
CHRISTOPHER BUTLER, eluding police and intoxicated on beer and Coricidin, was initially uncooperatiuve and allegedly kicked Defendant Deputy ANTHONY DELEO in the knee. Shirtless BUTLER then removed his pants and underwear and said he was God.
Stating that he was in pain from the knee kick, Deputy DELEO was angry and frustrated, having only recently recovered from complex knee surgery. As a result he could not get down on the ground with the suspect.
Two maladroit overweight fin de siècle Sheriff DAVID SHOAR deputies, weighing a total of 600 pounds, delayed handcuffing the driver for five (5) minutes and fifty (50) seconds, during which time they were seemingly unwilling or unable to put an unarmed impaired man in handcuffs.
Meanwhile Deputy ANTHONY DELEO took out his frustrations, breaking bones and nose and sending BUTLER to Flagler Hospital, with 22 baton strikes, four punches and two kicks to the face to make an arrest.
Two (2) officers -- what Ashley J. Terwelleger calldd "600 pounds of men" -- taking five minutes and 50 seconds to handcuff 170 pound BUTLER.
Finally, another deputy, Willie Carson, drove up and was able to handcuff the fleeing felon in seconds. But for Carson, BUTLER might have had more severe injuries, the prosecution argued.
Ex-Deputy DELEO was charged with:
AGGRAVATED BATTERY
(784.045 1a1 & 784.045 1a2)
784.045 Aggravated battery.—
The jury was out for some three hours before returning a not guilty verdict.
State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA was kind enough to respond to public outrage an d media coverage by charging fired Deputy ANTHONY J. DELEO with aggravated assault.
But the State's Attorney called no experts!
Legal malpractice? Desuetude of law enforcement by the Seventh Circuit State's Attorney office?
This left DELEO's lawyer with sufficient reasonable doubt for an acquittal.
The individual Daytona-based prosecutrix in the courtroom was skilled eloquent and did her job.
But as an organization, State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA's 82-attorney four county office:
- called no medical experts on the source and seriousness of CHRISTOPHER BUTLER's injuries!
- called no "use of force" experts!
- did not bother to show the full video in its case-in-chief, finally doing so in rebuttal argument!
- stinks on ice,
Anthony Deleo, former St. Johns County deputy, found not guilty in aggravated battery case
A former St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy charged with second-degree aggravated battery after video showed him kicking and beating an unarmed man was found not guilty Wednesday.
Anthony Deleo, 52, was fired from the sheriff's office following the incident, in which investigators determined Deleo used a “gratuitous amount of force” during the arrest of Christopher Butler on Dec. 29, 2019, in a Winn-Dixie parking lot along County Road 210.
Previous coverage:Mom of son beaten by ex-St. Johns County deputy: ‘It’s barbaric what they did to him’
The jury left Judge Lee Smith's courtroom around 11:30 a.m. and had a verdict around three hours later. If convicted, Deleo would have faced up to 15 years in prison.
Closing arguments focused in part on whether Deleo used excessive force considering the circumstances and whether Deleo was responsible for the extent of Butler's injuries.
The prosecution said Deleo administered excessive blows to Butler that were punishing instead of force being used as a tool to get him into custody, and Butler endured serious injuries. The defense said that Butler kicked, bit and scratched law enforcement and ignored dozens of commands ― and that deputies can respond with greater force than they're being met with because of the dangers posed by people doing illegal things.
The incident began with a traffic stop.
The prosecution said Deleo administered excessive blows to Butler that were punishing instead of force being used as a tool to get him into custody, and Butler endured serious injuries. The defense said that Butler kicked, bit and scratched law enforcement and ignored dozens of commands ― and that deputies can respond with greater force than they're being met with because of the dangers posed by people doing illegal things.
Butler was not fully cooperative with law enforcement, and Deleo initially tried unsuccessfully to pull him out of the car, the affidavit said. Butler eventually got out of the car.
According to the affidavit, Butler was unarmed and stood in a “non-threatening manner” with his back to officers. Deleo hit Butler with his baton and used a stun gun to shock Butler twice as he walked away from them, the affidavit states. Butler then removed his pants as he fell to the ground.
Dash cam video from the trooper’s patrol vehicle recorded a portion of the beating. Deleo kicked Butler in the head twice and beat him with his baton 19 times as Butler sat on the ground naked, according to the affidavit.
The sheriff’s office report stated Butler did not resist during the ordeal. Butler, a St. Augustine resident, was hospitalized.
Butler was arrested on charges of fleeing authorities, reckless driving, DUI, and resisting arrest with violence. The State Attorney’s Office declined to file formal charges against Butler on all but the fleeing charge. He also had two out-of-county warrants.
Reporter Frank Fernandez contributed to this story.
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