DOVER, Del. (AP) - A white police officer seen on video kicking a black suspect in the head and breaking his jaw has been acquitted of assault in Delaware.
A jury deliberated over three days before acquitting Dover police Cpl. Thomas Webster IV on Tuesday.
Webster testified he didn't intend to kick Lateef Dickerson in the head in the 2013 encounter and was aiming for his upper body. Webster also said he feared for his safety and that of others because officers were told Dickerson had a gun - and that he was slow to comply with repeated commands to get on the ground.
A police video shows Dickerson had his hands on the ground but wasn't fully prone when Webster kicked him.
Prosecutors argued that Webster acted recklessly and used excessive force.
Reaction
Many were stunned by the verdict in the Webster case.
Outside the court house in Kent County Calmetta Brinkley cried out the question, ”Where is the justice?”
The retired school teacher told the Wilmington News Journal that she was in shock noting that there was a video of the incident.
La Mar Gun, president of the Central Delaware Branch of the NAACP, told the paper that he was stunned.
He added that he did not understand how a jury from this community could have reached such a verdict.
The jury was made up of nine women.
Two of them were African American.
There were also three men.
One of them was Asian.
Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen told the paper that he was more concerned about the effect on the community.
He added that he believes 99 percent of the community have confidence and are comfortable with the police department.
Meanwhile, the President of the Kent County Levy
Court Brooks Banta told the paper that that while not knowing all of the facts in the case he believed the police had always been fair.
