A D.C. police officer was convicted yesterday of assaulting a Maryland man who objected to being questioned and searched because his car was stopped in an area frequented by prostitutes.
Officer Joseph S. Fagan, 33, was found guilty by a D.C. Superior Court judge of a misdemeanor charge of simple assault involving unnecessary and wanton use of force. He faces a jail term of up to 180 days when he is sentenced Feb. 1. He is suspended without pay and could lose his job.
Prosecutors said that during an early-morning encounter Sept. 24, 2000, Fagan, assigned to the 1st District, overreacted and used his metal baton to strike Edward Torres twice in the head after Torres tried to brush off Fagan's hold.
Torres, 31, testified that he demanded to know why he was being "harassed." He testified that he was indignant, but he denied trying to attack Fagan during the confrontation in the 900 block of 11th Street NW. Prosecutors did not press any charges against him.
Fagan, who joined the D.C. police department in 1994, was indicted in February, more than three years after the incident.
Fagan and his defense attorneys, Mark E. Schamel and David Schertler, argued that Torres threatened to "deck" the officer and appeared to be grabbing for the officer's gun.
"All I could think of was he going for my gun," Fagan testified Thursday, toward the close of the three-day trial before Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr.
But Fagan's partner, Audra Smith, testified that Torres was not a threat.
Smith's testimony was a crucial component in the case, which was prosecuted by Marian L. Borum, an assistant U.S. attorney, and Marcy Jackson, an attorney in the Justice Department's civil rights division.
It is unusual for an officer to testify against another in a case involving allegations of brutality, but Smith agreed to cooperate with investigators. Her account largely corresponded with the version of events offered by Torres. She is now a sergeant.
On the witness stand, Torres acknowledged accusing the officers of harassment and later cursing and refusing to hand over his driver's license. He said he did not think that they were justified in directing him to move or in ordering him out of the car when he objected.
