PoliceDefense.org - Defending the Police - Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund

Vol 12, No. 1 (Spring, 2011)

Case Updates

Connecticut Officers Face Excessive Force Charge in Re-trial

The case of Officers Martin Praisner, Jr., and Steven Craig of the Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) Police Department, which ended in a hung jury, will be retried in late June.

They face one count of conspiracy to violate an individual’s civil rights and one count of violating an individual’s civil rights. Each of these charges carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charges stem from an incident on September 1, 2008, when Benjamin Derosier, a violent adult who was not a student, was arrested for breach of peace and criminal trespass on the university campus. He was belligerent and uncooperative, began to tear off pieces of the wall, and threw them around the detention cell, yelling obscenities at the police officers.

Since Derosier was out of control, Officer Praisner used pepper spray, which had no effect on him. As he continued to behave violently, Officer Craig used crowd control mist, which succeeded in getting him to settle down. When paramedics examined Derosier, they found he needed no medical attention.

LELDF’s expert witness, Urey Patrick, a former FBI agent and instructor at the FBI Training Facility at Quantico, Virginia, examined the evidence and testified that the officers were following regulations during the arrest. Patrick will again present this evidence at the new trial.

Stephanie Mohr Released After Serving Sentence

In December 2001, Stephanie Mohr, a decorated K-9 officer in the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Police Department, was convicted of depriving an illegal alien and criminal of his civil rights during an arrest in Takoma Park in 1995. Under orders from her superior officer, Stephanie released her canine to stop a suspected burglar, Ricardo Mendez, who was later convicted and deported.

However, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, during an investigation of the Prince George’s County Police Department, indicted Ms. Mohr on civil rights violations. Her trial ended in a hung jury (11 to 1 for acquittal). During a second trial, the prosecution convinced the jury that she released her police dog because she wanted to hurt an innocent minority Hispanic. A witness testified that she used a racial epithet in a previous arrest. Although Stephanie Mohr categorically denied this baseless claim, and it was later learned that the witness had lied, the jury was composed of minority members who were unduly influenced to vote for conviction in large part because of this false charge.

Ms. Mohr was convicted and given a 10-year sentence. She began her sentence at the federal prison camp in Alderson, West Virginia, in 2003, and remained behind bars for eight long years. LELDF attempted dozens of legal maneuvers to secure her release.

Her prison sentence is now over and she is in a halfway house, where she will remain for several months. Then she will face the personal challenges of putting her life back together. We hope that she will be able to re-enter society without too many difficulties. LELDF’s mission is to prevent such a travesty of justice from ever occurring again.