PigTube.org: Passaic officer not guilty of assault, misconduct after beat-down caught on tape; A new Pig File

ELIZABETH LARA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Joseph Rios III, center, with his attorneys, reacts Friday,

July 8, 2011, after being found not guilty of using excessive

force and official misconduct.

Passaic Police Officer Joseph Rios III this morning was found not guilty of police brutality charges stemming from the May 2009 arrest of a schizophrenic man on a city street corner that was captured on videotape.

Rios broke down in tears as Superior Court Judge Donald J. Volkert Jr. read his verdict in Superior Court in Paterson clearing him of aggravated assault and official misconduct charges. Cheers erupted from his family and about a dozen police officers in the courtroom after Volkert delivered his verdict, while across the room, several community activists from Passaic shook their heads in disbelief.

Rios faced up to 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine had he been convicted of official misconduct. He faced three to five years in prison had he been convicted of aggravated assault. Rios, who has been suspended without pay since the incident, is subject to reinstatement.

Volkert acknowledged that the videotape that captured Rios swinging his baton and trying to subdue 49-year-old Ronnie Holloway was indeed violent. But the judge ruled that the violence should be seen as a "textbook" case of a police officer trying to deal with an unruly man.

“If this video were to be viewed by a casual observer without context -- it looks like a lot of force was used,” Volkert told a packed courtroom in Superior Court in Paterson. “To the witnesses, however, who reviewed the video the events depicted are defined as textbook.”

Holloway, a diagnosed schizophrenic who takes medication and lives with his mother on Burgess Place, testified that he was walking home from a local pool hall when he was confronted by police. He denied ever exchanging words with police and says he complied with their order to zip up his sweatshirt.

Holloway testified that he never heard the police say he was under arrest before the baton came out and he was beaten to the ground. He was taken to the Passaic Police Department and held in the lockup overnight, but was never charged with any crime.

His mother, Betty, testified that when he didn't come home that night, she went to the Passaic Police Department and learned he was there. She tried to give him his medication, but was not allowed to do so, she testified. She didn't see him until the next day, after he walked home from St. Mary's Hospital.

The Holloways have indicated that they plan to file a Civil Rights suit against the city.

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