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By PORAC | October 1, 1998 | Posted in PORAC LDF News

Federal Jury Finds Oxnard Officer Not Guilty

Oxnard Officer Robert Flinn withstood a heavy assault is U.S. District Court last month. The jury voted 11—1 for acquittal, following the lead of a state court jury in Ventura County.

The trial was bitterly fought by the United States Attorney’s office. It spared no expense and mounted a formidable offense against Flinn. The courtroom was filled with Sr. United States attorneys and FBI agents handling assistant U.S. attorney Jonathan Shapiro notes all through the trial.

The defense of Officer Flinn began with a solid commitment from LDF to put together the best defense possible.

The investigative team consisted of retired Los Angeles Police Detective Larry Delosh, who conducted interviews of police and civilian witnesses and retired police Captain Jerry Feinberg in Texas. Captain Feinberg investigated the prosecution’s medical expert witness, Dr. Harry Smith from San Antonio.

The defense retained the services of Dr. Cyril Wecht, a noted pathologist from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and Dr. Kenneth Solomon, a biomechanical engineer in Los Angeles. Dr. Wecht and Dr. Solomon acted as consultants with the defense and assisted with the preparation for the cross-examination of Dr. Smith.

The defense strategy was to point out to the jury that the physical evidence, in this case, supported Flinn’s contention that he did not hit suspect Lopez over the head with a flashlight.

The fact that no hair, blood, or tissue was found on the flashlight, no fractures or significant contusions were around the wound, and absence of any blood in the front of Lopez’s shirt weighed heavily on the jury.

Larry Delosh rooted out some valuable pieces of evidence not available at the state trial, including a witness who observed a contusion on Lopez’s chest, consistent with the blow Officer Flinn did in fact inflict.

Observations from the paramedics who described the eye wound as dirty, abraded and filled with debris, and the E.R. nurse, who heard the key prosecution witness state he was too far away from the incident to clearly observe, added more proof of Flinn’s innocence.

Flinn testified on his own behalf and never buckled or wavered from the prosecutor’s attack. He stood tall.

The jury had little doubt he was the kind of police officer who would not use excessive force. In fact, several of the jurors who voted 11—1 for acquittal on “count one” were crying because they cared so much for him.

Flinn’s attorney, LDF panel attorney Barry Levin stated, “I don’t think I have ever seen more support by fellow officers than in any other police officer’s case that I defended before.

“Sergeant Dan Christian attended the trial every day and sat with us through three grueling days of deliberations. Rob’s father and his wife Monika stood by him through the entire ordeal.”

The effort of this support brought the human element to the trial and was intimidating to the prosecution team.

One can only hope that the U.S. attorney will review this case and realize the two juries have viewed this case in two counties, both voting 11—1 for acquittal, and dismiss this case.