Federal prosecutors Monday announced plans to retry two Pomona police officers whose trial on charges stemming from the violent arrest of a teenage boy at the Los Angeles County Fair ended with jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of guilt on all counts.
The new trial for Officers Chad Jensen and Prince Hutchinson is scheduled to begin Dec. 11 in Los Angeles federal court.
“We’re ready to go,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lewis told U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez.
Like the first trial that ended last month, the retrial is expected to last about a week.
Jensen, 51, is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law for allegedly beating then-16-year-old Christian Aguilar in September 2015. Both Jensen and Hutchinson, 32, are charged with preparing false reports that attempted to justify the use of force. The officers are also charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly giving false testimony during state court proceedings regarding criminal charges against Aguilar.
Prosecutors allege the officers gave false testimony similar to that in their written reports and created the false impression that the teen posed a physical threat to other officers before Jensen assaulted him.
If found guilty of all charges, Jensen and Hutchinson face the possibility of several years behind bars.
Two years ago, the city of Pomona paid Aguilar $500,000 to settle a civil lawsuit over the encounter at the Pomona Fairplex.
A third Pomona officer, Michael Neaderbaomer, is charged separately for attempting to dissuade Aguilar’s family from pursuing an internal investigation into the arrest. He faces trial in January.
>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!