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Long Island Police Officer Acquitted of Assault Charges in Traffic Stop Case

A Long Island police officer who was recorded punching and kicking a man during a traffic stop has been acquitted on felony assault charges. 

Nassau County Court Judge Patricia Harrington issued the verdict Friday following a non-jury trial that concluded Nov. 24.

Nassau County Police Officer Vincent LoGiudice was accused of beating motorist Kyle Howell so severely while trying to arrest him that Howell needed surgery for broken bones in his face.

Prosecutors said LoGiudice used excessive force after Howell tried to empty a bag of marijuana hidden in his glove compartment.

Defense attorney William Petrillo said Howell's movements made the officer fear for his safety.

Charges were filed after video of the encounter surfaced. In the video, LoGiudice and another officer are seen speaking with Howell briefly before LoGiudice walks behind the car and then runs back to the passenger-side door. The officers, who are white, then appear to begin punching and kicking Howell inside the car. Howell, who is black, claimed the encounter was racially motivated.

In issuing the verdict, Harrington said "the video doesn't tell the whole story." She accepted LoGiudice's claim that he feared for his life when Howell reached into his glove compartment.

Howell was in court for the verdict; he left the building without comment. His supporters walked out of court holding their hands in the air, later chanting, "Don't shoot, don't beat me."

Howell's mother called the justice system "broken." Earlier this year, her son filed a federal lawsuit against LoGiuidice and the other officer involved in the traffic stop. 

The family wants federal prosecutors to look at the case to, in one lawyer's words, "clean out the sewer that is Nassau County justice." 

LoGiudice would have faced up to seven years in prison if convicted of felony assault and one year in prison if convicted of misdemeanor assault.

His attorney called the judge's acquittal "the only verdict possible."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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