Opinion ID: 2362505
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reilly's Testimony

Text: Reilly's testimony differed substantially from that of Officer Falvey. Reilly testified that he was driving at twenty miles per hour, he was not in the middle of the road, he knew the police car was following him and that the police car's blue lights did not go on until it pulled up behind him at his driveway. Reilly said, What's the problem officer? Falvey told him to shut up and demanded his license and registration. Reilly gave him those and asked what he had done. Falvey told him that he was fishtailing. Reilly told him it was slippery and his car had a tendency to fishtail. Falvey went back to the police car, then returned with his nightstick in his hand, pushed Reilly up against his car and told Reilly that I was going to be a nice guy and give you a warning, but now I'm going to give you a ticket. Reilly told Falvey he had no right to touch him whereupon Falvey put his nightstick across Reilly's chest and told him he didn't have any rights. Falvey, followed by Reilly, stormed back to the cruiser saying he was going to write a ticket. When they arrived at the police car, Falvey lunged at Reilly, grabbed him by the tie and started to choke him. The two fell to the ground. Reilly eventually ended up on top of Falvey. Falvey called for help on his radio and asked Reilly to please let him up and they'd talk about it. When Reilly let Falvey go, Falvey stood up and hit Reilly with his nightstick on the top of his head and knocked him to the ground. Falvey hit Reilly at least four times with his nightstick while he was on the ground. Reilly couldn't remember exactly how many times he was hit as he lost consciousness for a short period of time. Reilly rolled away and ran to his house. Falvey caught him at the front door but Reilly pushed him away and ran inside. Falvey kicked down the door to Reilly's apartment and came inside followed by officers Demonico and Roach. Reilly was handcuffed in the bathroom of the apartment after which Falvey hit him a few more times in the head with his nightstick. The officers present then threw him onto the kitchen floor and kicked and hit him. Reilly testified that he was taken to the Bangor police station, taken into a room where an officer Demonico mashed his head into a table and choked him with a nightstick. Reilly was then beaten for twenty minutes to half an hour and finally told to strip. One officer cut his tie off with a pair of scissors. Demonico told Reilly to hurry up and jabbed him twice in the stomach with his nightstick. The police later took Reilly to a hospital for a blood test. Reilly testified that while at the hospital Demonico again hit him in the stomach with a nightstick. Photographs of Reilly after he had been treated were admitted into evidence. Reilly testified that as a result of the incident he had seen a doctor twenty-five or thirty times, he had a hard time talking and swallowing as cartilage had been broken around his Adam's apple, he still had headaches, ringing sensations, pain in his ears and had been on medication for eight months as a result of the incident.