Opinion ID: 3003518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Antonio Franco

Text: Antonio testified that when he arrived at La Rosa he walked up to the small group of people who were standing with Aranda’s wife and began to speak with the owner. When Antonio saw that Jose was being punched, hit, and kicked by a number of police officers, he quickly walked over and told the officers that Jose and the others had done nothing wrong. After he made that comment, one of the officers turned and punched him in the face. Antonio is unsure whether the officer used a fist or an object. The punch knocked him to the ground, at which point the officer fell on top of him and grabbed at his clothes to pull him back up. At the same time another officer was pulling at him from behind and dragging him on the ground. Yet another officer pepper-sprayed Antonio as he was being dragged along the ground. Once he was pulled upright, the officers continued to punch him; he was also peppersprayed a second time. No. 08-2658 13 Antonio recalls hearing his father’s voice asking the police to stop, as well as the police swearing and cursing at him. Antonio was then handcuffed and pushed to his knees; at that point, as he remembers, he was again beaten in the face and head while handcuffed. A more senior officer soon arrived on the scene and ordered that Antonio be taken to the hospital. Antonio was never told that he was under arrest. He was charged with resisting a police officer, mob action, and battery; the state later dropped all charges. According to the defendants, Antonio ran to the scene of Jose’s “arrest” and “made repeated physical contact” with the police officers while they attempted to arrest Jose. The defendants claim that Officer Pavoris attempted to place Antonio under arrest, that Officer Pavoris advised Antonio that he was under arrest, and that Antonio resisted Officer Pavoris’s effort to handcuff him and place him under arrest, backing away, generally being defiant, and asking, “Why?” and “How come?” The defendants claim that Officer Schroeder then gave Antonio several “controlled strikes to achieve compliance in handcuffing” him, after which Antonio “fell down face forward to the ground” and was pepper- sprayed and handcuffed by Officer Pavoris. When Sergeant Kelly arrived, the defendants say, he ordered that Antonio be taken to the hospital. Most of these events were captured on Video 857. It begins when a man, later identified as Antonio, jogs toward the melee surrounding Jose and into the view of camera 857, at 4:58:28. Video 857 then shows Antonio 14 No. 08-2658 getting into the middle of the fight and a police officer punching his head and falling to the ground on top of him, seemingly continuing to punch him. Officers then continue to kick and punch Antonio until he is face down on the ground. Antonio is pulled out of the view of camera 857 at 4:58:42.