CRIME / COURTS

LMPD officer found guilty of official misconduct

Matthew Glowicki
@MattGlo

A jury found police officer Zechariah Aubrey guilty on Friday of second-degree official misconduct for his actions last summer after a man high on heroin crashed into his car.

Jurors opted for the maximum fine of $250 over a possible 90-day maximum jail sentence.

Over two days of testimony in the officer misconduct trial, jurors heard how Justin Cook injected heroin on June 13, 2016, went driving and soon passed out at the wheel of his car while stopped at a red light at Taylorsville and Lowe roads.

They heard how Cook's car drifted and crashed into the personal vehicle of Aubrey, who was off-duty, also stopped at the light.

Prosecutors characterized Aubrey's subsequent actions that evening as rageful, saying he let his emotions take control as he made threats of violence and physically struck Cook, who eventually regained consciousness and recorded some of the interaction on his cell phone.

Aubrey's attorney, Steve Schroering, maintained his client acted lawfully and followed departmental policy as he was arresting Cook.

After four hours of deliberation, the jury of three men and three women also acquitted Aubrey of harassment and third-degree terroristic threatening, all misdemeanor offenses.

After the verdict, Schroering said Aubrey was relieved he avoided conviction on most of the charges, including an original charge of first-degree official misconduct. But he was disappointed the jury found him guilty of a lesser misconduct charge.

Asked if Aubrey could have handled the situation differently, Schroering said, "He reacted the best he could under the circumstances."

Assistant County Attorney J.P. Ward pointed to more than a dozen 911 calls by concerned witnesses to support his assertion that Aubrey failed to de-escalate the situation and "absolutely, fundamentally, without question lost control."

Ward submitted to jurors that an angered Aubrey kicked Cook after seeing needle marks on his arms.

In the video shown to jurors, Aubrey is heard yelling, "I'm gonna knock you the (expletive) out," after seeing the marks, later saying, "What if my kid was in the back seat?"

Zechariah Aubrey

Cook appears impaired in the cell phone recording, which shows he denied passing out at the wheel and questioned why the officer was yelling.

“When people get arrested, that’s not always pretty,” Schroering said in closing arguments Friday, acknowledging his client screamed, yelled and cussed throughout the video.

But the case wasn't about bad language, the attorney continued, and cursing isn't criminal.

"He's loud," Schroering said. "He's upset, but he's in control."

Schroering dismissed the accuracy of numerous witness accounts, saying people did not see the full incident from their cars and might have misinterpreted what they observed.

Related

► Police misconduct, harassment trial begins

►  Not guilty plea in officer misconduct case 

He rejected the idea that Aubrey kicked Cook in anger. Rather, the officer's foot made contact with Cook while he was down on the ground only after Cook reached for his waist. Aubrey wanted to straighten his legs to see what was there, Schroering said.

A search later revealed a capped needle with heroin residue in his waistband, the attorney said.

Cook testified Wednesday that he remembered waking up to a screaming Aubrey at his car window and acknowledged he did have a needle he was trying to conceal from the officer, though he disagreed with Schroering that it was at his waist.

Cook, who was arrested the day of the incident, has since pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.

The misdemeanor charges against Aubrey arose after Cook's girlfriend saw the cell phone video and reported it to police, according to court records.

Police Chief Steve Conrad ordered an investigation by the department's Public Integrity Unit. Criminal charges followed.

"The jury had to determine what they felt rose to a level of criminal conduct," Ward said Friday afternoon. "I think the video in this case absolutely helped."

The police chief also ordered an investigation by the department's Professional Standards Unit to determine if departmental policies were violated. An email Friday to the department seeking the status of that investigation was not immediately returned.

Aubrey, who had been with the department for two years at the time of the incident, deferred comment to Schroering as he left the courtroom.

Assistant County Attorney Jessica Stone also prosecuted the case before District Judge Jennifer Bryant Wilcox.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. 

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