FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - After deliberating for several hours, a jury has delivered a not guilty verdict in the trial of a former South Florida police officer who was caught on camera shoving a protester to the ground.
The verdict, reached on Monday evening, brings to an end the trial of former Fort Lauderdale Officer Steven Pohorence.
At issue was whether the former officer used excessive force on a protester during a Black Lives Matter protest back in May 2020.
Pohorence was caught on camera shoving 19-year-old Jada Servance during the protest.
Earlier on Monday, defense attorneys and prosecutors delivered their closing arguments.
Neither the Servance nor Pohorence testified in court.
Prosecutor Chris Killoran did not mince words.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a crime,” he said.
“[My client] wasn’t in control of that hand, and is at his belt, his gun belt, right, which increases the danger,” said defense attorney Michael Dutko. “As he moves, [the protester] moves away. If there was contact, it was minimal.”
Dutko tried to prove his client was in a vulnerable position.
“His focus was, as we discussed, would run her left hand, because her presence and her left hand, in particular, pose a danger to that officer who finds himself in a very dangerous circumstance, surrounded by what had become angry protesters,” said Dutko.
But prosecutors argued that Pohorence could have gone around her.
“There you see Jada on her knees with her hands up,” said Killoran. “This was an unnecessary push, going back to the necessity, just simply wasn’t necessary. It did nothing. It didn’t help him get out; he was already out.”
Killoran said that after the shove, Pohorence lied about what had happened to a fellow officer.
According to prosecutors, this further proved his guilt.
“When they commit a crime, no one is above the law,” said Killoran. “The state has proven its case.”
After two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury thought otherwise.
“Our view for a long time has been that video is kind of an inaccurate narrative of the totality of the circumstance that were on there,” said Dutko. “This was a frightening situation for many police officers, and unfortunately, that wasn’t the way the story was originally reported, so I think a lot of people learned some things in the course of this trial.”
Pohorence faced up to a year behind bars if he had been found guilty.
He had been suspended without pay since the beginning of the trial.
Dutko told 7News Pohorence is now working to get his job back.
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