FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Years after a student was slammed on campus, it’s finally time for trial for a former school resource officer.
Jury selection in the trial of former Broward Sheriff’s Office school resource officer Willard Miller began Monday.
It has been three years since the release of a video showing Miller throwing a 15-year-old student to the ground at Cross Creek School in Pompano Beach.
Miller faces a third-degree felony count of child abuse without great bodily harm.
Footage from school cameras on Sept. 25, 2019 showed the 15-year-old female student walk up behind Miller and tapping the back of his knees with her foot. There was no audio in the video, but it was clear words were exchanged.
About a minute later in the video, the deputy is seen grabbing the student by the neck and then slamming her to the ground.
Soon after it happened, BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony said nothing warranted this reaction from Miller.
“Does it matter, does it matter? Do you think that was appropriate for us to respond as law enforcement professionals?” said Tony. “It makes no sense, and it wasn’t necessary.”
Miller was fired from the force in August 2021 after an investigation by internal affairs.
Attorneys for the state argued Miller violated BSO regulations, including powering off his body-worn camera when interacting with the student and for not filing a report after the incident.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.