FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The defense team for a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy accused of falsifying a police report on a pepper spraying incident involving a teenager has moved for his acquittal.
The judge called for a recess Wednesday afternoon and said she will rule on the motion for the acquittal of BSO Deputy Ralph Mackey on Thursday morning.
The witness and teen in question, 15-year-old Delucca Rolle, took the stand earlier Wednesday.
He was thrown to the ground and pepper sprayed during a rough arrest last spring.
“A cover-up … is worse than the crime,” said a prosecutor.
“Ralph Mackey did not physically hurt anyone,” said a defense attorney.
These were the opening arguments made Wednesday morning. Mackey is facing misdemeanor charges of falsifying a police report after an incident in Tamarac last April, when deputies responded to reports of a fight and took two teens into custody.
One of the teens was Rolle, who was thrown to the ground after being pepper sprayed.
“The police officers pushed me, and I got up, and I said, I told him ‘Thank you,'” Rolle said. “And then, after that, he pepper sprayed me.”
The two deputies seen in the viral video, Gregory LaCerra and Christopher Krickovich, face battery charges.
Prosecutors played bodycam footage of the ordeal in court. Then they claimed Mackey falsely reported details of the event.
“The whole purpose of this is to justify the police officers’ violent actions with Delucca Rolle,” prosecutor Justin McCormack said.
But defense attorneys said Mackey’s report was accurate, and that the videos from that day showed Delucca taking an aggressive stance toward the deputies.
“That’s you stepping towards him, isn’t it?” an attorney asked Rolle while reviewing cellphone video of the incident.
“No, sir,” replied Rolle.
The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
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