FAIRFAX, Va. — A Fairfax County Police officer was charged after a body camera video released showed him tasing an unarmed Black man and has been found not guilty on all counts Friday.
Officer Tyler Timberlake was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery for tasing LaMonta Gladney, smacking him in the face and tasing him a second time on June 5, 2020, at the height of the social justice protests.
Brandon Shapiro, the defense attorney for Timberlake, spoke to reporters after the verdict and said the right decision was reached.
“Officer Timberlake was extremely relieved because from the beginning he’s always maintained his innocence,” Shapiro said.
Dozens of Fairfax County police officers crowded into the courtroom throughout the trial to support Timberlake. When he stepped out in the hallway after the not guilty verdicts, the officers applauded and cheered.
"Thanks you all for your support," Timberlake told them. "It means the world to my family. Stay safe out there."
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano released a statement after the verdict calling it a "disappointment," adding he was not surprised.
"It is notoriously hard to prosecute a case like this, but my standard of prosecuting a case isn’t whether it’s easy or hard. My standard is doing what I think is right to hold people, including law enforcement, accountable for their actions," the statement says.
Descano said more work needs to be done.
"True justice will be achieved when my Black and brown neighbors don’t have to fear for their well-being when they leave their homes."
Shapiro told reporters there was more to the case than simply the body camera video, and he wished the news coverage around the case had allowed for evidence to be produced before making a judgment. He slammed the prosecutor and the previous Fairfax County police chief for bringing the charges.
Fairfax County Fraternal Order of Police President Brad Carruthers released a statement saying, "We vociferously defended Timberlake from the beginning, and this case highlights the importance to conduct a thorough and balanced investigation before levying charges..... Partisan politics has no place in the prosecutor's office."
Prosecutor Descano strongly defended his investigation prior to filing charges, saying his office reviewed all the videos and all the information.
During the trial, Timberlake's lawyers argued that Timberlake may have saved Gladney's life, by preventing him from experiencing a PCP overdose.
A medical expert for the accused officer testified that Gladney was suffering from something called "excited delirium." William Bozeman, MD said Gladney was so high on PCP, that by shooting him with a stun gun seconds after arriving on the scene, Timberlake avoided a prolonged fight that might have sent Gladney into sudden cardiac arrest.
"I believe his actions contributed to his good outcome and may have possibly saved his life," Bozeman, an emergency room doctor at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist hospital, told jurors Thursday. Gladney survived the incident but says he's still traumatized.
Shapiro said morale has been low among Fairfax County officers since this incident, but he hopes the verdict will be validating to their work.
Timberlake still faces potential police department discipline. But his lawyer thinks that that is unlikely now. He’s been on restricted duty since the incident on June 5, 2020