Ab Alabama police officer who had been accused of assaulting an elderly Indian man has been acquitted by a US judge on Thursday. The sentence carried a punishment of 10-years in prison.
Sureshbhai Patel, a 58-year-old grandfather was assaulted by the cop while he was walking on the sidewalk outside his son’s home in the Huntsville city of Madison county, leaving him hospitalised with a fused vertebrae anda paralysed left leg.
Judge Madeline Hughes HaikalaThe government has had two full and fair chances to obtain a conviction; it will not have another.
This decision comes after the case was declared a mistrial twice, once in September and then in November 2015.
Sureshbai Patel’s testimonyI did not try to run away but I did go back a couple of steps to show them my house.
Patel has been partially paralysed after officer Eric Parker assaulted him in February 2015. Officer Parker was caught on video repeatedly beating Patel and slamming him to the ground despite the latter telling him he couldn’t speak English. Patel was stopped by the officer after a neighbour reported a ‘suspicious black man.’
Patel needed spinal surgery and is still being treated.
Also read: MEA Responds To Elderly Indian Left Paralysed After Assault By US Cops
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