Handcuffed behind his back, and with his legs sticking out of the SUV, William Gunter told Baltimore Police officers that he was unable to climb inside the patrol vehicle because he’d undergone knee replacement surgery. “I’m not faking,” he said. “Bro, all you need to do is look.”
It was the early morning of May 25, 2022, and police went out to North Payson Street, between Vine Street and West Fayette Street in Southwest Baltimore, to serve two arrest warrants and protective orders on Gunter. Officers found him inside a car and broke the front passenger window to unlock the vehicle after he did not comply with several commands to open the door.
Police handcuffed and searched Gunter — who repeatedly gave them a fake name — and walked him to a waiting SUV after verifying his identity. He asked officers to call for a patrol wagon.
Officer Kevin Hilton later grabbed Gunter’s legs and shoved him into the back of the vehicle as he screamed and shouted that he was in pain.
“Well,” Hilton told Gunter, in an exchange captured on body camera video, “you should’ve listened.”
But at the end of a half-day bench trial, Baltimore Circuit Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer on Friday granted a motion for judgment of acquittal and threw out the charges of second-degree assault and misconduct in office against Hilton, 25, a more than four-year veteran.
“I don’t find beyond a reasonable doubt his actions were objectively unreasonable,” Schiffer said.
Schiffer complimented the prosecutor, Assistant State’s Attorney Kimberly Rothwell, stating that she did an “outstanding job” at trial. “You have tried this case well,” the judge said. “You represented the state well.”
Gunter, though, she said, repeatedly lied that morning. And he only claimed that he had a knee issue after sitting down in the SUV and realizing that it was his “last chance to avoid going to jail,” Schiffer said.
During the trial, Rothwell called three witnesses and played body camera video of the arrest. She argued that police have an obligation to accommodate those who report having disabilities.
Rothwell noted that there were several officers on the scene that morning. But it was Hilton, she said, who decided to bend Gunter “like a pretzel.”
“The other officers knew better,” Rothwell said. “What he did was without legal justification.”
Though Rothwell intended to call Gunter, who was on a train and set to arrive in the afternoon, as a witness, Schiffer said she did not think that he could offer any additional insight into what happened. That’s because she said the entire encounter was captured on body camera video.
In a statement, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said his office “collectively found this officer’s actions to be shocking and offensive.”
“While we disagree with the Judge’s findings, we respect her ruling,” Bates said. “Historically, cases like this were not charged. We stand committed to independently reviewing these cases involving alleged misconduct by police officers.”
Bates said the outcome of the trial “will not dissuade us from charging similar cases moving forward as we continue to do the work to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
Gunter could not immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Chaz Ball, Hilton’s attorney, argued that his client was legally justified in using force and did not commit a crime.
Gunter, he contended, was feigning injury and passively and actively resisting arrest.
“He’s stalling,” Ball said. “And he’s trying not to go to jail.”
Ball sent out the following statement after the trial:
“Officer Hilton is appreciative of the Court’s thorough evaluation of the evidence and application to the law in determining, given what Officer Hilton knew that night, his actions were not criminally objectively unreasonable.”
Judge throws out misconduct charge against Baltimore Police officer in unrelated case
In an unrelated case, Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence R. Daniels on Sept. 29 granted a motion for judgment of acquittal and threw out charges of wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun without a permit, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and misconduct in office against Baltimore Police Officer Unique Sheppard, an almost three-year veteran.
Daniels made the ruling at a bench trial after a different judge, Christopher L. Panos, suppressed evidence in the case. Panos found that police conducted an unlawful search and violated Sheppard’s constitutional rights.
“Ms. Sheppard is relieved and appreciative of Maryland’s fair judiciary,” said Chaz Ball, Sheppard’s attorney, in a statement. “And I am satisfied that the rulings in this matter show that while law enforcement officers are not entitled to more rights than that of a civilian citizen, they are also not entitled to less.”
In a statement, James Bentley, a spokesperson for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, said it was confident that the Public Trust and Police Integrity Unit “appropriately charged this case and presented compelling evidence in court.”
Said Bentley: “While we disagree with the Judge’s findings, we must respect the ruling and the judicial process.”
