ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 29, 1997.
A headline Tuesday about the trial of Steven L Leftwich was
incorrect. The jury was asked to decide only if Leftwich was guilty of
assaulting Roanoke police officers.
The arrest of Steven L. Leftwich was a case of either police brutality or resisting arrest, a Roanoke jury was told Monday.
Leftwich - who claims that a gang of police officers beat, kicked and clubbed him after an early-morning traffic stop on the City Market - is charged with four counts of assaulting the officers. His case is expected to go to the jury today.
A General District Court judge convicted Leftwich of all four counts last year and sentenced him to two years in jail, but Leftwich appealed to Roanoke Circuit Court.
As testimony began Monday, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner called it a routine traffic stop that escalated into an "all-out brawl."
"In the end, after the pepper spray cleared and everyone got up off the street, five people had to go to the hospital," Gardner said.
Leftwich and four officers were treated and released from hospitals for injuries that included a separated shoulder for a state trooper, a head injury for one city police officer, and scrapes, cuts and bruises for the others.
The incident began about 4 a.m. on Feb. 11 when a city officer stopped a car on Campbell Avenue because its taillights were not working. Leftwich, a passenger in the car, was asked to step out after the officer saw marijuana in a console between the seats.
Police testified that Leftwich shoved a state trooper in the chest and then fought off their efforts to subdue him, trying at one point to pull an officer's gun from its holster. Leftwich put up such a fight that it took nearly 10 officers to handcuff him, police said.
Leftwich, however, said police jumped him for no reason. "A mob-type situation presented itself that night on Campbell Avenue," his lawyer said.
After Leftwich made his claim of excessive force, the Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference asked for an investigation. An internal police investigation cleared the officers, ruling that they used no more force than was necessary to bring Leftwich under control.
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