By Lawrence Mower
AND Mike Blasky
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Apr. 6, 2012 | 1:51 p.m.

A Henderson police sergeant who was caught kicking a man in the head during a traffic stop will avoid criminal charges -- again.

For the second time, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson announced he won't seek charges against Sgt. Brett Seekatz, who was caught on a police dashboard camera kicking Adam Greene in the head during a 2010 traffic stop.

Officers later discovered that Greene, initially suspected of drunken driving, was actually in a state of diabetic shock.

In a five-page report posted on Clark County's website Friday afternoon, Wolfson said his decision came after he acquired the police reports on the incident, studied the department's policies and assembled nine other lawyers on his staff to review the case.

The primary question asked by investigators was whether Seekatz or any other officer could be charged with oppression under color of office, a felony. To prove it, prosecutors would have to show the officers had malicious intent, Wolfson detailed in the decision.

But when reviewing Henderson police policies and training, he found Seekatz was taught that he could use kicks when trying to arrest someone.

"When he was specifically trained that he could use kicks to effectuate arrest and a detention, how is that malice?" Wolfson said after the decision was released. "Not everyone is going to agree with that, OK. But as a lawyer, I have to think, can I prove evil intent when he was trained to be able to use a kick? And that's kind of what it all comes down to."

He and his lawyers determined none of the officers' conduct rose to a criminal level that could be proven in court.

But he did see room for improvement. He said Henderson police should volunteer for a review of their department's use of force policies.

CAUGHT ON TAPE

Wolfson's report and a follow-up interview provide new details about the Oct. 29, 2010, traffic stop.

At 4:04 a.m., a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper began following Greene's tan Honda Civic after noticing the car weaving between lanes without its headlights on. Greene, who was on his way to work, didn't pull over when troopers activated their lights and siren. Henderson officers joined pursuit, which lasted 14 minutes over "several" miles at speeds sometimes in excess of 80 mph.

Greene stopped at Boulder Highway and Lake Mead Parkway, and that is where a trooper's dashboard camera recorded officers pulling Greene from the car and trying to arrest him.

"Mr. Green resisted officers' efforts to place handcuffs on him," Wolfson wrote in his report. The report misspelled Greene's name.

In the struggle, Henderson officers Douglas Lynaugh and Seth VanBeveren kneed Greene several times, and Seekatz walked up and kicked him in the shoulder, chest and head area. Wolfson wrote that the officers were trying to get Greene to place his hands behind his back.

"None of the officers acted maliciously," Wolfson wrote. "After kicking Mr. Green approximately five times, Sergeant Seekatz seemed to realize that his actions were not helping to overcome Mr. Green's apparently confrontational behavior."

When he was placed in handcuffs, he was searched, and officers discovered he was diabetic. He suffered several broken ribs and was treated at the scene by paramedics. He was released without being jailed or charged with a crime.

The video was released in February, after Greene's family settled lawsuits against Henderson and the state of Nevada for almost $300,000. The video quickly went viral on the Internet, with many people calling for action against Seekatz, who was disciplined but kept his rank as sergeant.

STATEMENT MATCHED VIDEO

Amid the scrutiny, the newly appointed Wolfson initially said he would not charge Seekatz, saying it wasn't in the "community's best interest." He said Friday that he called Henderson police seeking a department report into the incident but was told no such reports existed.

But following a Review-Journal story detailing complaints filed against Seekatz in unrelated cases, Wolfson said he reopened an investigation. He again called the department and was told reports did exist.

He would not elaborate on the discrepancy Friday.

"I decided wow, maybe I should take another look at this, and I then inquired about the reports and was told that initially when I was told there were no reports, I was mistaken, and there were reports," he said. "And I told them I wanted them and got them."

The reports included a statement by Seekatz, in which the sergeant said he made the kicks "because he was helping to effectuate an arrest," according to Wolfson.

Wolfson said Seekatz's statement matched what the video showed. Had Seekatz lied in the report, Wolfson said his decision might have been different.

Wolfson also said the knee strikes to Greene's sides by two other officers were also within Henderson police policy.

REVIEWING POLICIES

Some police departments prohibit officers from using their hands, feet or equipment to strike people in the head outside of life-or-death situations because such strikes have the potential to result in serious injuries or death.

Las Vegas police advise, "During non-deadly force incidents members should avoid striking suspects on the head, neck, sternum, spine, groin, or kidneys."

In 2005, a Fort Worth, Texas, police officer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for kicking a man in the head and standing on his head after a high-speed pursuit that was caught on tape. That department considered kicks to the head "deadly force."

Wolfson compared Henderson's policies with those of the Las Vegas and North Las Vegas police departments. There is little consistency, and Wolfson said he would like to see Henderson police volunteer to have an outside group examine their policies.

Last month the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada released a 62-page study comparing Las Vegas police policies with those of other big-city departments and offering recommendations for change. Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said his department also obtained that report and is comparing the recommendations with their current policies. He said their review could include re-evaluating kicks to a person's head.

"Our use of force policy is a document that is constantly changing," he said. "Any time there's an incident, we have to learn from it."

REPORTS TO BECOME ROUTINE

Wolfson said the report into the Greene case will be the first of many to be written and posted on the district attorney's website. His office is reviewing 18 fatal police shootings or other deadly uses of force dating to 2010 and will start posting his decisions on whether to prosecute the cases online periodically within the next 10 days.

That is a departure from his predecessor. Until late 2010, the district attorney's office reviewed fatal shootings only to prepare for a coroner's inquest, a fact-finding procedure that has been stalled. It's set to resume next month.

"I think that the public has a right to know the reasons behind why public officials make decisions," he said.

The public decisions will include high-profile use of force cases by officers such as the one involving Seekatz and cases that involve fatal uses of force by homeowners. That includes the recent case of a Summerlin resident shooting an intruder in the backyard. Wolfson expects to get the police report into that case next week.

Greene has been reluctant to speak about the case and has asked that his city of residence and employer not be identified. He told the Review-Journal he wanted to "move on" from the incident.

Wolfson wrote in his decision that Greene told prosecutors he wasn't pushing for any particular resolution.

"I think it's important to note that we didn't contact you," Greene told the prosecutor.




District attorney won't charge Henderson officer in beating - News - ReviewJournal.com


I brought this video over here a long while back showing the police brutality on this man he was having a seizure and they were trying to contain him and it clearly showed the police officer kicking this man in the head...Improvement is needed you might say that.