Thread: Illegal Immigrant Who Sued Police Charged with Assault (update)

by Caroline May
3 Sep 2015

An illegal immigrant who is suing the Knoxville Police Department is now being charged with resisting arrest and assaulting officers during that arrest, according to WBIR-TV.

Last July, Knoxville police arrested Ernesto Delgadilo Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, after a domestic assault call. Rodriguez suffered a fractured face during the arrest.

This summer, Rodriguez filed a federal lawsuit against the arresting officers and the City of Knoxville.

According to the report by the NBC affiliate, law enforcement had dropped initial resisting arrest and assault charges against Rodriguez in November 2014 because they were under the impression that he was to be repatriated. Instead of going to Mexico, Rodriguez came back at the police department with a lawsuit.

His repatriation case is still pending in Memphis, WBIR reports.

Police released dashcam video of the Rodriguez arrest:

It shows Rodriguez being held by the first responding officer with one hand handcuffed, but repeatedly refuses to provide his other hand. Backup officers arrive and are shown pounding on Rodriguez to force him to submit to being restrained.

The federal lawsuit against KPD states Rodriguez would not give his hands because the handcuffs were too small and were hurting him. It also claims there was a language barrier, but Rodriguez can be heard speaking English in dashcam videos.

Rodriguez’s lawsuit claims the beating caused his injuries, but KPD said the blows shown in the video followed protocol and were delivered to Rodriguez’s shoulder-blade. KPD said the facial injuries occurred when Rodriguez was tackled and his face hit the street.

Rodriguez is slated to be arraigned in Knox County Criminal Court on September 10.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...-with-assault/

John North , WBIR 6:14 PM. EST May 19, 2016

KNOXVILLE - An undocumented immigrant convicted of misdemeanor assault in a confrontation with Knoxville police will avoid further jail time.

Ernesto D. Rodriguez, 32, was placed on unsupervised probation on Thursday by Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee. Rodriguez already had served 66 days in jail.

The judge said Rodriguez, who is from Mexico, should serve 75 percent of the 11-month, 29-day misdemeanor term and, factoring in time already served, ordered the balance suspended

Rodriguez faces an Aug. 25 report back date and must pay court costs.

A Knox County jury in March convicted Rodriguez of the assault charge and of resisting arrest.

On July 9, 2014, Rodriguez skirmished with Knoxville police in Northwest Knoxville.

The roadside fight, which was partially caught on video, occurred after officers initially responded to a domestic assault report on Roaming Drive involving Rodriguez and his girlfriend.

Prosecutors during the two-day trial said Rodriguez cut the tires of the woman’s vehicle, threatened her with a knife and then left her house.

Officers testified they saw a “defiant” Rodriguez walking down the road when they arrived at 7:20 that morning. Officers said as they attempted to cuff him, Rodriguez tried to elbow one of them, before another officer struck with him his fist four times on his shoulder.

All three eventually fell to the ground in a pile.

Rodriguez, according to police, continued to struggle and managed to spit and almost punch one of the officers. While on the ground, another officer testified that he punched Rodriguez in cheek just as a third officer arrived and helped cuff him. Rodriguez's face was smashed in, and he required surgery after the fight.

Prosecutors argued Rodriguez made the confrontation more intense than it had to be.

Defense attorney Mike Whalen argued his client suffered an unnecessary police beating.

Rodriguez initially faced a number of charges tied to the domestic dispute and the altercation with police, but those charges were dropped several months later because local officials believed Rodriguez was about to be deported. He was not.

Rodriguez has a pending civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

http://www.wbir.com/news/crime/mexic...cops/204964589