The US Department of Justice appointed Saeed Mody of the
Civil Rights Division as the trial attorney in the case against former Alabama police officer Eric
Parker for using excessive force against Sureshbhai Patel.
According to Al.com, Mody was involved last year in
prosecution of several hate crimes and civil rights violations, including a Texas man who kidnapped and beat a gay man, a Utah man who threatened an interracial family and a Houston man who
threatened to bomb a synagogue.
Parker will face federal trial in Huntsville on June 15. US District Judge
Madeline Hughes Haikala rescheduled the felony trial, delaying two weeks to
allow for a pretrial hearing in Birmingham
on June 2.
Parker is charged with deprivation of rights under color of
law for slamming Sureshbhai Patel to the sidewalk on a suburban street in Madison on the morning of
Feb. 6.
Patel spent weeks in rehabilitation and is now in
in-home care.
The US Department of Justice on March 27 charged Parker with
a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison. The misdemeanor case in Limestone County was postponed to allow for the
federal trial. Alabama Assistant Attorney General Andrew Arrington has taken
over the prosecution for the misdemeanor assault charge, which carries up to a
year in jail.
Patel had arrived only days before to assist his son
and daughter-in-law in caring for their 17-month-old son, who was
developmentally delayed after a premature birth.
Patel was dressed for the walk in plain pants, a button
shirt, a sweater, and a knit cap and he had nothing in his pants except for a
green patterned handkerchief that was later used by officers to wipe blood from Patel’s
face.
After a call from a neighbor about a suspicious person,
Parker, a field training officer, and a police officer trainee arrived and
ordered Patel to stop.Patel told the officers ‘no English,’
‘Indian,’ ‘walking,’ and pointed down the street and said ‘house number [actual
number].’
This stop was without reasonable suspicion or probable cause
and was illegal. Patel continued to attempt to explain the situation
to the officers.
Patel is a small man, weighing between 130 and 140
pounds, probably closer to 130, and is narrow of frame and mild of manner.
Parker then searched Patel for weapons, which was
unnecessary and illegal, as there was no reason to believe Patel was
armed or presented any kind of danger or threat. After the search, without
provocation, Parker restrained Patel’s arms and slammed Patel face
first into the ground. This use of force was unnecessary and excessive.
Patel’s face was bloodied, but, much worse, there was
significant trauma to Patel’s spinal cord, and he immediately became
paralyzed in his arms and legs.
Patel underwent a cervical fusion to relieve pressure
on his spinal cord.
