America
US police officer convicted for assaulting woman
Washington, June 6
A female police officer in
Los Angeles has been convicted for threatening a handcuffed woman,
striking at her throat with an open hand and kicking her in the crotch,
media reported.
The video of the incident, recorded by a patrol
car camera, persuaded jurors to convict Mary O’Callaghan, 50, on Friday,
the Los Angeles times reported.
O’Callaghan faces three years in state prison for assaulting Alecia Thomas in the back of a patrol vehicle in July 2012.
Thomas, 35, lost consciousness and soon after died at hospital. O’Callaghan was not charged in connection with the death.
The
prosecution's case centred on the video, which showed O'Callaghan jab
at Thomas’s throat with an open hand and threaten to break her arms and
kick her in the crotch. In the video, O’Callaghan then raises her boot
and strikes Thomas.
A video from a dashboard camera in another
patrol car, which was also played during the trial, recorded O’Callaghan
laughing and smoking a cigarette as she peeked inside the car at
Thomas, whose legs were tied with a nylon hobble restraint.