Former East Haven police Officer Dennis Spaulding, right, leaves federal court in Hartford Thursday after being sentenced to 5 years in prison. Photo: Arnold Gold — New Haven Register
Nearly a week after U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Thompson denied his request for an acquittal or new trial, former police Officer Dennis Spaulding was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison for federal civil rights violations.
“His actions as a police officer made people not want to work, shop or live in the places he patrolled,” Thompson said during the moments leading up to his announcement of Spaulding’s sentence. “His conviction was not about aggressively enforcing motor vehicle laws or racial profiling, but about the reports from the victims whose rights he violated.”
Spaulding was convicted Oct. 21 of every charged lobbed at him by government prosecutors, including conspiracy to violate civil rights, deprivation of rights for making arrests without probable cause, obstruction of justice and use of unreasonable force.
He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
During a trial that stretched more than a month, multiple Latino witnesses testified against the 30-year-old officer, telling jurors that they were victims of mistreatment and brutality at his hands. John Espinosa and Moises Marin, two of those witnesses, made final statements to the court during Spaulding’s sentencing.
Marin, owner of a Main Street restaurant that catered to the Hispanic community, recalled once again the night of Nov. 22, 2008, when Spaulding arrested him. He talked about his frustrations as a business owner when Spaulding would…
To read full story: http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20140123/ex-east-haven-cop-dennis-spaulding-sent-to-federal-prison-for-5-years
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