Two East Haven Police Officers Convicted Of Civil Rights Violations

Two East Haven police officers were found guilty Monday of charges that they violated the civil rights of Latinos.
Dennis Spaulding and David Cari were charged with conspiracy against civil rights, deprivation of rights for making arrests without probable cause and obstruction of justice for writing a false police report in the arrest of the Rev. James Manship. Spaulding also faced an unreasonable force charge. They were convicted on all charges.
Spaulding and Cari could face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced Jan. 21. Two other officers who were arrested in 2012 – Sgt. John Miller and Jason Zullo – have already plead guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
The trial, before U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Thompson in Hartford, took about a month.

Spaulding’s wife gave birth less than 24 hours ago, “so he is riding a roller coaster of emotions and we want to take time to process what just happened,” Riccio said.
The jury announced it had reached a verdict at about 2:30 p.m. after more than 9 hours of deliberations over three days.
As the guilty verdicts were first being read for Cari, Spaulding hung his head. Cari showed no emotion.