It took a Philadelphia jury only one hour Tuesday to find a man who was brutally beaten by police not guilty.
The September 2010 beating of Askia Sabur at Allison Street and Lansdowne Avenue received worldwide media coverage after video of the incident was posted on YouTube by cellphone-wielding onlookers.
The video showed a gaggle of uniformed cops surrounding Sabur, now 31, as he sat on the sidewalk, often times with his hands raised as if trying to surrender.
One officer, Jimmy Leocal, is seen repeatedly hitting Sabur in the head with a nightstick. Leocal also pulled his gun and pointed it at the agitated crowd.
Despite Leocal's testimony that he was "fighting for his life," and testimony from his partner, Donyule Williams, that Sabur bit him and tried to grab his gun, the jury rejected the prosecution's argument that Sabur was guilty of aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and resisting arrest.
"My reaction is, I'm extremely happy that the jury got it right. They saw with their own eyes that this was brutality, that the only people who ought to be facing criminal charges here wore uniforms," said defense attorney Lawrence Krasner.
A civil suit against the city has already been filed, Krasner said.
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