Candido Medina-ResendizThe charges against a Red Bank man who was beaten by police in April will be reconsidered by a grand jury after Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston received a video of the arrest that was not previously provided to prosecutors despite a subpoena filed by a defense attorney.
Pinkston on Wednesday filed a motion in Hamilton County Criminal Court to send Candido Medina-Resendiz's case back to a grand jury, calling the video significant new evidence.
Medina-Resendiz was beaten by police and struck seven times in the head by Officer Mark Kaylor during a traffic stop on April 13. The encounter left Medina-Resendiz with a swollen-shut eye, a fractured eye socket and cuts and bruises on his face.
Medina-Resendiz was charged with simple assault, resisting arrest and driving under the influence by consent from the April 13 incident, when he was a passenger in the car. The driver was arrested for being intoxicated.
A grand jury indicted Medina-Resendiz on the charges on Aug. 27, but the district attorney's office did not receive the police car dash camera video of the arrest until Sept. 15. That means the grand jury did not consider the video when it decided there was enough evidence to bring Medina-Resendiz to court on the charges.
However, defense attorneys did ask for the video. An audio recording of a July 7 preliminary hearing in Red Bank City Court reveals that Kaylor had been served with a subpoena ordering him to provide the video to Medina-Resendiz's defense attorney, but did not turn over the video.
In the hearing, Kaylor said that he no longer had the video in his possession, and that was why he did not turn it over to the court. But Red Bank City Judge Johnny Houston took Kaylor to task for that explanation.
"Did you see to it that the subpoena made it to someone else?" Houston asked Kaylor.
"No sir," Kaylor said.
"Why not?" Houston asked.
"[The subpoena] was directed to me for video evidence that I have, and I don't have any evidence," Kaylor said.
"Well, video of the incident -- I don't think it's a big jump for you to forward that subpoena to whomever has custody of those records," Houston said. "That needs to be done."
The video of the arrest is relevant to the charges of assault and resisting arrest, Pinkston said in the motion.
Now, a grand jury will reconsider whether prosecutors have a strong enough case to bring Medina-Resendiz to trial on the assault, resisting arrest and DUI charges.
This development is unrelated to Medina-Resendiz's claim that officers used excessive force during the arrest. Medina-Resendiz filed a complaint of excessive force against the Red Bank Police Department on July 31 and the internal affairs investigator concluded on Aug. 25 that Kaylor did not use excessive force.
Attorneys Kyle Mothershead and Andrew Free represent Medina-Resendiz.
Mothershead said he's pleased to see the criminal case go back to the grand jury.
"We agree with and commend the state's request to send Mr. Medina's case back to the grand jury," he said. "We agree it is essential for the grand jurors to review the video evidence of this incident in assessing this indictment."
Staff writer Claire Wiseman contributed to this story.
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