Officer Thomas Webster IV found not guilty on assault charges over August 2013 incident in which he kicked Lateef Dickerson in the head during an arrest

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A jury in Delaware acquitted a white police officer Tuesday of assault after he kicked a black suspect in the head, breaking his jaw.

Jurors deliberated for about 16 hours over three days in the case of Dover police officer Thomas Webster IV for charges of felony assault and misdemeanor assault.



Webster testified he didn’t intend to kick Lateef Dickerson in the head in August 2013 and instead was aiming for his upper body. Webster also said he feared for the safety of himself and others because officers were told Dickerson was armed with a gun, and Dickerson was slow to comply with repeated commands to get on the ground.

Prosecutors argued Webster acted recklessly and used excessive force.

Defense attorney James Liguori told jurors Friday in his closing argument that Webster had only seconds to act after Dickerson, who ran from another officer responding to a fight involving a large group of people, repeatedly ignored commands to get on the ground.



“These split-second decisions and judgments ... not only were they justifiable, they were, in fact, necessary,” Liguori said.

Prosecutors contended Webster intended to kick Dickerson in the head.

“Whether it was a mistake, whether it was intentional, it was reckless behavior,” prosecutor Danielle Brennan told jurors. Brennan also said the reports filed by Webster after the encounter were “inconsistent and incorrect” and didn’t include his contention at trial that he didn’t intend to kick Dickerson in the head.

Video from a dashboard camera in Hermance’s vehicle shows Dickerson had placed his hands on the ground but wasn’t fully prone when Webster kicked him.

The defense had argued that Dickerson was in a “sprinter’s position” from which he could have lunged at the officers, pulled a weapon or fled with a gun.

Dickerson, who has a criminal history and is awaiting trial on unrelated charges involving stolen guns, was charged with resisting arrest after fleeing from the officer at the fight scene. That charge was later dropped.

Defense witnesses, including a police academy defensive tactics instructor and former FBI agent who is an expert in the use of force, testified that Webster acted reasonably. A prosecution expert disagreed, saying Dickerson did not present an “objectively reasonable threat” at the time.

A grand jury declined to indict the officer after the encounter, but a second one indicted Webster earlier this year. Liguori argued in court papers that Democratic attorney general Matt Denn’s decision to take the case to the second grand jury with no new evidence was a politically motivated response to nationwide scrutiny of police encounters with black citizens.

