Todd Clausen

@ToddJClausen

Woman claims that she was hit, punched and choked unnecessarily

A booking video used to convict a Greece woman of assaulting a jail deputy is now a central piece of evidence in a federal lawsuit filed against at least two Monroe County sheriff's deputies and their supervisors.

Jennifer Merrow, 32, of Greece, alleges that deputies used excessive force on Dec. 19, 2014, while she was being booked on suspicion of DWI, according to court documents filed last month in U.S. Western District Court.

The video — which does not have audio — shows Merrow struggling to put on a jacket when she is approached by a female deputy. Suddenly, the two appear to be kicking each other.

The female deputy overpowers Merrow, forcing her into a nearby wall and then onto the floor where several other deputies converge and work to restrain the woman.

►DA: Merrow found guilty of DWI, assault

"Nobody deserves to be beaten up like that … that’s not what our criminal justice system is suppose to be about,” said Anjan Ganguly, who released the video and is Merrow’s lawyer in the civil matter. "There's frankly nothing I can see that would possibly justify that level of force.

"She had no aggressive stance toward anyone ... It couldn't be more clear."

Cpl. John Helfer, of the Sheriff's Office, said the video was used to convict Merrow of assault on a jail deputy during a criminal case last year. He said such videos do not record audio, adding that it was unknown whether Merrow said something to spark the altercation.

"The video was also further reviewed by an independent civilian review board and they exonerated all of the deputies involved of any wrongdoing," Helfer said.

Merrow was given probation after being convicted of a misdemeanor count of DWI and sentenced to time served on the assault charge, Ganguly said.

"She is a fairly young, fairly petite person," Ganguly said. "This is not some common criminal. She is gainfully employed. She is married. This is not a situation where some in the public go, 'Oh, that person had it coming.' "

The lawsuit names sheriff's deputies Raelle Ashley and Timothy Romach, along with unnamed personnel, as well as Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn and county jail Superintendent Ronald W. Harling.

Court documents claim that Merrow lost consciousness as a result of the altercation, but she awoke in a holding area naked and in full view of a male deputy. The lawsuit also alleges an established pattern of misconduct.

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"There's a concern that there is a pattern or practice of conduct by the part of jail deputies," Ganguly said. "This kind of thing is not an isolated incident. The department has turned a blind eye to this behavior."

Helfer denied such claims and said he couldn't disclose further information on the two deputies named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as updated hiring, training and other procedures to prevent such an incident from occurring again, Ganguly said.

"She is really in this for justice," he said of his client. "This is about excessive use of force and it's about cruel and unusual punishment. The use of force there is objectively unreasonable. It doesn't pass the common sense test, let alone any precise legal test."

TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com