William Melendez has evaded conviction for a series of police misconduct allegations for more than a decade, costing the city millions in legal settlements. But video evidence in the Floyd Dent trial starting this week may change his luck

He has been accused in lawsuits and a federal indictment of planting evidence, wrongfully killing civilians, falsifying police reports and conducting illegal arrests. His conduct has cost the city of Detroit millions in legal settlements. He’s well-known by his nickname: “RoboCop”.

And this week, William Melendez, the former officer in the town of Inkster near Detroit goes to trial for pulling a man out of his car during a routine traffic stop and repeatedly punching him in the head – a move caught on video.

Melendez, 47, now faces his starkest punishment yet in the trial on three felony charges, after decades during which he continued to serve as a police officer.

The trial centers on his conduct during a 28 January arrest of Floyd Dent. Dent was pulled over around 10pm after he had failed to use a traffic signal and disregarded a stop sign, according to a police report of the incident. He continued to drive at roughly the same speed for about three-quarters of a mile to a well-lit area where, Dent said, he felt more comfortable.

Police have said Dent, who was unarmed, was driving with a suspended license – a point the 58-year-old has acknowledged. After Dent pulled his Cadillac over near an old police station, he opened his door and put both his hands out of the window.

But as Melendez approached with his firearm drawn, the officer said he believed Dent was reaching for a gun. Moments later, Melendez dragged Dent out of his vehicle and, almost immediately, placed him in a chokehold. The officer then punched Dent’s temple more than a dozen times.

“At one point, I just gave up,” Dent told the Guardian earlier this year. “I thought that was it for me.”

Another officer soon arrived and proceeded to use a stun gun against Dent, three times. In a dashcam video of the incident, Dent, with blood dripping from his forehead and cheek, appears not to be resisting Melendez’s efforts to arrest him. The altercation landed Dent in the hospital for two days with a fractured left orbital, blood on the brain and four broken ribs.

The incident didn’t garner significant attention until video was obtained and released in March by a local TV news station. Activists highlighted the rough arrest as one of a number this year that have illuminated a national police brutality problem.

Charges filed against Dent for resisting arrest and possession of cocaine were later dropped, after the Wayne County prosecutor’s office opted to prosecute Melendez for his conduct.

“This devalues greatly the work that the majority of police officers in this country perform daily,” Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement at the time of the announced charges against Melendez. “The alleged police brutality in this case cannot and will not be tolerated.”

Melendez – who denies any wrongdoing – faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted, for three felony charges that include misconduct in office, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and assault by strangulation.

Worthy said her office didn’t know about the incident until the video was aired by WDIV-TV.

Protests immediately broke out in Inkster – a Detroit suburb whose population is 73% black, however the police force is estimated to be 80-90% white – and Highland Park, where Melendez was also employed.

He was soon fired from both departments, and later declined to discuss specifics of Dent’s arrest, only telling a TV station in April that “you’re tying police officers’ hands when you’re Monday morning quarterbacking”.

A dozen lawsuits, an indictment, and a record for citizen complaints

Melendez’s firing was the most severe sanction yet after decades of police brutality allegations. At one point, he received more citizen complaints than any officer in Detroit, where he started his career in 1993 and served until his resignation in 2009. He entered Inkster’s police force a year later.

The former officer has been named as a defendant in a dozen federal lawsuits, accusing him of planting evidence, wrongfully killing civilians, falsifying police reports and conducting illegal arrests. Some suits were settled out of court; others were dismissed.

Just three years after joining the Detroit police force, Melendez and his partner fatally shot Detroit resident Lou Adkins, and witnesses testified Adkins was shot an additional 11 times while on the ground. The case was settled for $1.05m, court records show.

Years later, Melendez was indicted by a federal grand jury on civil rights violations as prosecutors alleged he and several other officers stole guns, money and drugs from suspects, planted weapons and broke into homes without search warrants, among other things.

In one incident that sparked the indictment, a man Melendez arrested spent 213 days in jail before he was released. Melendez had arrested Detroit resident Darrell Chancellor, who had a felony conviction on his record, for possession of a firearm. Chancellor testified that he was sitting in a car with a group of friends when Melendez drove by with his partner. Chancellor testified in the case that he and his friends exited the vehicle quickly “because it was RoboCop”.

Melendez claimed Chancellor tossed a gun away as he exited the vehicle; Chancellor denied that he had one. About 15 minutes later, according to Chancellor’s testimony, Melendez put a gun on top of the vehicle and said: “Chancellor, this is your gun.” Chancellor denied the accusation.

Federal prosecutors would later dismiss the charge and released Chancellor during the investigation into allegations against Melendez, who was cited as the ringleader of numerous officers charged with civil rights violations. The officers were later acquitted, as jurors reportedly explained they couldn’t believe the testimony of the government’s witnesses, many who had criminal records.

Nevertheless, after Melendez departed for Inkster, his conduct would soon take a financial toll on the cash-strapped city.

Inkster, a Detroit suburb, agreed to pay Dent $1.38m as a result of his arrest by Melendez. The city’s treasurer said Inkster would levy a one-time tax hike on homeowners to raise funds for the settlement, roughly a $178 increase.

The city will also have to pay out a $100,000 settlement for the 2011 arrest by Melendez of Inkster resident Deshawn Acklin. According to the federal lawsuit filed by Acklin, Melendez allegedly choked him until he lost consciousness.

Melendez – who would later contend that Acklin resisted arrest – allegedly beat Acklin until another officer said “that’s enough”. Eventually, a court filing stated, Acklin “succumbed to the pain and lack of oxygen and passed out while defecating on himself”.

Acklin was treated at a hospital for a closed head injury, a left foot sprain and bleeding from his eyes. He spent three days in custody and was never charged with a crime. Inkster homeowners will be forced to pay an additional $15 to $20 on their property tax bills to pay for the settlement. Acklin’s attorneys didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The financial settlements come at a difficult time for the city, which, since 2012, has been under a consent agreement to address its dire financial problems. Inkster’s former police chief told the Guardian in March that only 24 officers are employed by the department now, down from 73 only a few years ago.

‘Video changes the dynamic’

The trial against Melendez is expected to last two weeks. On Monday, jury selection began, with 90 prospective jurors expected to impanel.

The centerpiece of the case will be the video of the incident, said Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning.

“When you look it, it certainly gets your attention, just the number of blows being delivered and the force,” Henning, a former prosecutor, told the Guardian. “So the prosecutor’s going to point to that and build the case around saying, even if there was some fear when Dent emerged from the car, it didn’t justify going this far for the defense.”

Henning pointed to the 1991 infamous beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police as an indication of how Melendez’s attorney may build his defense.

The defense in King broke down footage of the incident into “very small bits”, Henning said, to suggest to the jury where King may have appeared to be resisting arrest.

“Of course, there just has to be a reasonable belief on Melendez’s part that there was a threat, and that can eliminate his criminal liability,” Henning said.

Melendez’s attorney, James Thomas, didn’t respond to requests for comments. But during a May hearing in the case, he said if Dent had a suspended license, he would have a motive to resist arrest.

“An important issue in this case was whether or not officer Melendez was justified at the time that he engaged Mr Dent,” Thomas said.

The Wayne County circuit court judge in the trial, Vonda Evans, said earlier this year that she would allow testimony about the previous arrests of Dent, a veteran Ford employee who had no criminal history. Court records show he has been previously charged for various driving infractions.

But, Henning said, Melendez faces “a tricky defense” because of the existence of video footage, which requires the defendant to concede: “‘Yeah, I beat him, I really beat this guy up, but I had a good reason to do it.”

“Video changes the dynamic; it really shifts the focus over to the defense,” Henning said. “Because the prosecutor will - not that they’ll keep it this simple – but essentially, they’ll say, ‘Look at the video, What more do you need?’

“When you look at that video, it’s striking, just how forceful this was. And so I think the prosecutors are going to count on the jury’s revulsion.”