90K jury award in San Jose police brutality suit

(04-30) 14:36 PDT SAN JOSE -- A federal jury awarded $90,000 to a man who said he was the victim of excessive force by a San Jose police officer who would later be involved in two shootings.

The jury in U.S. District Court in San Jose deliberated for about a day before returning with its verdict Tuesday, awarding Aleksandr Binkovich $45,000 in general damages and an additional $45,000 in punitive damages. The panel said Officer Bruce Barthelemy had used too much force and cleared two other officers of wrongdoing.

Binkovich said Barthelemy forcefully took him to the floor of the Hilton Hotel at 300 S. Almaden Blvd. in downtown San Jose on Aug. 23, 2009 as police investigated a complaint that Binkovich and his friends were making too much noise at a poker party.

Binkovich said he had raised his hands and smiled at police while emerging from the elevator, but had done nothing to justify being taken to the ground. He said his nose was hurt and his elbow bruised as a result of the confrontation.

City officials said Binkovich was a former weightlifter who got into a shouting match with hotel security when asked to tone it down. Binkovich refused police orders to stand back and interfered with the investigation and had to be controlled, officials said.

Barthelemy and other officers who responded "were investigating a potential crime and, in the course of doing so, used force to defend themselves and others from a belligerent drunk," Chief Deputy City Attorney Christian Nielsen wrote in court papers.

Binkovich was charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and battery following the incident, but the case was dismissed.

Later, Barthelemy was involved in two shootings. In November 2012, he shot and wounded a suspect in a crime rampage through the city that included a killing during an attempted carjacking, four armed robberies and the wounding of a police officer.

In March 2013, the officer killed a man who was suspected in a gang-related killing and who was speeding toward him in a stolen car. Prosecutors cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing in both cases.

San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle said Wednesday that the three incidents "are not a barometer of any pattern or practice of excessive force. He's an officer out on the street dealing with some pretty violent people. That's just the hazards of the job."