Ex-Officer Convicted Of
Videotaped Brutality To Be
Sentenced
By DAVE ALTIMARI
The Hartford Courant
5:24 PM EDT, September 18, 2013
A federal judge Wednesday denied
a motion by former Meriden
police officer Evan Cossette to
throw out his conviction for
using unreasonable force on a
prisoner and obstructing justice
in an effort to cover up his
actions.
Cossette must appear before U.S.
District Court Judge Janet Bond
Arterton for sentencing on
Monday. He faces up to 27-33
months in prison.
Cossette was convicted by a jury
after a four-day trial in June
which centered on a videotape of
Cossette pushing a handcuffed
prisoner backwards into a
holding cell at the police
department. The prisoner, Pedro
Temich, struck his head on a
concrete bench and was knocked
unconscious. The videotape shows
Cossette entering the cell
several times and moving the
unconscious man around before
eventually removing his
handcuffs.
Cossette was issued a letter of
reprimand. Federal authorities
began their investigation after
two police officers complained
to the city manager that Evan
Cossette was getting favorable
treatment because his father,
Jeffry Cossette, is the police
chief.
The videotape was shown numerous
times to the jury during the
trial and Cossette testified on
his own behalf, denying that he
had used improper force against
the much smaller Temich and
testifying he felt threatened by
the prisoner.
The jury deliberated for about
four hours before convicting him
on both counts. He resigned as a
Meriden police officer within
days.
Raymond Hassett, Cossette's
attorney, filed the motion
seeking to have the conviction
thrown out, arguing that the
allegations were legally
insufficient under federal
guidelines because "there was no
fair notice that his use of
force as a police officer
against an arrestee was in
violation of clearly established
law."
But Arterton rejected the
argument, writing that the
videotape makes clear what
occurred.
"The jurors reasonably
discredited Defendant's
testimony at trial that he acted
in self-defense after Temich
spun away from him while being
placed in the cell, and instead
concluded that Defendant
willfully used gratuitous and
unreasonable force resulting in
physical injury in a situation
that did not justify it,''
Arterton said.
In its sentencing memorandum,
prosecutors are asking Arterton
to sentence Cossette within the
guidelines of 27-33 months.
"Officer Cossette's rejected
testimony and his mendacity
critically reflect his character
and his need for
rehabilitation,'' Assistant U.S.
Attorney Paul H. McConnell
wrote. "We do submit that the
rejected testimony of the
defendant should be a powerful
consideration that weighs
heavily in favor of a sentence
within the Guideline range"
Hassett is asking Arterton to
spare Cossette jail time and
instead sentence him to home
confinement and community
service. Hassett argues that for
26 years all Evan Cossette has
wanted to do was be a police
officer and now he will never be
one again.
Hassett argues that penalty
alone is harsher than any prison
sentence and that Cossette does
not need to be sentenced as a
deterrent to others because his
case was so highly publicized
that officers all over the state
are "on notice that even one
push to a detained arrestee
could result in federal
prosecution."
"The split second decision that
he made on May 1, 2010 does not
define Mr. Cossette's life,''
Hassett said. "These proceedings
have resulted in great anguish
for Mr. Cossette as well as his
family. Considering all that Mr.
Cossette has undergone to date,
incarceration can do no more to
enforce the seriousness of this
offense than these proceedings
have already done."
Copyright © 2013
