Judge Stephen V. Willson heard arguments from the plaintiffs, defense and victim in the case of a Valencia man convicted for deprivation of rights under the color of law over his response as a Lancaster deputy to a report of a grocery-store robbery in June.
Wilson did not sentence Trevor James Kirk, 31, inside a federal courtroom Monday in Downtown Los Angeles, despite a controversial last-minute, post-trial agreement filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Instead, Wilson wanted to hear from everyone on why he should set aside the jury’s verdict in the case.
A February jury verdict agreed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s characterization of events at that time: Kirk used excessive force, according to a post-conviction statement from the USAO. He broadcast a misleading report to justify his claims and left the victim, later identified as Jacy Houseton, with serious injuries, the statement read.
Houseton filmed Kirk and his partner, who took a male suspect in custody during the incident, while responding to the 911 call placed by the WinCo grocery store. In a civil lawsuit that has a settlement pending the L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ approval, Houseton alleges she was left with a fractured wrist and severe bruising from being thrown to the ground and having pepper spray used on her.
In the weeks following the verdict, a change in leadership at the Central District for the USAO put Bill Essayli in charge, who immediately shifted his office’s stance.
None of the prosecutors involved in the handling of the case remained listed among the counsel for a post-trial deal filed May 1, which called the previously suggested sentencing guidelines erroneous and disputed the claims from the USAO’s past claims that serious injuries were inflicted.
Robert Keenan, an assistant U.S. attorney listed on the agreement, argued in a post-conviction motion the U.S. Probation Office sentencing guidelines that called for an 87-month recommendation were patently unfair based on the circumstances. The post-trial agreement called for 12 months of probation and a several-thousand-dollar fine.
The case has been a lightning rod for media coverage, with those opposed to the post-trial agreement calling it a “racist, sweetheart deal,” according to a community protest, and a filing from Houseton that claims it “materially changes the facts as alleged and proven at trial.”
Kirk’s supporters have warned such a prosecution and sentence could have a chilling effect on anyone considering a career in law enforcement — which for LASD, already is a challenge that it’s spending millions to overcome.
Keenan disputed the severity of Houseton’s injuries, the contention that she didn’t fight back and the enhancement that Kirk inflicted injury “willingly,” arguing he was only trying to subdue someone he had identified as a suspect.
A letter from Sheriff Robert Luna described mitigating factors in the incident, blaming the response on “deficient” training under his watch over the past two and a half years. He said federal monitors implored to create suggestions for how to change policing in the Antelope Valley have seen those suggestions “largely ignored,” which included changes to the use-of-force policy.
Over the weekend, an attorney for Houseton made a pair of filings intended to raise doubts about the government’s claims.
Houseton’s unredacted forms from a visit to Antelope Valley Medical Center on June 24, the day of the incident, indicate she was given a forearm splint for a scaphoid fracture in her wrist. Another filing also claimed there wasn’t “one shred of good cause” to ignore the jury’s verdict. Court records available online did not indicate a future hearing date when Wilson’s decision would be due.
