The attorneys for a Santa Clarita man facing a four-month sentence for a civil rights violation a jury found he committed as a Lancaster sheriff’s deputy filed a motion seeking a bail hearing Monday.
Despite a rare post-trial agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the lawyers for 32-year-old Trevor Kirk, of Valencia, Judge Stephen V. Wilson sentenced Kirk to four months’ confinement and a year of probation on June 3.
Kirk’s attorney, Tom Yu, said previously he was planning to request a bond hearing because otherwise the appeal of the case would take longer than Kirk’s sentence.
Edward Robinson, one of three attorneys for Kirk, confirmed Tuesday that Kirk now has a hearing scheduled for Friday.
According to the motion filed Monday by Yu, Brian Robinson and Ed Robinson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Keenan has indicated he would not oppose the motion for bail pending appeal, a decision that ultimately would be up to Wilson.
Kirk was previously ordered to surrender to federal custody in August.
The motion argues that the bail request is not for delay, raises substantial questions and represents no risk to the public.
Antelope Valley community advocates and attorneys for Jacy Houseton, Kirk’s victim in the assault, who is Black, have lambasted both the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the federal government for its handling of the case.
A post-trial deal negotiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to downgrade Kirk’s charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, claiming several arguments regarding the conduct of Houseton and Kirk were made inaccurately.
Houseton’s attorney argued that Keenan’s post-trial deal had no legal basis or merit. Waunette Cullors, executive director of Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley, which is seeking to cancel the Sheriff’s Department contract in the Antelope Valley, described it as a “racist, sweetheart deal.”
They cited a January 2024 arrest Kirk had for domestic violence about five months after the June 2023 incident with Houseton, as evidence of a pattern of violent behavior by Kirk. No charges were filed as a result of that incident.
The “substantial questions” that Kirk’s attorneys seek to raise on appeal involve whether Kirk used “willfulness” and “excessive force” in his handling of the situation.
“Deputy Kirk performed a takedown to overcome J.H.’s resistance. While on the ground, J.H. continued to actively resist by attempting to get up and ignoring Deputy Kirk’s vocal commands. Deputy Kirk, in an attempt to gain J.H.’s compliance and in accordance with his training, performed a ‘ruse’ by threatening to punch J.H. if she continued to resist,” according to the motion. “Despite J.H.’s failure to heed Deputy Kirk’s ruse, Deputy Kirk did not punch J.H. and resorted to a lesser form of force, per his training, O.C. spray.”
Houseton submitted Antelope Valley Medical Center records indicating she sustained a broken bone in her wrist when Kirk threw her to the ground.
Kirk’s attorneys argued that Kirk was within policy because Houseton refused to comply with Kirk’s attempts to detain her. Sheriff Robert Luna later wrote a letter in support of Kirk contending the department’s training methods did not accurately reflect recent recommendations from a federal oversight agreement that Antelope Valley has been under for roughly a decade.
Kirk’s attorneys also argued in their motion that he’s the main means of support for his family, which includes two small children. He’s currently working for a Conejo Valley mold-abatement business.
The Sheriff’s Department has said that Kirk “has been relieved of duty but still an employee of the department,” according to a May statement from Nicole Nishida, communications director for the LASD.
His sentencing does not call for the forfeiture of his Peace Officer Safety Training certification, which is a requirement to be a law enforcement officer in California.
In May, Kirk’s counsel was hopeful ahead of his initial sentencing the following month, prior to the conviction being reduced to a misdemeanor.
Bail is less common in federal cases than in state court in California, but it can be granted at the court’s discretion.
When asked Tuesday about his client’s chances for success Friday, Ed Robinson took a measured approach:
“Let’s see what the judge says.”
