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Trooper Acquitted In Civil Rights Case

The Associated Press

Published: October 4, 2008

GREENVILLE, S.C. - A federal jury on Friday acquitted a white South Carolina state trooper who bragged about striking a fleeing black suspect with his cruiser in a collision captured on videotape.

Lance Cpl. Steven Garren insisted during his four-day trial that the crash was an accident and he did not have enough time to react when the sprinting Marvin Grant cut in front of his patrol car on a dark, rural road last year.

"No one wanted Marvin Grant to get hit by a car," attorney Wally Fayssoux said after the verdict, adding that Garren's testimony helped the jury make its decision. "They got a chance to see and meet Steven Garren."

The jury saw the video of the June 2007 collision dozens of times. It shows Grant running from Garren's patrol car, then suddenly cutting in front of it. Grant was hit and rolled off the hood.

In the video, Garren brags to a deputy who also had been pursuing Grant: "Hey, I nailed the expletive out of him." Seconds later, Garren says: "Yeah, I hit him. I was trying to hit him."
Garren left the courthouse smiling, his arm over his wife's shoulder. He refused to take questions from reporters. Later in the day, officials said the now-suspended officer would be reinstated.
Black leaders in South Carolina reacted angrily to the decision from the jury of 10 whites and two blacks.

"This just goes to show us that justice isn't blind and that Lady Justice's scales are very unbalanced. To describe it as a miscarriage of justice is an understatement," said state NAACP President Lonnie Randolph.

During closing arguments earlier in the day, Garren's wife sobbed and the officer dabbed his eyes with a white handkerchief. Garren was charged with using unreasonable force that deprived Grant of his civil rights. The officer could have faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he had been convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said he couldn't envision handling the case differently and said it shouldn't be considered an indictment of officers in the state.

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