Police Brutality, State And Defense Attorney

749 Words2 Pages

After the viral trend of police brutality, state and defense attorney gathered to determine if a Phoenix Police officer is the victim or villain during oral arguments on Friday, Sept. 25, at the Maricopa County Superior Court.

The room seemed oppressive awaiting the entrance of Judge Hugh E. Hegyi, while the attorneys huddled in hushed whispers with their second chair advisors.

The case is one that is all too familiar thanks to the growing trend within social media platforms. Allegations of police using excessive force, raising concerns about law enforcement’s credibility.

Defense attorney, Katie Krejci argued that the state attorney, Maureen Feeney, and the police department didn’t provide the disciplinary file of officer Taylor Siljander, the plaintiff, in a timely manner.

“Because of the state’s failure to comply with the request for this file, and the police denying the existence of this file, we are asking for dismissal.” Krejci said.

According to Feeney, the defense investigator and the police department had a miscommunication as to what files were being requested.

“I agree with Ms. Krejci that the entire file should have been disclosed with the publics record request, but that does not make it discoverable.” Feeney said. “I understand her frustration that she wasn 't given the same information that another defense attorney was. When I discovered what had happened, which was in august, I immediately requested the entire file from the Phoenix Police Department so that I could disclose it to the defense council. I didn’t do that because I believed that the information was discoverable or relevant. I did it as a professional courtesy. So that we were on the same field, and so that she felt that she had everything tha...

... middle of paper ...

...dant, is facing felony charges for possession of marijuana and illegal paraphernalia, and allegedly attacking a police officer while resisting arrest. The defense wishes to have the case dismissed on grounds that Siljander used excess force during his arrest giving the defendant the right to resist as self defense.

Feeney maintained that Payan’s injuries weren’t due to the officer’s use of excessive force but from resisting arrest.

Payan has history of going after the police force. In 2009 Payan and his brother were arrested and attempted to sue the city, unsuccessfully, claiming the police officers had “mistreated and committed various torts against them,” according to City of Phoenix court documents.

Hegyi asked for further documentation and reiterated that until he received the necessary items from both attorneys, he was unable to make a decision on the matter.

Open Document