Prosecutor: Last criminal case against a Columbus officer in 2020 protests to be dropped
The special prosecutor leading the criminal case against the last of three Columbus police personnel for alleged misdemeanor misconduct during the 2020 racial injustice protests said Wednesday that he intends to dismiss the matter.
Special prosecutor Brad Nicodemus, a Whitehall city attorney appointed by the city of Columbus, told The Dispatch that he intended to dismiss the case against Columbus police officer Phillip Walls next week. He declined to comment further.
Walls was scheduled for trial Aug. 15 on two misdemeanor counts each of assault, dereliction of duty and interference with civil rights. According to court records, the charges stem from an incident on May 29, 2020, at the intersection of Broad and High streets, where Walls is accused of pepper spraying two people who were on a sidewalk.
With the planned dismissal, all three of the Columbus Division of Police members facing misdemeanor charges filed by special prosecutors at the conclusion of a lengthy investigation will have walked free.
Jeff Simpson, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge City Lodge 9, said the decision to prosecute the three police personnel in the first place was a waste of taxpayers' money.
"I believe the City Prosecutor’s Office, in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office and (Public) Safety Director’s Office mishandled the entire investigation with impunity at the expense of my members and the public," Simpson said.
More than $615K spent: Cost of probe into alleged Columbus police misconduct during protests now more than $615,000
In July, prosecutors dismissed the misdemeanor case against another defendant, Columbus police officer Traci Shaw after the primary complainant expressed doubts about the justice system providing accountability.
Earlier that month, a Franklin County judge found Columbus police Sgt. Holly Kanode not guilty of misdemeanor charges of dereliction of duty and falsification.
Prosecutor: No more criminal charges against Columbus police officers in protest probe
In late July, special prosecutor Kathleen Garber resigned from her position, a day after the prosecution dismissed the second of three cases brought against police personnel and Nicodemus assumed the role of lead prosecutor in the investigation.
Garber was hired by the city as a special prosecutor in 2020 to stand in for City Attorney Zach Klein due to a potential conflict of interest.
The city of Columbus has so far spent several hundred thousand dollars investigating accusations of criminal misconduct by Columbus police officers during the protests, which began May 28, 2020, following the murder three days earlier of George Floyd Jr. by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Special prosecutors and an appointed investigator filed a total of three criminal cases and have said no additional criminal charges will be filed.
Only one of 24 Columbus officers accused by an investigative team of misconduct during the 2020 racial injustice will face internal Division of Police review, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said last month.
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Cbehrens@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Special prosecutor intends to dismiss last Columbus cop criminal case
