COLUMBUS, OH – A jury has awarded a 23-year-old Jackson man $30,000 in his federal lawsuit against three Columbus Police officers.
Chris Gordon, a law clerk for U.S. District Judge James L. Graham, who presided over the trial, said jurors found Columbus Police Officer Thomas Dewitt used excessive force during Joseph Hines’ arrest in 2012.
The jury granted Hines, the son of the Rev. James Hines of Lily Missionary Baptist Church, $30,000 in damages when it delivered its verdict just before 1 p.m. Sept. 28, Gordon said.
In the lawsuit Hines filed in October 2013, he claimed Dewitt and officers Debra Paxton and Edward Prime violated his civil rights during a “brutal unjustified attack” when Hines was arrested for littering near the Ohio State University campus. Hines was a 20-year-old student at the time and officers testified he had been resisting arrest.
During the arrest, Hines was handcuffed, punched in the face and side multiple times and sprayed with mace, court documents show. According to testimony in the trial that began Sept. 21, Hines suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and mild to moderate brain damage related to the incident.