Lawyer: Former Paterson police officer acquitted of assault charges will seek job, lost pay
The lawyer for Spencer Finch says Finch will try to get his job back and he wants to be paid the hundreds of thousands he lost since he was fired almost two years ago.
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A fired Paterson police officer will try to get his job back after being found not guilty on excessive force charges.
Eric Kleiner, the lawyer for Spencer Finch, says Finch will try to get his job back and he wants to be paid the hundreds of thousands he lost since he was fired almost two years ago.
Finch was seen on video hitting Brandon Cosby multiple times with a flashlight and kneeing him in the chest while in cuffs. It was a domestic dispute.
MORE: Former Paterson police officer acquitted of assault charges
Kleiner says they painted the full picture of that incident in court and that's why Finch is not guilty on all charges, including assault and falsifying records. Now they will make their case to be employed again to an administrative law judge.
Cosby’s lawyer Eric Kleiner says even after the not guilty verdict, they will sue the Finch, the Paterson Police Department and city.
“This police officer is out on the streets everyday over 17 years. He’s going to get reinstated,” Kleiner said. “He’s going to get every piece of back pay he can have. All his costs and fees his family has been bankrupted by."
Matthew Priore, another lawyer in the case, said Cosby is devastated about the jury verdict.
“Brandon testified on the stand for two and a half days of cross examination. He told the truth,” Priore said. “Everything that happened to him was captured on video. This should have been an open and shut case for the prosecution. The verdict is simply inexplicable."
There is another excessive force case against Finch that goes back five years stemming from a robbery at a QuickCheck. Kleiner says they will win that case as well.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh provided a statement to News 12 New Jersey and said, “Spencer Finch was terminated after being provided a hearing and all due process after he violated procedures, guidelines and rules. That he has not been held criminally liable for his actions does not translate into him being reinstated or him being fit to be a police officer. My administration equipped all police officers with body cameras which captured Officer Finch's actions.”
