The felony battery trial of retired San Benito County Sheriff’s
Deputy David Hackman will begin in Orange County next month, just
four months after the San Benito agreed to pay $21,000 to a
Hollister man who claims Hackman was one of two deputies who
violated his civil rights.
Hollister – The felony battery trial of retired San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy David Hackman will begin in Orange County next month, just four months after the San Benito agreed to pay $21,000 to a Hollister man who claims Hackman was one of two deputies who violated his civil rights.
In November, 2004 Hollister resident Jose Jimenez filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in San Jose against the county, alleging that Hackman and San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy David Zander violated his civil rights when, in April, 2004, they allegedly kicked and beat Jimenez with a flashlight – breaking his ribs – and booked him in the county jail without taking him to the hospital. That same month, Hackman pleaded not guilty to an unrelated felony battery charge stemming from an altercation at an Anaheim Angels playoff baseball game in October, 2004.
The local lawsuit was settled on Sept. 26 when the county agreed to pay Jimenez $21,000 and also pay his attorney fees, according to Jimenez’s attorney Bill Marder. A federal judge has yet to determine how much she will award in attorney fees, he said
Marder says the county’s acceptance of the judgment is a clear sign that the county saw validity in his client’s complaint.
“I think so,” he said. “The bottom line is the county wouldn’t pay money if it didn’t think Mr. Jimenez had a valid claim.”
However, Sheriff Curtis Hill said that, rather than implying guilt, the settlement was likely a act of prudence on the part of the county to avoid a more costly legal battle.
“Sometimes it’s in the best interest of the taxpayer to settle and move on,” Hill said. “Basically that’s what it comes down to.”
Hackman and Zander were working together on April 23, 2004 when they got a call that a handyman was at a Ridgemark home when he shouldn’t have been, according to the police report. The deputies found Jimenez sleeping inside a house on Lanini Drive which was owned by a woman who Jimenez worked for, according to Hackman’s incident report.
Jimenez had been drinking and was asleep on the living room floor when the deputies entered the home, according to the report. When the deputies attempted to rouse Jimenez and take him into custody, Jimenez got up, yelled, “I’m going to kill you,” and lunged at Zander, according to the report.
Hackman and Zander’s incident reports said Jimenez continued to resist arrest. Hackman said he kicked Jimenez’s left arm and side two times because he thought Jimenez was trying to find a weapon and Zander said he sprayed pepper spray on him but it still had no effect, according to the reports.
“Still in fear for our safety, I grabbed my department-issued flashlight and I struck Jimenez two times in his left arm and left side,” Hackman wrote.
Jimenez was booked into the San Benito County Jail and was not taken to the hospital because he “did not see any visible injuries on Jimenez,” and that he “did not have any complaint of pain/injury,” Hackman said in his report.
Jimenez’s son took him to Hazel Hawkins Hospital the next day, where doctors found he had two broken ribs, according to the medical report.
When the Jimenez lawsuit was filed last year, Marder said that, because of Jimenez’s injuries, he expected that a jury would give his client a large award, saying he would be “shocked” at anything less than six figures. Despite the small sum Jimenez ultimately settled on, Marder said he and his client achieved their primary goal.
“I think we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish – getting a public record that abuse occurred,” he said. “It certainly sends a message about the fact that the deputies acted inappropriately on that day.”
Hill disagrees with Marder, saying that an investigation by his office showed that the deputies had acted appropriately and settling the lawsuit was simply prudence on the county’s part to avoid a more costly legal battle.
“They were cleared in an internal investigation – just doing their job,” Hill said, adding that if his department confirmed Jimenez’s claim of abuse the deputies would have faced possible termination.
Though the Jimenez lawsuit is settled, Hackman’s legal woes are not over.
On Jan. 23 Hackman, who retired from the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department in August for medical reasons, will be in an Orange County courtroom to be tried for felony battery.
In October, 2004 the Orange County District Attorneys Office charged Hackman with felony battery after he allegedly pulled an Anaheim resident down a flight of stairs, causing him to fracture his skull, while leaving Angel Stadium after an Anaheim Angels/ Boston Red Sox baseball playoff game on Oct. 6.
While Hackman’s attorney, Ron Brower did not return phone calls Tuesday, he has said that his client was acting in self defense after the man, Daniel Slama, hit him on the head with a noisemaker. Hackman pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com.
