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Federal court reverses decision
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
CINCINNATI
A federal appeals court has ruled that a federal trial judge erred when he dismissed an excessive-force complaint against a Niles police officer on the basis the officer acted in good faith.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision by the Youngstown-based U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus and sent a lawsuit by Joseph Kijowski against Officer Craig Aurilio back to Judge Economus for further proceedings.
Aurilio could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The lawsuit stemmed from a massive Warren and Niles police response to a brawl at an Oct. 28, 2006, wedding reception at Aulizio’s Banquet Center in Warren, where Kijowski was a guest.
Kijowski, 30, of Niles, said he was in his truck outside the banquet hall, speaking on his cellular phone to a 911 dispatcher, when police dragged him out of the truck and threw him to the ground before Aurilio used a Taser on him twice.
Aurilio said in an affidavit that Kijowski was “extremely combative” and was resisting arrest.
But the appellate court said Kijowski offered no resistance and that nothing in the case record suggests that Kijowski had a weapon or was trying to flee.
“Because Kijowski offered no resistance, Officer Aurilio’s use of his Taser cannot be considered reasonable without some other indication that Kijowski posed a threat. But there was no such indication,” the three-judge panel added.
“Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Kijowski, Officer Aurilio’s conduct was objectively unreasonable and violated a clearly established constitutional right” under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to be free from excessive force, the panel ruled late last week.
A Trumbull County grand jury declined to indict Kijowski on a felony charge of assault on a peace officer. Other charges against Kijowski were dropped in Warren Municipal Court.