CORPUS CHRISTI - Last year, at least 22 Corpus Christi
police officers were disciplined internally for a variety of offenses.
Six of those cases involved more than just a simple letter
of reprimand, including one that left an officer suspended for two weeks.
It was in May of 2012 that three men, Cody Lewis, Ernest
Mitchell, and Roderick Hornsby were brought in handcuffs to the City Detention
Center.
Lewis was arrested for drug possession.
Mitchell and Hornsby were arrested for interfering with his
arrest.
Internal CDC video obtained by Action 10 News shows
everything seems to be normal upon their arrival, with the men calmly lining up
against the wall to be processed.
But suddenly, an officer throws Roderick Hornsby to the
ground and holds him there, even elevating his arms, which is very painful
while in handcuffs.
Roderick Hornsby recalls what happened very clearly.
"Knee in back, knee was in my neck, in my ear," he
explains.
"He's elevating my arms higher and higher. It felt like
10 minutes, but I think the video shows like 3 minutes or so."
The officer who threw Hornsby to the ground is Senior
Officer Norman Morton.
Morton later had to explain his actions to Internal Affairs,
after Hornsby filed a complaint about excessive force.
In his recorded interview, Morton said that just before the
takedown, Hornsby got very vocal and started to struggle and resist.
"When I put my hands on him to make him turn around, he
started to pull and struggle, so I don't know what he's going to do, so the
safest and easiest thing to do is put him straight to the ground," he
stated.
There is no audio in the video footage from the CDC to
indicate what was said between the two men, but Hornsby says he was definitely
not struggling or resisting.
"No, I didn't pull and struggle, and you can clearly
see in the video I didn't pull and struggle. I was facing the wall. I didn't
even turn around at this point," he explains.
Police Chief Floyd Simpson says although a handcuffed
prisoner can still hurt an officer very badly, it's clear from the video that
excessive force was used in this situation.
As with most discipline cases, a special review committee
made up of other higher ranking officers eventually looked at all the evidence
from Internal Affairs.
The committee recommended Morton be terminated, for using
excessive force, for providing false statements on a police report, and for
lying to Internal Affairs.
But Chief Simpson has the final word, and he scaled back
Morton's punishment to a 2 week suspension.
Simpson said that although disturbing, he didn't think the
incident should have cost the longtime officer his job.
"I have to look at the totality," he says,
"Norman has been here a long time. He has served the community well. He
has many commendations in his file, and so I think he is salvageable.
Obviously, I didn't terminate. He is salvageable. And I think he can go on and
continue the public well, just as he has done for many many years."
Hornsby couldn't believe Morton wasn't fired, and worries
the same thing will happen to him or someone else again.
"Man, every time I see a cop, I think about this man
here," he says.
Simpson says this incident is not an example of what CCPD
stands for, and won't be tolerated.
"Did he (Morton) exhibit misconduct in this particular
situation? Yeah. Did I act on it? Yeah. Was my discipline to him appropriate?
We'll see."
The chief said 'We'll see' because Morton has since appealed
his punishment and that process is still ongoing.
Roderick Hornsby has already retained an attorney, who says
he expects to file a lawsuit against the City any day.
The criminal charges that lead to Hornsby's arrest in the
first place were also dropped.
Two other officers in the room at the CDC that night were
also disciplined, for not stepping in or saying anything to anyone afterward
about it.
The review committee recommended they be suspended, but
Chief Simpson instead issued them letters of reprimand.
We were unable to find out what happened to the CDC
employees who also did nothing.