BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Jury selection is underway in the retrial of Buffalo police officer Corey Krug. In February, a jury acquitted him on three of four charges he faced.
Krug is being re-tried on a civil rights count.
A video captured by a 7 Eyewitness News photographer early thanksgiving morning in 2014 on Chippewa street shows officer Krug using his baton to hit Devon Ford.
But it was a civil rights charge, in connection with the video, that the first jury failed to reach a verdict on and now prosecutors want 12-new jurors to re-exam this ‘excessive force case’.
“It’s sort of unusual, in this case, that the prosecutor is going ahead with this count,” remarked Penny Wolfgang, retired State Supreme Court Justice.
Wolfgang tells us this is a much different charge then the other two charges Krug was acquitted on earlier this year, which were two counts of deprivation of constitutional rights and one count of falsifying records.
Wolfgang pointed out in the first trial the jury failed to decide on a violation of civil rights.
“That video – that looked so condemning - was actually a moment in time – right? A second in time and what happened – as I said - before during and after and the explanation of it obviously convinced the jury that the defendant was not guilty of a crime,” Wolfgang said.
Wolfgang says she doesn't believe this second trial will rely as heavily on the video because it didn't convince the first jury. Instead she speculates prosecutors will focus more on elements of a violation of civil rights.
"Probably not going to rely as much on the video as they did before because obviously it did not convince them. I think they are going to rely more on the elements of a violation of civil rights," Wolfgang said.
But 7 Eyewitness News was subpoenaed for all the video recordings for this second trial. The photographer who recorded the confrontation is among those expected to testify. Devin Ford is also scheduled to testify about his injuries.
As for Krug, he remains on paid leave, making $83,000 a year during his nearly five-year suspension.
The trial is set to begin Wednesday at Federal Court in Buffalo before the Hon, Richard Acara, U.S. District judge.
