A Louisiana judge threw out obstruction of justice charges this week for two of the five law enforcement officers who were indicted in December for the 2019 death of Ronald Greene, which authorities initially blamed on a car crash before body camera video revealed white officers dragging, beating and stunning the Black motorist.
Five law enforcement officers were charged for their roles in the arrest of Greene, including Kory York, who faces negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office; John Clary, who was charged with obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office; Dakota DeMoss, who was charged with obstruction of justice; Christopher Harpin, who was charged with three counts of malfeasance in office; and John Peters, who was charged with obstruction of justice.
Judge Thomas Rogers dropped obstruction charges against DeMoss, a trooper who responded to the crash and turned off the audio on his body camera for most of Greene’s arrest, as well as Peters, a troop commander at the time of the incident who is accused of telling detectives to conceal evidence in Greene’s case.
Rogers ruled that neither officer’s actions were considered “tampering” under state law.
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Peters told the Associated Press he was looking forward to “the entire truth finally being placed on the table.”
An obstruction of justice charge against Clary was not dropped, though, as he was accused of withholding the 30-minute footage recorded by his body camera, which is the only clip that shows the moment Greene moaned under the weight of two troopers before twitching and going limp.
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The judge allowed other felony charges to stand, and according to the AP, did not address York’s charge of homicide.
York was seen in graphic video footage dragging Greene by the shackles around his ankles, and leaving him in the dirt, face down, for over nine minutes.
Rogers told the prosecution to correct “defects” in the indictment language or face the dismissal of additional felony counts, specifically regarding malfeasance charges for York and two other officers.
“It was clear they didn’t do their homework,” Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, told the AP, of prosecutors led by District Attorney John Belton. “What we’re seeing is a whittling away of Ronnie’s case. It’s a debacle.”
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It was unclear if prosecutors planned to appeal the rulings.
Greene, 49, led troopers on a high-speed chase just after midnight on May 10, 2019, south of the Arkansas state line.
Seconds before the chase ended, DeMoss warned over the radio, “We got to do something. He’s going to kill somebody.”
The 46-minute video shows troopers rush Greene’s SUV after he crashed, telling him to put his hands up.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The troopers also used a stun gun on Greene multiple times as he appeared to raise his hands, and he could be heard saying, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”
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Once Greene got out of the vehicle, a trooper was seen wrestling him to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face. Another trooper is heard calling Greene a “stupid motherf- – – – -.”
York is allegedly seen dragging Greene facedown after his legs were shackled, and his hands cuffed behind him. The suspect was then left facedown for about nine minutes as the troopers reportedly washed their hands of blood.
Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, who later died in a solo car crash after he found out he was going to be fired over the arrest, allegedly admitted to beating the “ever-living f— out of” Greene in a separate video obtained by the AP.
“Choked him and everything else trying to get him under control,” he is allegedly heard saying. “He was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp.”
The lawsuit filed by Greene’s family claims officers left him “beaten, bloodied, and in cardiac arrest” and then lied about his cause of death.
In June 2022, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the Louisiana State Police for allegedly failing to punish police beatings of mostly Black men.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.