Coventry Township Trustee Richard Kutuchief’s shoulders slumped with relief and he heaved a satisfied sigh Friday when a Barberton Municipal Court jury found him not guilty of resisting arrest.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Kutuchief told the jury of six women and two men who had just helped him to clear his family’s well-known name in Summit County.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning with a verdict that was a blow for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
Lt. Richard Armsey of the sheriff’s office, who had the altercation with Kutuchief, declined comment. Summit County Sheriff Steve Barry, who wasn’t in court for the trial but attended a previous hearing in the case, didn’t return a phone message Friday seeking comment.
Kutuchief, 63, a longtime defense attorney and former Coventry school board and park board member, was charged with resisting arrest, a second-degree misdemeanor, for an altercation with Armsey that happened on Nov. 3, the same day he was elected a township trustee.
Kutuchief had a daylong trial in Barberton Municipal Court on Thursday. The jury heard closing arguments Friday morning and then began deliberations.
Kutuchief also was originally charged with obstructing official business, also a second-degree misdemeanor. Robert Lavery, a retired judge from Alliance who presided over the case, dismissed that charge. Resisting arrest is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
During the trial, Kutuchief and Armsey, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who works in Internal Affairs, gave very different accounts of what unfolded between them when Armsey stopped Kutuchief after seeing him taking pictures about 9:15 a.m. on Conlin Drive in Coventry Township
Armsey said he was suspicious of Kutuchief’s photography because of a series of burglaries in the area. He claimed Kutuchief was uncooperative, declined to provide his name or identification and resisted when he attempted to arrest him. Kutuchief, however, said he told Armsey who he was and what he was doing and that he wasn’t sure of Armsey’s identity because he wasn’t in a cruiser or wearing a traditional uniform. Both men testified that Armsey used a leg sweep to force Kutuchief to the ground and then arrested him.
In his closing argument, Brent Mackin, a visiting prosecutor from Stow Municipal Court, said Kutuchief made a mistake in his actions and tried to shift blame to Armsey. As a defense attorney, he said Kutuchief knows “how to spin a story.”
Jeff Laybourne, Kutuchief’s attorney, countered by saying the account Kutuchief gave in a videotaped interview immediately after the incident mirrored his trial testimony. He told the jurors that officers must be held “accountable for their mistakes.”
Following the verdict, Mackin said the jury did its job.
“They had a difficult case,” he said. “They made the decision based on how they viewed the evidence.”
Kelly Shell, one of the jurors, said the stumbling block for the jury was the requirement that they find Kutuchief guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” a point Laybourne emphasized from the start of the trial.
“We couldn’t say for certain,” she said. Kutuchief said the ordeal of the trial provided him with empathy for his clients and what they go through.
“We started from Day 1 saying, ‘We have to pursue what is right,’ ” he said. “I believed the justice system would work.”
Kutuchief said he is a supporter of police but is concerned about his case and police-brutality incidents across the country.
“Something is going on in our nation,” he said.
Laybourne said he was thrilled with the outcome, especially because his client “did nothing wrong.”
“I don’t think this is an indictment of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office or police in general,” he said. “This officer had a bad day, made mistakes and, unfortunately, compounded those mistakes.”
Asked whether he would pursue litigation because of the incident, Kutuchief said he is focused on his victory for now.
“I’m here to say justice occurred,” he said, smiling widely.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.