EMT cleared in May Day clash claims SPD officer lied about assault

Attorney: Officer’s statement ‘a complete fabrication’
By LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Dec. 27, 2012

A Seattle woman who lost her job and home after she was wrongly charged with attacking a police officer now claims officers lied in an effort to cover up excessive force during last spring's May Day demonstration.

Maria Morales was among the first demonstrators charged after the riotous protest swept through downtown Seattle on May 1. A Seattle police officer claimed she was punched by Morales, a 30-year-old emergency medical technician. King County prosecutors followed up with an assault charge.

Those allegations – publicized on seattlepi.com and elsewhere – cost Morales her job and apartment, as well as thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees. They were also baseless; video of the scene, included above, refuted the police account and prompted prosecutors to drop the case.

“It’s a complete fabrication, and the reason that we know that is because it was on video,” said Darryl Parker, who is representing Morales in a civil suit filed in U.S. District Court. “The statement of probable cause that led to her arrest is completely false.”

[...]Two days after the incident, a Seattle police detective filed a statement with prosecutors recounting Officer Fry’s version of events. In it, the detective contended Fry claimed Morales punched her in the chest, kicked another officer and disobeyed police orders.

“Morales got right up to Officer Fry and said, ‘Okay bitch’ then punched Officer Fry in the chest with a closed fist,” the detective told the court in a one-page statement outlining the allegations against Morales.

The detective went on to assert that Morales kicked a second officer. Video of the incident shows Morales' feet were secured by officers immediately after she hit the ground.

None of those allegations was true, and video of the scene shows them to be lies, Parker said by phone Wednesday.

Read More