CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Euclid released the name of the attorney who will serve as a special prosecutor to investigate potential misdemeanor criminal charges against police officer Michael Amiott for a 2017 beating of a motorist that captured national attention.
The city tapped longtime Mayfield Village criminal defense attorney Dominic Vitantonio to handle the investigation, according to a copy of an agreement letter provided to cleveland.com Thursday morning.
The city has agreed to pay Vitantonio $250 per hour for his work on the case.
The letter comes after Euclid Law Director Kelley Sweeney first disclosed that the city intended to hire a special prosecutor at a June 3 city council meeting.
“A special prosector has been engaged by the City of Euclid to take a look at it. When he makes his decision, I will let council know,” Sweeney said, according to a video of the meeting posted on Euclid Public Library’s website.
Cleveland.com asked Sweeney on June 5 to identify the special prosecutor. Sweeney responded the next day that the city had “engaged” an attorney, but she refused to release his name for fear that residents of the city would try to influence him.
Sweeney did not respond to a follow-up email in which a cleveland.com reporter disagreed with her decision, and later told a reporter after a story had been published that a final agreement had not yet been reached.
Videos of Hubbard’s Aug. 12, 2017 traffic stop showed Amiott knee Hubbard, tackle him to the ground and punch Hubbard in the face and body several times. Another officer used his Taser on Hubbard during the encounter.
A witness’s cellphone video of the arrest and dashcam footage released by Euclid police were widely shared online. The violent arrest led the city to fire Amiott, but that firing was later overturned through arbitration and the department was ordered to give Amiott his job back.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley in January chose not to bring felony charges against Amiott because they believed they could not prove that Hubbard suffered “serious physical injury” necessary to bring a felonious assault charge, but his office did not disclose that fact to reporters who for two months continued asking if prosecutors were still investigating the incident.
O’Malley said his office was working with U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman’s office to decide whether to pursue federal charges. His office also informed Sweeney and Euclid city prosecutor Mary Casa that they were free to pursue misdemeanor charges against Amiott in Euclid Municipal Court.
Sweeney said in march that she was waiting for Herdman’s office to finish its investigation before she conducted hers. But misdemeanor charges carry a two-year statute of limitations, meaning local prosecutors only have until Aug. 12 to file charges.
A spokesman for Herdman’s office declined to comment. Sweeney and the U.S. attorney’s office said their investigations remain open and ongoing during a pretrial hearing held Tuesday in federal court as part of a lawsuit Hubbard filed against Amiott and the city, according to court records.
Hubbard was initially charged with resisting arrest, driving without a license and a traffic signal violation, but prosecutors later dropped them. Tirado also faced charges that prosecutors later dismissed.
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