Mesa officers captured on camera repeatedly punching a man in May were within their rights, a report from the Scottsdale Police Department said Monday.
The man, 33-year-old Robert Johnson, was a friend of the suspect in a domestic violence call officers responded to the evening of May 23.
Officers directed Johnson to sit down in an apartment complex hallway, but he instead leaned against the wall. One officer said in his report that he took Johnson's posture as confrontational, so officers began punching him.
Scottsdale PD said it reviewed footage from eight body cameras worn by officers, as well as the surveillance video from the apartment complex. The Monday release said that the body camera video "provided additional angles and audio that clarified what actually occurred."
The release did not clarify specifically what the body camera footage showed that the muted surveillance video did not.
Johnson's attorney, Benjamin Taylor, released this statement after Scottsdale PD's finding:
“This is a sad day for the people of Arizona. When officers can get away with assaulting citizens, people in our community will lose trust in them and our justice system. The whole world saw the beating Mr. Johnson took at the hands of these Mesa Police Officers. We will continue to fight for Mr. Johnson and Justice will be served.”
Initially, Johnson was charged with disorderly conduct and hindering prosecution, but those charges were dropped in June.
Though the Scottsdale report finds no wrongdoing by Mesa officers, the ultimate decision on charges will be up to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Four officers were placed on leave in the aftermath of the video's release.
This was just one of several incidents involving Mesa PD's use of force this spring. Earlier this month, an internal investigation found no wrongdoing in the violent arrest of a 15-year-old robbery suspect involving several of the same officers from the apartment arrest.