NORFOLK, Va. — A federal jury has found that three former Norfolk Police officers did not conspire to falsify an accident report or retaliate against a man who had previously accused them of misconduct, WAVY reported.
The unanimous verdict was delivered on Sept. 23 following five days of testimony and deliberations in Norfolk’s U.S. District Court, according to the report.
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The case was brought by Brandon Williams, who alleged that the officers downplayed a Sept. 30, 2020 car crash in retaliation for him previously accusing them of lying during a trespassing case. Williams filed the federal lawsuit in 2022, claiming violations of his First and Sixth Amendment rights and accusing the officers of conspiring to file a false police report.
Jurors found no evidence of retaliation, conspiracy or constitutional rights violations.
The trial centered on whether the officers, no longer with the Norfolk Police Department, had motive to retaliate against Williams, according to the report. He contended that the incident stemmed from an earlier district court hearing related to a trespassing citation. However, in Virginia’s traffic court system, no transcripts are kept, and there was no official record of the hearing or which judge presided over the case.
This lack of documentation meant jurors never saw direct evidence of what was allegedly said during that prior court proceeding — a key challenge for Williams’ claims.
The three officers named in the lawsuit are no longer employed by the Norfolk Police Department. One has retired, while the other two have taken positions with other law enforcement agencies, according to the report. The city of Norfolk did not issue a comment following the verdict.
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