A former Aurora police officer who was shown on body camera footage repeatedly hitting a Black man with a gun during a 2021 arrest has been cleared of all charges by an Arapahoe County jury, officials announced Thursday.
Jurors found ex-officer John Haubert not guilty on all charges related to the 2021 arrest of Kyle Vinson, including three felony charges — attempted first-degree assault, second-degree assault and felony menacing — and two misdemeanor charges of official oppression and official misconduct in connection to the arrest.
“Today, a jury acquitted John Haubert on all charges,” District Attorney John Kellner said in a statement Thursday. “While we are disappointed in the verdict, we respect the jury’s decision. We have a duty to investigate and prosecute cases we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. This verdict does not change our commitment to seeking justice for victims.”
The acquittal comes nearly one year after Haubert’s then-patrol partner Francine Martinez was convicted by an Arapahoe County jury for failing to intervene in the arrest.
That jury ruled Martinez failed to stop Haubert from beating Vinson with his duty pistol, choking him and threatening to kill him, even though the man never attempted to hurt or threaten the officer, according to previous reporting by The Denver Post. Martinez was sentenced to six months of house arrest.
The pair responded to a trespassing report in the 3100 block of South Parker Road on July 23, 2021, and contacted three men. While two of the men fled when the officers tried to arrest them on warrants, the third — Vinson — stayed.
Body camera footage shows Vinson complying with orders to get on his stomach and put his hands out while repeatedly protesting, saying he had not done anything wrong and did not have a warrant out for his arrest.
Police said there was a warrant for his arrest for a probation violation.
After the arrest, Martinez was fired from the police department after an internal investigation found she violated three department directives: duty to intervene and report intervention, unsatisfactory performance and conformance to law. Haubert resigned after being charged in 2021.
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