Matthew Nutt’s lawyers argued he was being prosecuted for doing his job and that the handcuffed alleged victim still posed a possible threat.
PITTSBURG — After just a few hours of deliberation, a Contra Costa jury acquitted a former Antioch police officer of committing assault when he punched and kicked a handcuffed man in 2022.
Video shows Nutt punching, kneeing and kicking Robinson 16 times within 32 seconds after placing Robinson in handcuffs and attempting to maneuver him into a police SUV. Nutt’s lawyers argued that Robinson was “actively resisting” an arrest warrant for a shooting in Santa Cruz, while the prosecution said he was being pinned by police in the doorway of the vehicle.
Nutt testified in his own defense, telling jurors he carefully considered force options before concluding that he could make Robinson comply through blows to his stomach, but that he decided against using pepper spray, a stun gun, or baton to get him into the SUV. He admitted to downplaying the number of times he struck Robinson in a police report filed seven weeks later, but claimed it was unintentional.
The internal affairs probe was initiated by then-Sgt. Joshua Evans, who later lost his job after revelations that he’d sent racist texts to colleagues, including ones where he used slurs. Evans turned the case over to internal affairs after reviewing video of the incident and said “this does not look good,” according to police records.
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