A St. Louis city judge heard arguments today (Dec. 5) on whether or not to grant a new trial to Ferguson activist Elizabeth Vega, who claimed that a recently discovered video proves that St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson lied when he testified in the assault case against her.
Three months ago, a St. Louis city jury found Vega guilty of wiping pepper spray on Dotson – a third-degree assault charge – during a May 2015 protest. A newly acquired video of the interaction between Vega and Dotson points out some discrepancies in Dotson’s testimony, according to Vega’s motion for a new trial.
The new evidence “calls his credibility into question in a way no video or testifying witness could have during the trial,” the motion states. “Most importantly, this new evidence would show Ms. Vega’s conviction was based on false testimony.”
Associate Circuit Judge Nicole Colbert Botchway is hearing the case.
Vega, who is the leader of the Artivists activist group, faces up to one year in jail on the misdemeanor charge.
At the hearing today, Vega’s lawyer Dramon Foster told the judge that Ferguson activist Keith Rose, who was a witness in the case, found the new video on his Google Drive during an Oct. 3 meeting with attorney and writer Jen McCoy.
“He was horrified that he had this evidence,” Foster told the judge.
The incident between Dotson and Vega occurred at an evening protest outside of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s home in South St. Louis on May 19. The day before, Joyce had announced that then-St. Louis Police Officer Jason Flanery would not be charged in the shooting death of VonDerrit Myers Jr. in October 2014.
During the trial, the case came down to Vega’s word against Dotson’s, since no video of their interaction was available. The almost all-white jury had to decide whether Vega intentionally wiped her hand across Dotson’s chest, while shouting expletives at him – as the chief testified – or Dotson walked into Vega’s pepper-sprayed outstretched hand and then told her, “That’s assault,” as Vega testified.
The new video does not show the actual point of contact, but it shows Dotson walking towards Vega and that Vega hardly moved at all. The camera pans away and comes back to Dotson and Vega when she is already on the ground being arrested by Dotson. However, Foster said Dotson’s advancement towards Vega is enough to discredit the chief’s testimony.
“The video supports defense’s theory that Chief Dotson is the aggressor,” Foster said. “No facts could be more material to whether assault is committed.”
Stanislav Levchinsky, of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, argued that Vega’s time to present new evidence has expired. At this point, Vega’s burden of proof is high, he said.
“This court would have to make the finding that Chief Dotson went so far in that very limited portion of his testimony – because he didn’t remember how many steps he took prior to the incident – and that wipes out his whole testimony,” Levchinsky told the judge. “And that his entire testimony is perjury.”
Foster argued that the prosecutor is downplaying the actions that led up point of contact. In the trial transcript, Dotson is “very clear and very consistent” when he testified that he did not walk towards Vega but that she walked towards him.
“It’s easy to see that he lied, and he did it in three different points during the trial,” Foster told the St. Louis American. “That means it was repetitive, and it was deliberate. It’s not a coincidence that he minimized his conduct to make it seem like only one person was moving, so that the jury would think, ‘Of course she touched him.’”
Foster told the judge that Vega’s motion met all four parts of the “Whitefield test,” taken from the case State v. Whitfield. The test basically looks at whether or not the evidence is material to the case, credible and there was no previous lack of diligence on the defense’s part. Levchinsky tried to argue that Rose knew about the video beforehand, and Rose intentionally withheld it. Foster read Rose’s testimony where he repeatedly testified that he didn’t believe he videotaped the interaction.
Rose signed an affidavit stating that the video was filed in the wrong folder on his Google Drive, which is why he didn’t see it during the trial.
The judge is currently deliberating the case, and it’s unclear when her order will come down. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
