By Michelle Goodman
The Ironton Tribune
CINCINNATI — Two of three Lawrence County corrections officers told their side of the story Thursday in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati during a trial focusing on the alleged mistreatment of an inmate.
Jeremy Hanshaw, represented by attorney Mark Collins, took the stand following testimony of an opinion witness.
Hanshaw, 37, graduated from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in about 2011 and began working as an officer for the Chesapeake Police Department. In 2013, he began working as a jailer at the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.
Collins asked Hanshaw to tell his account of what happened on Aug. 16, 2014, when an intoxicated Larry Kinstler was brought into the jail on a count of disorderly conduct after having been arrested at Rally of the River.
Hanshaw said the man was not compliant with orders from the moment he arrived at the jail in Ohio State Highway Patrolman Josh Craft’s cruiser. He said the man kept planting his feet after being told to walk into the booking area.
“He was really reluctant to do anything,” Hanshaw said.
Once inside the booking area, Hanshaw said he walked Kinstler over to the wall, where prisoners are patted down.
“He stepped quickly in front of me,” Hanshaw said. “He yelled, ‘You (expletive).’ I took that to mean he was going after Trooper Craft. I put my hand on his chest and said, ‘No.’ I gave him no chance.”
That’s when Hanshaw said he had to push Kinstler to the wall to keep him from moving. He also said he felt Kinstler, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back, trying to grab at his duty belt. Hanshaw also said the man was tense and felt like he was trying to put pressure on Hanshaw by leaning off the wall.
During cross examination, Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Glatfelter pointed out that Hanshaw never reported before the trial that Kinstler tried to grab his duty belt in any written report or any statements made to investigators or while under oath.
Hanshaw said Kinstler tried to turn away and he felt his grasp slipping, at which time he said he initiated a take down of Kinstler.
“I put my arm on his shoulder and initiated a take down because he was still continuing to press off the wall,” he said.
Hanshaw said he tried to take control of Kinstler’s upper body, while Ronald Scott Hatfield would later testify to holding the man’s legs.
Hanshaw goes on to say Kinstler continued to resist as well as threaten him, but he eventually complied, after which time he was put in a restraint chair.
Once in the chair, Hanshaw said the man began yelling, cursing and blowing his nose. Hanshaw said he responded by putting his hand over the man’s face.
Glatfelter also pointed out this was the first mention of Hanshaw claiming Kinstler was blowing his nose on him.
Shortly after, EMS personnel arrived to transport Kinstler to a local hospital for a cut he received when falling to the floor in the booking area. When on the gurney, Hanshaw said he handed Kinstler a pen and a clipboard with an own-recognizance release form to sign.
Hanshaw said he saw Kinstler change the way he was holding the pen and when the man leaned off the gurney, he acted to hold the man down on the cot so he could not use the pen as a weapon.
The video of the incident shows Hanshaw grabbing Kinstler’s neck, followed by an elbow to the head, which pins the man to the gurney.
“I see the ink pen and I grab his wrist and straighten it out away from me and him,” he said.
“Did you together with those guys (Hatfield and Jason Mays) come up with a plan to harm Larry Kinstler?” asked Collins, to which he replied no.
Hanshaw is also accused of falsifying an incident report and a use of force report. During cross-examination, Glatfelter asked Hatfield why he didn’t include in either report that Kinstler tried to use a pen as a weapon.
“But today you told the jury you felt threatened by the pen and it could have been a weapon?” she asked, to which he replied yes.
Glatfelter played portions of the video and questioned him about Kinstler’s movements while he was on the wall. She said she couldn’t see where Kinstler was trying to get away from the deputies.
“I had to do it in half a second,” Hanshaw said. “I don’t have a video. I don’t get to push rewind. I get one chance to make a decision. I apologize he got injured but I did my best to protect his head. I tried to do a controlled take down.”
Hatfield recounted his version of the events as well. Hatfield, 26, also began working at the jail in 2013 following being employed as an officer with the Proctorville Police Department.
Hatfield said while Kinstler was against the wall in the booking area, he saw the man grab Hanshaw’s duty belt and saw him not cooperating.
“I struck him on the outer right thigh with my right knee,” Hatfield said. “ I told him to let go, not to do that.”
After the take down, Hatfield said Kinstler continued to struggle, so he held down the man’s legs. While on the ground, Hatfield can be seen in the video motioning to Mays with his head. The government has accused those two officers trying to obscure the view of the camera.
“Did you tell Mays to stand in front of the camera?” Joshua Engel, co-counsel for Hatfield, asked, to which he replied no.
“I told him to go secure the door,” Hatfield said. “The last time I saw the door, it was open and Trooper Craft was standing in it.”
Hatfield also testified that Kinstler spit on him while he was in the restraint chair, at which time he said he grabbed the man under his jaw and turned his head away.
“Did you intent to violate his civil rights?” Engel asked him, to which he replied no.
During cross examination, Glatfelter asked Hatfield what he told Detective Sgt. Aaron Bollinger during his initial investigation of the incident.
“You said, ‘You have the gun, why would I give you the ammunition?’” she asked.
“Something along those lines, yes,” Hatfield said.
Glatfelter also questioned him about his head motions, which she says indicate the officers’ intentions to cover the camera view.
“I told him (Mays) to secure the door,” Hatfield said.
She asked him if he was concerned whether Kinstler was going to get away from the officers, to which he replied, “Not at this point.”
“But at this point you told Mays to go stand at the sally port door?” she said,
At the start of the day’s testimony, Collins called James Scanlon, an opinion witness who works for the North American SWAT Training Association as was a police officer for 33 years.
Scanlon was hired to review the video and all other evidence in the case and give his opinion as whether the officers were justified in their use of force against Kinstler.
Scanlon said Kinstler demonstrated “danger cues” which indicated he was being aggressive and noncompliant, and the type of force used by the officers was necessary for their safety as well as “consistent with state and national standards and practices.”
Expected to take the stand today is another opinion witness, called by Hatfield’s attorneys.
United States District Judge Timothy Black deferred his ruling as to the dismissal of several counts of the indictment.
The case is expected to resume next week with Mays’ attorneys calling witnesses if they chose.