A former Antioch police officer who was found guilty in federal court has now been taken into custody, adding another serious turn to a case that has drawn attention across the Bay Area. Former K-9 officer Morteza Amiri was ordered into custody this week after a jury found him guilty of depriving a man of his civil rights and falsifying reports tied to the incident. He was acquitted on a separate conspiracy count.
The case centered on an incident in which prosecutors said Amiri illegally released his police dog on a man, then helped cover up what happened through false reporting. According to KTVU’s summary of the case, the jury returned the guilty verdict last week, and then Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered Amiri into federal custody on Tuesday. Until sentencing, he is expected to remain in Santa Clara County jail before eventually being transferred to federal prison.
What appears to have weighed heavily in court was not only the attack itself, but the judge’s reaction to what happened afterward. KTVU, citing the East Bay Times, reported that Judge White called attention to the “savagery of the attack” and to text messages sent afterward that were described as celebratory. According to that reporting, Amiri laughed about the victim’s pain and discussed trying to avoid ending up in court over the bite…