PHOENIX (CN) — A six-person jury on Friday found Phoenix police officer Darrell Magee not liable for First Amendment retaliation and federal malicious prosecution but returned an undecided verdict on a state law malicious prosecution claim in a case arising from the arrest of Jamaar Williams at a 2019 protest.
Williams, a local attorney and activist, sued the city of Phoenix and officer Magee a year after he was arrested at the July 12, 2019 “Lights for Liberty” protest against the federal government’s treatment of immigrants at the border. Williams was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest, but a state judge dismissed the case against him.
In his civil complaint, Williams says he never assaulted the officer, nor pulled away from him, and that Magee made up the charges after Williams threatened to sue him…