By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
The Missouri State Highway Patrol sought, but did not obtain, a misdemeanor charge of assault against a former Joplin police officer, Homer Knisley, in connection with the striking of a handcuffed man in April at the Joplin City Jail.
A state patrol investigator’s recommendation to the Jasper County prosecutor’s office in June that Knisley, 31, be charged with assault was revealed in the patrol’s release of records from its investigation to the Globe on Tuesday under an open-records request.
Knisley, a white officer, was captured on a jail surveillance camera video striking David G. Neal, a 25-year-old black man, in the face with the heel of the palm of his hand while the combative Neal was being dragged to a cell at the jail after his arrest on April 20.
Neal and his mother filed complaints with the Joplin Police Department alleging excessive use of force, and both an internal-affairs review and a state patrol investigation were conducted.
The Jasper County prosecutor declined to file any charge against Knisley once the patrol completed its investigation and later dismissed a felony assault charge against Neal for allegedly ramming another officer’s patrol car with his car in downtown Joplin, the incident that led to his arrest in April.
Prosecutor Dean Dankelson said Tuesday that Neal’s alleged crimes and Knisley’s alleged acts at the jail compromised the prosecution of either man.
“We had a case against Mr. Neal where we would have needed Mr. Knisley’s testimony, and we had a case against Mr. Knisley where we would have needed Mr. Neal’s testimony,” Dankelson said. “So, we just decided to dismiss both cases.”
He said defense attorneys for either man could have called the other man as a witness in court, turning their actions against them.
Police Chief Lane Roberts told the Globe that he does not always agree with prosecutors’ decisions, but he understands that in this case, Dankelson thought he was dealing as well as he could with a difficult situation, and that’s all a police department can ask of a prosecutor.
Roberts said the city did not drop its charges against Neal. The city filed several traffic citations and misdemeanors with respect to both the incident downtown and the incident at the jail.
Those nonfelony charges included driving on a sidewalk, obstructing traffic, resisting arrest, improper license plates, no proof of financial responsibility, property destruction, assault on a law-enforcement officer, and assault on a jailer.
City Prosecutor Tricia Gould said Neal was assessed suspended impositions of sentences for two years on the two assault charges and the financial-responsibility citation. Prosecution was deferred for one year on the charges of resisting arrest and obstructing traffic, she said.
Gould said she could not comment on what charges, if any, were dismissed. She said Neal did plead guilty to an amended charge of defective equipment and paid a fine.
In the end
The city eventually paid David Neal $5,000 for a promise not to sue either police officer Homer Knisley or the city. Knisley resigned from the Police Department on the day he was to have a disciplinary fact-finding hearing regarding the incident.
