A former Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail corrections officer accused of assaulting an inmate in the jail will not serve any time, after the case against him was dismissed in court Friday.
Vincent Edward Russell, 44, has been cleared of any charges stemming from a reported altercation with an inmate in a hallway inside the jail in June 2014.
The charge, assault and battery, was dismissed Friday as part of a deferred disposition, according to court documents filed in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court. In a deferred disposition, the charge may be reduced or dismissed at a later date if the defendant remains at peace and good behavior.
The court agreed to defer the disposition on the assault charge June 7, after Russell was found not guilty of strangulation stemming from the same altercation in 2014, documents show.
Russell and his attorney Fernando Groene did not appear in court Friday, but Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green told Judge Michael McGinty that there had not been any problems with Russell. McGinty then dismissed the case.
Russell filed an officer’s statement three days after the alleged assault, explaining that the inmate was being verbally abusive and threatening. Russell then accidentally stepped on the inmate’s foot, and then the inmate stepped on the side of his boot, Russell claimed.
Russell threw the inmate face down on the floor and punched him in the eye and head, cutting his head open, according to a criminal complaint.
Photo exhibits from Russell’s trial last June show images of the inmate with several bruises and marks on his face and neck area. Documents state the inmate was treated by a nurse at the jail.
Russell was arrested less than a month later on July 10 and charged with assault and battery, but after reviewing the case, the Williamsburg-James City County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office recommended an additional charge of impeding the blood circulation or respiration of a victim.
“I also understand that there was another way the incident could have been handled,” Russell wrote in the statement.
A motion filed by defense attorney Fernando Groene states the alleged strangulation occurred out of view from the surveillance cameras.
At his trial in June, a judge determined there was not enough evidence to convict him on the strangulation charge, but there was enough evidence to prove guilt on the assault charge.
VPRJ Superintendent John Kuplinski confirmed Russell’s last day on the VPRJ payroll was June 30, 2016. The jail does not release reasons for employee’s departures, he added.
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
Fearing can be reached at sarah.f@localvoicemedia.com.
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