Former officer takes excessive force sentence to US Supreme Court
Updated: 6:56 AM CST Dec 30, 2014
A former Des Moines police officer wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that his 20-month prison sentence for using excessive force was too light.The Des Moines Register reports that the appeal for 31-year-old Mersed Dautovic was filed earlier this month. He'd been convicted in 2012 of using excessive force on Octavius Bonds in September 2008.Dautovic finished his federal sentence and was released in January. But a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the sentence in August. The judges ruled the sentence was too lenient due to the seriousness of Bonds' injuries.Dautovic's attorney, J. Keith Rigg, says Dautovic faces the possibility of returning to prison if the U.S. high court doesn't review the case.
DES MOINES, Iowa —
A former Des Moines police officer wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that his 20-month prison sentence for using excessive force was too light.
The Des Moines Register reports that the appeal for 31-year-old Mersed Dautovic was filed earlier this month. He'd been convicted in 2012 of using excessive force on Octavius Bonds in September 2008.
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Dautovic finished his federal sentence and was released in January. But a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the sentence in August. The judges ruled the sentence was too lenient due to the seriousness of Bonds' injuries.
Dautovic's attorney, J. Keith Rigg, says Dautovic faces the possibility of returning to prison if the U.S. high court doesn't review the case.