Two ex-Fullerton police officers fired after the 2011 beating death of a homeless and mentally ill man have lost a court battle to overturn their terminations.
Orange County Superior Court Judge David A. Hoffer on Monday, Oct. 26, upheld the firing of former officers Joseph Wolfe and Jay Cicinelli for their actions in the death of Kelly Thomas. The killing, captured on video, reverberated throughout the nation and led to an unsuccessful attempt to criminally convict the officers.
Kelly, 37, became a figurehead for police reform in how the mentally ill and homeless should be treated by law enforcement. He was brutally beaten while being questioned for allegedly jiggling car door handles in a parking lot at the Fullerton Transportation Center on July 5, 2011.
Wolfe and Cicinelli were two of the officers who said they were attempting to subdue an uncooperative Thomas. Both officers alleged they were denied due legal process in their firing by the city.
A city arbitration hearing concluded that Wolfe had violated Fullerton Police Department policy, while a separate hearing advised that Cicinelli had not violated policy. Both were still terminated.
They had also faced state criminal charges in 2013-14, with then District Attorney Tony Rackackas handling the prosecution himself. But a jury found Wolfe and another officer, Manuel Ramos, not guilty. Rackauckas dropped the case against Wolfe. A separate federal investigation ended without charges.
Wolfe, whom the civil judge described as being “a fine officer with a clean record,” was fired by the city partly for using excessive force, namely punching Thomas twice on the head and applying body pressure even after Thomas complained he couldn’t breathe.
The judge found no evidence that Wolfe punched Thomas on the head, but confirmed that the ex-officer placed his body on top of Thomas, who was screaming that he was sorry and asking for help from God and his father. The judge ruled Wolfe used body pressure longer than was necessary. Hoffer also confirmed that Wolfe falsified his police report.
Cicinelli was terminated partly for bashing Thomas repeatedly in the face with the back end of a taser gun.
“Cicinelli subjected Thomas to a terrible and unnecessary beating,” Hoffer wrote. “As Cicinelli himself aptly put it (just after the event and on audio), ‘I probably just smashed his face to hell.’ “
Attorneys for Wolfe and Cicinelli did not return telephone messages requesting comment.
Thomas’ father, Ron, sued the city in 2015 but accepted a $4.9 million settlement. Kelly Thomas’ mother, Cathy, had already accepted a $1 million settlement.
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