Judge: Columbus officer not guilty of dereliction of duty during 2020 summer protests

Protesters disperse Downtown after Columbus police officers deployed tear gas on May 30, 2020.

A Franklin County judge has found a Columbus police officer not guilty of misdemeanor charges related to her actions during racial injustice protests in summer 2020 sparked by the murder of George Floyd.

Franklin County Municipal Judge James O’Grady found Sgt. Holly Kanode not guilty on two counts: one count of dereliction of duty and one count of falsification.

Kanode, a member of the Columbus Division of Police since 2003, is the first of three Columbus officers charged for their actions during the summer 2020 protests to go to trial.

More: Ohio Supreme Court: Judge can continue in trial of Columbus officer charged over 2020 protests

More: Only one Columbus officer to face internal review over alleged 2020 protest misconduct

Kanode was defended by attorneys Kaitlyn Stephens and Mark Collins.

“The charges should never have been filed. Today’s verdict confirms that. We look forward to making sure justice is served in the next two cases,” Collins said.

The charges, brought by Special Prosecutor Kathleen Garber on behalf of the Columbus City Attorney’s office, stem from an arrest Kanode made on May 30, 2020, at the intersection of Broad and High streets.

Garber accused Kanode of falsifying a use-of-force report regarding that arrest.

On body camera video, Kanode is heard saying the person who was arrested had thrown an officer to the ground and indicated that in her report. Garber alleged there is no evidence the arrestee assaulted an officer and video footage does not show this occurring.

More: What we know about charges against three Columbus police officers from 2020 protests

In a statement, Jeff Simpson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said he believed it was “transparent throughout this trial that the charges brought by the special prosecutor had no merit and that Sgt. Kanode would be exonerated.”

“It is apparent that City leadership does not have the best interest of citizen and officer safety in mind,” Simpson said in a statement. “Instead, they hold their own political agendas as their priorities.”

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Garber said in an interview that the prosecution felt it had sufficient evidence. She characterized recent FOP statements as  “a constant attack on the prosecution of any officer, regardless of the evidence.”

The City Attorney’s office did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday afternoon.

Kanode’s trial began on May 9 and was repeatedly delayed. Most recently, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Judge O’Grady would not be removed from the case at Garber’s request and the trial resumed. Garber had accused O’Grady of being biased against her.

The other two officers charged for conduct during the protests are Officer Traci Shaw and Officer Phillip Walls. Both are facing charges stemming from allegedly pepper spraying protesters.

Shaw’s trial begins on Monday in front of Franklin County Municipal Judge Mark Hummer.

Garber said the prosecution intends to follow through on the remaining cases.

“It’s a different set of facts and a different court room, and I don’t believe this case has any bearing on what will be decided in the other cases,” Garber said.  “We respectfully disagree with the (Thursday) decision, but I want to respect the process.”

In the statement, Simpson described the effort to prosecute police officers as a waste of money, and said “accountability would be dropping the remaining meritless charges against other officers.”

The city of Columbus has spent over $320,000 in its investigation into alleged criminal acts by Columbus police officers during the protests, which began on May 28, 2020, following the murder three days earlier of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

On Tuesday, the Columbus Division of Police announced it will refer for internal review only one of 24 alleged misconduct cases during the 2020 racial injustice protests presented by an investigative team.

Jordan Laird is a criminal justice reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at jlaird@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at  @LairdWrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus officer not guilty for actions during 2020 protest