Miami Herald, The (FL)-May 8, 1986
Author: AL MESSERSCHMIDT Herald Staff Writer
A former Miami police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he beat a motorcyclist and falsified a police report after a June 1984 chase in downtown Miami.
Freddy Gasca, 24, a four-year police officer, hugged his attorney, Jose Quinon, then grabbed his crying wife, Debbie, when the jury verdicts were announced in Circuit Judge Steven Robinson's court.
Quinon said that Gasca, who was dismissed from the police department in February, will seek reinstatement as an officer.
Gasca, who faced a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison if convicted, was accused of pistol-whipping motorcyclist Bruce Murray after the June 25, 1984, chase.
Murray told a six-member jury in Robinson's court that he identified Gasca in a photo lineup two months after the incident.
But during cross-examination, Murray admitted that he told investigators that someone other than Gasca beat him.
"From Day One you were positive it wasn't Gasca?" Quinon asked.
"True," Murray said.
"You have gone back and forth as to who hit you with the pistol?" Quinon asked.
"That's true," Murray answered.
In statements after the chase, Murray said he was knocked from his motorcycle and had both hands in the air at the time of the incident.
Gasca charged Murray with driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest without violence and fleeing police. He also was charged with careless driving and with transporting a passenger who wasn't wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Gasca's report said Murray tried to drive on a downtown sidewalk, hit the median and lost control of the motorcycle.
Quinon said Murray wasn't beaten. He played two police tape recordings as evidence.
In one, Gasca told the police dispatcher that he was chasing Murray's motorcycle into a parking lot. In the other tape, Gasca reported an accident. The second transmission was recorded 32 seconds after the first.
Quinon argued that 32 seconds wasn't enough time for Gasca to punch Murray and to pistol whip him. Murray suffered only a minor injury on his chin, Quinon said.
"You were super," juror Jeanette Fallin told Quinon. "It should never have gotten this far."
Edition: FINAL
Section: LOCAL
Page: 1D
Index Terms: VERDICT
Record Number: 8602050788
Copyright (c) 1986 The Miami Herald
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/NewsBank/0EB364F8D958970D/0F01011B0D7111CF
