A Florida jury on Thursday found a former sheriff’s deputy not guilty in an incident in which he slammed a 15-year-old girl to the ground in 2019, local media reported.
Highlights
- Willard Miller, 41, called the jury’s not guilty verdict on one count of child abuse a vindication.
- Miller was charged with felony child abuse following the Sept.
- 25, 2019, incident at Pompano Beach school.
- Miller testified that the girl had kicked his leg from behind, and the defense argued that he did not intend for the hard fall but the child’s leg got caught in a chair.
- Video released by the sheriff’s department in 2019 appeared to show Miller, a school resource officer, grab the girl by the neck area and throw her to the ground.
- Sheriff Gregory Tony said in August that there had been delays in internal affairs due to Covid-19