SPOKANE, Wash – Body camera video showing an altercation between a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy and a man he was trying to arrest took center stage Monday as the former deputy’s assault trial got underway.
Clay Hilton is charged with second degree assault, stemming from the incident in 2023.
Hilton, who has since been fired from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, confronted a man in Terrace View Park.
Hilton told the man, Kevin Hinton, that Hinton couldn’t be in the park after hours. Hinton argued that would be a civil infraction, not grounds for arrest and a physical argument ensued.
In the course of less than 10 minutes, Hilton struck Hinton several times. Hinton suffered several broken ribs and was so badly injured, the Spokane County Jail staff refused to book him and had him sent to the hospital instead.
In opening statements Monday, Hilton’s attorney argued his client was acting in self-defense, saying that Hilton is actually the victim in this case.
The defense argued Hinton was “defiant and antagonistic” and said “in this woke era in which we live, the criminal goes free and my client is on trial.”
An investigation ordered by the sheriff’s office at the time of the incident determined Hilton did not use reasonable force and that he should have tried to de-escalate the situation.
In court Monday, Hilton’s attorney argued that he was trying to de-escalate the situation and highlighted the risk and danger to law enforcement officers.
The prosecution presented several minutes of the body camera footage Monday. At one point, Hilton is trying to get Hinton in handcuffs and you hear Hinton say, “Why are you doing this to me, man?”
Prosecutors called their first witnesses Monday afternoon. The trial could last up to two weeks.
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