SPOKANE, Wash. — Closing arguments were delivered Tuesday in the criminal trial of Clay Hilton, a former Spokane County Sheriff’s sergeant charged with assaulting Kevin Hinton during an arrest in 2023.
Jurors are now deliberating and are expected to continue Wednesday.
They’ve reviewed body camera footage and recordings from multiple deputies who responded to the scene the night of the incident for days now.
State prosecutors argued Hilton lost his temper during the arrest and attacked Hinton without legal justification.
“These punches and knee’s, from this point forward…. These were done because Kevin was a no person — he was not respecting authority,” the state’s attorney told the jury. “Mr. Hilton lost his temper, and that’s not okay.”
Prosecutors also contended that Hilton could not have seen two knives found in Hinton’s car before the arrest took place, thus, without prior knowledge of the weapons, the state argued there was no legal basis for the use of force during the interaction.
The defense argued that Hilton is being held accountable for actions that fell within the scope of his law enforcement duties and training.
“The most dangerous battle law enforcement will ever fight will be in front of 15 reasonable minds — not facing a knife held by criminals, not having to dodge bullets,” the defense attorney said in closing.
Defense attorneys maintained their initial argument that Hinton’s behavior during the arrest were defensive tactics outlined in the Basic Law Enforcement Academy handbook, and that Hilton responded accordingly in this incident.
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