Opening arguments began Wednesday in the trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of Saratoga Springs by the family of Darryl Mount Jr. In the afternoon, the first witnesses were called.
In Saratoga County Supreme Court, plaintiff attorney Brian Breedlove described the incident where Mount was injured around 3 a.m. on August 31st, 2013 as police brutality. After showing video taken in December 2013 of Mount in a wheelchair and unable to speak, Breedlove showed the jury photos of the alley where police chased Mount after he was observed pushing his girlfriend.
Breedlove said Mount's facial injuries were caused by police and not the result of a fall from a scaffold. He also accused the Saratoga Springs Police Department of fostering a "culture of corruption" that pre-determined the investigation of the incident to protect officers.
Attorney John Aspland, representing the city, told jurors that in this trial there will be no evidence of that demonstrates any physical contact between officers and Mount until after he was found face-down in an alley. The defense said the city police conducted a very thorough and complete investigation surrounding the circumstances of the incident, and dismissed the plaintiff’s argument that there was a police coverup as no more than a theory.
Seated in court were Patty Jackson, Mount’s mother, along with other family and supporters, as well as former city police chief Greg Veitch, and two officers who responded the night of Mount’s injury, including now current chief Tyler McIntosh.
