Meridian cop put his knee on a young man’s neck. Will that even be mentioned in the trial?

Rose Evans, Idaho Statesman

MERIDIAN (Idaho Statesman) — A young Meridian man appeared in court to hear arguments in his obstructing justice and resisting arrest case, which has captured the public’s attention since videos of the arrest went viral last fall and initiated an investigation into the arresting officer’s use of force.

In the hearing Friday, prosecutors and the defense each laid out their arguments for whether the officer’s actions leading up to the arrest should or should not be considered lawful — and whether his actions following the arrest should or should not be considered in the case at all.

RELATED | ‘It’s horrific.’ Meridian man faces trial after police officer pressed knee into his neck

Then-21-year-old Samson Allen’s arrest last June began with a dirt-bike accident, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. Allen’s younger brother, Parks, 16, had spun out of control while riding the bike in a residential neighborhood in Meridian. When Allen and two other brothers arrived to the scene, they found that the dirt bike had been moved up the street, according to police body-camera footage.

The brothers had just finished loading the over-200-pound bike into the bed of Allen’s truck when former Meridian Police Officer Bradley Chambers stepped out of his police car and told Allen, “Take it out of the truck.”

Allen asked Chambers if he wanted to take photographs of the bike, while his brother, Gannon, filmed the interaction and argued, “It’s our property.”

“I’m not unloading it and then loading it again,” Allen said.

Roughly one minute into the interaction, Chambers approached Allen from behind, ordering him to step away from the truck, grabbing his right wrist and eventually forcing him to the ground, where he pressed his knee to into the 21-year-old’s neck for nearly a minute.

The incident, which has since been viewed by millions online through footage taken by Allen’s brothers, as well as police footage, triggered an internal review by the Meridian Police Department.

While the outcome of the internal review is still unknown, Allen is expected to be tried for criminal misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstructing justice.

Prosecution, defense arguments foreshadow possible trial

The Friday, Feb. 7, hearing was the first time the public heard arguments on Allen’s charges.

Ada County Magistrate Judge Michael Lojek also considered two requests, one from each side.

The first was the state’s motion to restrict any discussion or evidence of excessive force. The motion would limit information and evidence in the case to the moments leading up to Chambers’ “last command” that Allen “take the bike out of the vehicle” or “step away from the vehicle” — disqualifying anything that happened after.

The defense and prosecutors’ arguments signaled what could be to come if the case goes before a jury.

Boise’s deputy city attorney, John Cortabitarte, argued on behalf of the state that the issue at hand was whether Allen’s failed to comply with those commands, and that any events that took place after the arrest was initiated are “not relevant” to that question. Meridian contracts with the Boise City Attorney’s Office to handle prosecutions.

The prosecutor said that showing jurors footage of the entire arrest would place an “unfair hurdle” on the prosecution, because it would be difficult for jurors to separate those two issues if the footage were shown in its entirety.

“The case is not whether there was excessive force on that date, but whether before that instance, Mr. Allen had violated Idaho code,” Cortabitarte said.

“Nonetheless, the human aspect of in all of us — I think it’s hard for a jury to understand that, to understand what that means, and then present or try to get to a fair conclusion,” he said.

Allen’s attorney, Ryan Black of Boise, argued that the entire interaction is relevant, because it provides insights into the lawfulness of Chambers’ commands and whether he was acting in the “course and scope of his duties as a law enforcement officer” when he arrested Allen.

“The concern that we have here is that neither one of those orders is lawful,” Black said. Black questioned Chambers’ authority to “order an individual who’s not being detained to do something for him,” specifically removing the 200-pound bike from the truck.

Black said that if the command was not lawful, then Chambers’ following actions could have been taken “to secure the arrest and charges, to keep himself from possible liability.”

Black said that if the video evidence is not disqualified, he would use it to argue that Chambers’ commands and actions were not lawful, while the state would be tasked with proving the opposite, perhaps through Chambers’ own testimony.

“For the state to secure a conviction here, they’re going to need to convince the jury that that order was lawful,” Black said. “I think the video speaks for itself.”

Lojek raised the issue of timing, noting that it is difficult to discern whether or not the events immediately following the arrest should be considered “relevant” in part because of how closely together they occurred. According to videos taken by Allen’s brothers that were provided to the Statesman, 18 seconds pass between the moment of Chambers’ last command and the moment at which Allen is taken to the ground.

Lojek asked prosecutors to provide him with video footage of the arrest that he could review before ruling on the state’s motion. The footage is expected to be provided in a protected exhibit, meaning the public would not be able to access it.

Defense argues for more evidence, disciplinary records

Lojek then heard the defense’s argument for a separate motion requesting that the state produce evidence pertaining to Chambers’ training and disciplinary history at the Meridian Police Department.

The state provided Lojek with a DVD of the evidence for Lojek to review in a sealed setting. Black said that the evidence on the DVD would allow the defense to prepare arguments regarding Chambers’ credibility.

Lojek said he sought to balance Black’s request with Chambers’ privacy and said that if the evidence were provided to the defense, it would be protected so it could not make its way to the public.

Lojek said he would review the DVD before deciding.

Officer leaves Meridian, Boise amid ‘internal review’

Chambers left the Meridian Police Department voluntarily in September — for a job with Boise police, the Statesman previously reported. But he was separated from the Boise Police Department on Jan. 17, according to an email from Haley Williams, a department spokesperson, to the Statesman on Tuesday. Williams did not say why.

The Statesman’s request to obtain Chambers’ training and disciplinary records was denied by the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training in October. The office cited Idaho Code §74-106(9) exempting disclosure of “a person’s fitness to be granted or retain a license.”

Williams told the Statesman in October that the department conducted a “thorough background investigation” of Chambers before hiring him in September.

“BPD does require officers to have an Idaho POST Certification and, if they are a lateral officer, to have left their former agency in good standing,” Williams said. “BPD does require officers to have an Idaho POST Certification and, if they are a lateral officer, to have left their former agency in good standing,” the spokesperson said.

A Meridian Police Department Facebook post says Chambers graduated from the Meridian-Nampa Joint Patrol Academy and joined the department in 2022, the Statesman previously reported. Previous Statesman reporting also shows Chambers was a sergeant in the American Canyon Police Department in California as of 2018.

A spokesperson for the Meridian Police Department told the Statesman in October that the department’s Office of Professional Standards would review Chambers’ use of force in Allen’s arrest. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email from the Statesman Monday asking whether the internal review is still underway.

Allen to return to court

While Lojek mulls over additional evidence, Allen, now 22, will return to court for a status hearing.

The hearing date is yet to be set. It will take place at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. At the hearing, Lojek may rule on the two motions and could set a date for a jury trial.