The story that began on June 4 in front of the club Evolution is finally coming to an end, at least temporarily.
On Friday, Ohio University senior Julio Cumba III -the last of six students to be tried on charges stemming from the incident -agreed to plead no contest to a minor misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct instead of going through a jury trial on more serious charges of resisting arrest and obstructing. Cumba was sentenced to pay a $50 fine plus $64 in court costs.
Cumba, who was shot with a Taser gun during the incident, reserved his legal right to sue the police as part of the agreement.
While Cumba would not say whether or not he would definitely pursue such legal action, Cumba's attorney, Patrick McGee, said anyone who had been brutalized in the same manner that Cumba had been would sue the police.
The charges against Cumba date back to a June 4 incident in front of the club Evolution, 19 S. Court St. Along with five other former and current OU students, Cumba was arrested on the charges of failing to comply with police orders to disperse from a large crowd that had gathered outside the club in the aftermath of a fight. None of the six arrested was involved in the fight.
The incident caused concern locally because five of the six students and former students arrested were minorities. A minority relations panel was created in the wake of the incident to review the events of June 4 and to examine the relationship between police and minorities in Athens.
The panel also looked into the use of a Taser on Cumba. Cumba was shot twice with a Taser, as the first shot failed to incapacitate him.
While the panel made several recommendations for improving the relationship between police and minorities in Athens, it did not condemn as racist any police action on the night in question. The panel's report called for a review of the proper use and necessity of Tasers but did not say the use of a Taser on Cumba was unwarranted.
Cumba's plea bargain was reached the morning the case was scheduled to go to jury trial, McGee said. The state was forced to pay for the jurors, who had already reported for duty.
Athens city prosecutor Lisa Eliason said the agreement came so late because McGee only showed her pictures of Cumba's Taser wounds on Thursday. Eliason said she decided to make the offer based on those pictures.
After I looked at those
I just thought this was a good resolution Eliason said.
McGee said that earlier plea bargains offered by the prosecution always required Cumba give up his right to sue the city. While both McGee and Cumba said they would like to have their day in court, this was not that day.
For the moment it's over
Cumba said. This was just something that has been hanging over my head.
