Jury selection underway in police brutality trial

Jury selection got underway Thursday in the trial of two former Indio police officers accused of beating a gang member, then attempting to cover up their actions by filing a false police report.

Charles Holloway, 30, is charged with assault by a peace officer, while 28-year-old Gerardo Martinez is charged with perjury, as well as misdemeanor counts of filing a false police report and being an accessory to a crime.

Both men were fired by the police department last year.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan summoned several
panels of prospective jurors to the Banning Justice Center Thursday morning for screening as to their availability and qualifications. Opening statements in the trial are expected early next week.

Holloway and Martinez, who are free on their own recognizance, are accused of beating Ruben Martinez on Sept. 12, 2014, at Pueblo Viejo Grill in the 81900 block of Highway 111.

Martinez, a member of 50 Boyz, one of several dozen gangs that infest Riverside County, was on parole at the time and not wearing his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor, according to investigators.

Upon recognizing Martinez, the two officers attempted to make contact with him, but he fled, and the patrolmen chased the parolee behind the restaurant, where a security camera captured Holloway allegedly assaulting the convicted felon, who was ultimately arrested and booked into the Indio Jail.

Gerardo Martinez filed a police report two days later stating that the ex-con was arrested without any unusual circumstances, according to court papers.

However, Ruben Martinez filed a complaint that triggered an investigation handled by the sheriff’s department, whose detectives referred the matter to the District Attorney’s Office in October 2014 with a recommendation that charges be filed against the defendants.

Ruben Martinez also sued the police department and city, alleging excessive force resulting in injuries, and accepted a $140,000 settlement last month.