March 27, 2010 Man acquitted in police shooting incident; files civil suit By Justin Fenton From the start, Fenyanga Muhammad maintained his innocence. Shot four times by police in what was described as a drug bust gone wrong in 2007, Muhammad said he hadn't swallowed drugs as police claimed. As for his resistance as police tried to arrest him, he claimed that was because the police officers grabbing him behind caused him to choke on a Popsicle stick that had been in his mouth and which was visible in crime scene photos. He was shot three times across his back, and once in the hand. On Friday, a city jury agreed with his account, acquitting Chestnut, also known as Donnie Chestnut, of all charges. By that time, the case against him had already dwindled significantly - test results showed he had no drugs in his system, nixing the initial drug charges. And prosecutors had also dropped charges of assaulting one of the officers. The lone assault charges against one officer were disposed of by the jury in short order. "We have fought hard for three years to prove my innocence," said Muhammad, who is now 40 and hasn't been charged with a crime since age 22, when he was convicted of receiving a stolen credit card. "This has been a psychological drainage on me. I can't express the relief that I feel." So confident in his innocence, Chestnut and his attorney Granville Templeton had a civil lawsuit already drawn up that they filed and served on Officers Donald Muir and Hassan Rasheed right after the verdict came in. Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for City State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said, "Prosecutor Jason Knight put forth the best possible case based on the evidence and witnesses he had. The state went forward based on officer testimony, and the evidence gathered and presented from the police investigation." The case was postponed 15 times and went to trial almost three years after the incident. It should be noted that Knight is the same prosecutor who became embroiled in controversy this month when a police officer was picked up on a warrant and spent a night in jail for missing court. Templeton called the arrest "illegal." "This kind of thing happens all the time he said," he said, saying police term certain areas as drug areas and hassle anyone they encounter. He accused the officers of lying on the stand. Asked by a television reporter if the officers could have still felt that their lives were in jeopardy even though the drugs turned out to be a red herring, Templeton dismissed such a notion. "The evidence is absolutely clear," he said. "I was brutally attacked by individuals who swore to protect and serve," said Muhammad, who identifies himself as a real estate entrepreneur. "It has impacted by family, my business, my way of living."

Police/Prosecutor Misconduct

Truth in Justice