Asher found guilty of assault

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - A jury has found former Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher guilty on all counts in the beating of Melvin Jones, III.

A Chicopee District Court jury reached the verdict early Tuesday afternoon, following about a full day’s worth of deliberations for the case.

He was charged with one count of assault and battery and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and many people told 22News, they think this is only one of many police brutality cases that often go unnoticed.

Asher was accused of hitting Melvin Jones III multiple times with a flashlight during a traffic stop in November of 2009.

This incident, caught on video, has been called by many an example of police brutality, and many people said, the think this guilty is appropriate.

Jeanne Dulong of Chicopee told 22News, “If the court and the jurors found fit the evidence and the accusations to be fitting into the crime, then by all means, we must follow our judicial system.”

“I think that police like anybody else are not above the law,” Jeremy Appleton of Portland, Oregon said. “They need to be brought to justice if they are indeed guilty.”

Asher was fired by the department in 2010, but some people say they believe many police brutality cases go unnoticed until a photo or a video evidence surfaces on the web.

One Springfield resident told 22News, he believes some police officers act like the law doesn’t apply to them.

“To them, they are above the law. They are supposed to enforce us, yet it’s okay for them to break the law, but we can’t break the law.”

Asher will be sentenced on March 28th. He could face up to 10 years in prison.