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The two Indianapolis police officers who are facing criminal charges related to the death of Herman Whitfield III have secured a partial stay of the proceedings in a related federal civil case.
Citing a need to protect the indicted officers’ Fifth Amendment rights, Indiana Southern District Court Magistrate Judge Mark Dinsmore ruled Thursday in the federal case that no written discovery may be served on officers Steven Sanchez and Adam Ahmad and depositions of those two officers may not be taken until the state criminal cases against them are resolved.
However, all other discovery may proceed, including discovery against the four other officers named as defendants in the federal case.
Sanchez and Ahmad were indicted in April on multiple felony charges related to the death of Whitfield, who died in April 2022 after being tased and restrained by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers while in their custody. Whitfield’s parents had called police to the family home because Whitfield was experiencing a “mental health crisis.”
The federal complaint, filed by the Whitfield family last summer, alleges Whitfield was not acting violently or threatening the police officers who responded to his parents’ call. It asserts a Fourth Amendment excessive force claim as well as state-law claims of battery and negligence.
In staying discovery against Sanchez and Ahmad in the federal case, Dinsmore wrote, “Should discovery proceed against Defendants Sanchez and Ahmad, it is inevitable that they would be advised by their criminal counsel not to provide substantive answers to virtually all of it, and that could result in an adverse inference against them in this case that could hinder their ability to defend themselves against Plaintiffs’ claims.”
In addition to Sanchez and Ahmad, the other defendants named in the federal complaint include the city of Indianapolis and the four other officers who responded to the Whitfield home: Matthew Virt, Dominique Clark, Jordan Bull and Nicholas Matthew.
Addressing those defendants, Dinsmore wrote, “Discovery against the remaining Defendants (and any non-parties) may and should proceed, as such discovery will not implicate Defendants Sanchez and Ahmad’s Fifth Amendment rights. Likewise, any discovery by all Defendants should proceed forthwith so as to preclude any unnecessary delay of this proceeding once the criminal (proceedings) have been resolved.”
The federal case is The Estate of Herman Whitfield, III v. The City of Indianapolis, et al., 1:22-cv-01246.
The state cases against Sanchez and Ahmad are each proceeding in Marion Superior Court. Both men are scheduled to stand trial beginning on July 25.
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