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RPD Officer Sippel said he 'blasted' his hand off Christopher Pate's head in body cam video

Gary Craig
Democrat and Chronicle

The assault case against suspended Rochester Police Officer Michael Sippel moved into police jargon Monday, with talks of "distractionary jabs" and "use-of-force matrices."

But that jargon did not change the questions facing City Court Judge Thomas Rainbow Morse, who must decide whether Sippel properly approached Christopher Pate on May 5, 2018, and then was justified in the force he used to arrest Pate, who was not the individual police thought he was.

In court Monday, the prosecution introduced video clips of comments from Sippel to other officers after the physical confrontation with Pate, who suffered a broken bone in his face. Sippel is accused of misdemeanor assault and chose to have Morse, and not a jury, determine his innocence or guilt.

More:Christopher Pate at police brutality trial: 'Police are intimidating and scary'

More:See the video: Trial of RPD officer Sippel opens with raw body cam video of Pate arrest

"Blasted my hand off his head," Sippel said in one video segment. In the other he said, "Look how swollen my hand is right there. ... He turned his head."

Those comments were Assistant District Attorney Gina Clark's proof that Sippel did hit Pate in the face. But, even if so, the question will still return to whether Sippel and his partner, Spenser McAvoy, were justified in the force they used to subdue, tase and handcuff Pate.

Rochester Police Officer Michael Sippel chose a bench trial.

On Monday, Morse denied defense lawyer's Clark Zimmermann's request to dismiss the assault charge against Sippel. But Morse did note that the burden is on the prosecution to "disprove" that Sippel's actions were justified for a police officer.

Testimony could conclude Tuesday. The prosecution rested Monday, and Zimmermann said he expects to call three witnesses.

On Monday, Rochester Police Sgt. Gregory Bello testified about the training he has provided officers about when they can use force and how much. Training matrices, unsurprisingly, are based on the response of the person being approached or questioned, and can range to situations where physical contact should not be used to the need for deadly force in the most dire and dangerous of circumstances.

Bello acknowledged that police approaches, if they turn confrontational, are hard to shoehorn into specific responses for every scenario. "Everything is different," he said. "Everything is dynamic."

Central to the case will be what is known in New York police training as the DeBour levels of response — so-named because of the appellate case that dictates what is permissible for police when approaching citizens and what isn't.

The prosecution has tried to demonstrate that Pate had shown McAvoy an identification card that proved he was not the city man they suspected him to be — a wanted criminal. When approached by McAvoy on May 5, 2018, Pate, who had not committed any crimes, at first refused to stop or show ID before showing a public assistance card, according to testimony.

Sippel's contention is that he had not seen any identification from Pate and still believed him to be a wanted suspect when he reached Pate. McAvoy had momentarily walked away, though he testified that he did so because his body-worn camera had disengaged and he wanted to check it.

Sippel then approached Pate to question him. Sippel maintains that Pate resisted when he and McAvoy, who had come back to help Sippel, tried to question Pate. 

The three fell to the ground, and Sippel also tased Pate in the confrontation. Zimmermann has argued that Pate's broken bone may have happened when his face hit the sidewalk and not from a punch from Sippel.

On video, Pate can be heard saying multiple times that he had shown his identification, even after he was tased.

In his testimony, Sgt. Bello discussed what are known as "distractionary" jabs or punches, which can be used to respond to an individual who is fighting back against being taken into custody. Those punches are often to the face, Bello said.

Rochester Police Locust Club Union President Mike Mazzeo, who has attended the trial, said Monday that officers risk their lives and the safety of others if they ponder too long how to respond in confrontations. 

"There's reasons why justification's there," he said, adding that "it only takes a split second" for someone to respond violently to contact with police.

If an officer asks for identification, he said, "Just simply comply with the command."

An individual is not required in New York to provide identification, but police can also move to detain the individual if he or she is a criminal suspect.

"There has to be mutual respect and there should be mutual respect," Mazzeo said.
