CSUCI professor accused of assaulting a federal officer acquitted
Jonathan Caravello, a CSU Channel Islands lecturer facing charges of assaulting federal officers, was acquitted by a Los Angeles jury on April 9.
The jury returned the verdict in a matter of hours at the end of a trial that lasted two days, according to reporting by LAist and Huffington Post.
Caravello, 38, was among the protesters at the June DHS raid on the Glass House Farms cannabis operation in Camarillo. He was accused of throwing a tear gas cannister at agents and could have faced as much as 20 years in prison.
According to the reports, his defense included testimony that he lobbed the canister over the heads of the officers and no one was harmed. The canister was originally thrown at the protestors by federal agents, the defense alleged.
The case was tried by a senior prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
Justin Tuttle, a veteran criminal defense attorney who teaches at The Colleges of Law in Ventura and Santa Barbara, told the Business Times he wasn’t surprised at the acquittal.
“The case was grossly overcharged to begin with and the government witnesses lost credibility in multiple trials leading up to this trial and ultimate verdict,” Tuttle said.
“I am not surprised by the outcome at all,” he said.
