2 Indiana cops go on trial in homicide of Black man experiencing mental health crisis

Two Indiana police officers appeared in court as their homicide trial got underway this week, nearly three years after they were charged in the stun gun and restraint death of a Black man who was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez, members of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, sat at the defense table in the Marion County Courthouse dressed in their uniforms and bulletproof vests as they listened to opening statements on Monday.

Prosecutor Daniel Cicchini told the jury details of how 39-year-old Herman Whitfield III died after his mother called 911 asking for help and informing a dispatcher that her son was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Cicchini told that jury that 10 minutes after Ahmad and Sanchez arrived at the family's home in April 2022 with two other officers and a training recruit, Whitfield was restrained face-down on the ground in handcuffs after being shot twice with a stun gun.

"Herman needed help," Cicchini told the jury. "Herman was naked, sweating profusely, and saying unusual things. Herman needed help."

Cicchini said the training recruit on the scene asked the senior officers whether they should roll Whitfield on his side when he stopped thrashing around after repeatedly claiming he couldn't breathe. He said the recruit was told by the senior officers not to do anything.

"When they kept him on the ground beyond what was necessary, when they prevented him from rolling over, when they prevented him from moving so that he could breathe, that turned from a lawful use of force into a battery," Cicchini told the jury.

Whitfield was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Defense attorney Mason Riley countered that Sanchez and Ahmad did nothing wrong and followed their training during the incident. He said the nearly 400-pound Whitfield was exhibiting "dangerous behavior," and that an autopsy determined that he had cannabinoids and a high dose of THC in his system.

"By the end of this case, you're going to see that these officers went to the Whitfield home to help Herman Whitfield III," Riley said. "They went there to get in an ambulance, to get him to the hospital, to do an immediate detention to get him the evaluation treatment that he needed. In the face of Herman's unpredictable and dangerous behavior, their actions were objectively reasonable."

Riley also said none of the responding officers heard Whitfield say that he couldn't breathe.

An autopsy by the Marion County Coroner's office ruled Whitfield's death a homicide, finding it was caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdural, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use." It also listed “morbid obesity” and “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” as contributing factors Whitfield's death.

Ahmad, 32, and Sanchez, 35, are charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and battery and have pleaded not guilty. They remain members of the police force, currently on paid administrative duty.

Whitfield's mother, Gladys Whitfield, called 911 on April 25, 2022, at 3:20 a.m. asking for help, according to police records. When the officers arrived, Whitfield's father, Herman Whitfield Jr., told them, "My son is having a psychosis. You guys should have called an ambulance," according to police body-worn camera footage released by the police department and an attorney for the Whitfield family. The multiple body camera videos are expected to be played for the jury.

Whitfield's parents are expected to testify at the trial.

During a news conference in July, Herman Whitfield Jr. said his son was "unnecessarily tased."

"He wasn't doing anything at all to threaten the officers," the senior Whitfield said, adding that his son was humming a tune before officers forced him to the ground.

"He was held face down for three or four minutes after saying repeatedly that he could not breathe. He said, 'I can't breathe" three or four times and was held down three or four minutes after that," Whitfield said

Herman Whitfield Jr. said his son was a gifted pianist who had attended Oberlin College in Ohio and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

"I just wanted to say that Herman was a gentle, wonderful genius," Whitfield said in July. "The world lost a great gift."