BAYONNE – Attorneys in a lawsuit against three Bayonne police officers for alleged police brutality are sparring about whether discovery in the case should be delayed due to one of the officers pleading guilty in a related criminal case, according to a published report.
The lawsuit pertains to now former city police officer Domenico Lillo and an incident which occurred in December 2013 when he was accused of striking a handcuffed man with a flashlight. In September, Lillo pleaded guilty to the charge, as well as lying about it afterward, according to The Jersey Journal.
A lawsuit that was filed in federal court prior to Lillo’s arrest last year claimed two other police officers, James Wade and Francis Styles, were present and “stood by and did nothing,” according to the story. The officers have denied that allegation.
In addition to the three officers, the city of Bayonne and Bayonne Police Department are also named in the lawsuit.
The story goes on to say that on Dec. 31, Albert Buglione, an attorney representing Bayonne and the Bayonne Police Department, asked the judge overseeing the case to suspend the discovery phase of the civil lawsuit, until plaintiffs and defendants can be questioned by both sides.
Buglione said Lillo’s guilty plea brings up the possibility of whether Wade and Styles are being criminally investigated and whether Lillo is cooperating as part of his plea agreement, the newspaper reported.
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