FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After more than a week’s worth of testimony and plenty of video, a judge ruled on two Stand Your Ground defenses by a former Broward Sheriff’s deputy and a BSO sergeant.
The judge did take some time for making her rulings on Friday. Former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Krickovich’s was denied using the Stand Your Ground defense, while BSO Sgt. Gregory LaCerra can use the defense.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies were involved in a rough takedown of a teen caught on camera last year outside a McDonald’s in Tamarac.
Krickovich is no longer with BSO. Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony terminated Krickovich in December of 2019.
Delucca Rolle was 15 when his attorney said he was pepper-sprayed by deputies and his face slammed into the pavement in April 2019. Deputies were called to the parking lot in Tamarac with word of a large fight involving high school students at that location.
Attorneys for both deputies said that fights were reported often in the parking lot and they claim that Rolle instigated the confrontation by getting involved while deputies were arresting another teen for trespassing.
The judge said that Krickovich jumped on the teen after he had already been pushed to the ground and that pushing Rolle’s head into the pavement and punching him was “not a reasonable action of self defense.”
LaCerra, who did the pushing, will get to use the Stand Your Ground defense. Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump released a statement in response to the decision Friday.
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s decision to grant Officer Lacerra’s stand your ground motion. In the midst of a social movement in which we are desperately trying to empower a generation and convince them that their lives matter, the decision sends a different message.” Crump is calling for BSO to fire LaCerra and “for justice to be served” against the officer. "Delucca and the residents of Broward County deserve at least that much.”
Krickovich is charged with two counts of battery for slamming Rolle’s face into the pavement and for punching him in the head with a fist, according to the court filing.
Broward prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling that will allow LaCerra to use the Stand Your Ground defense.
LaCerra is charged with one count of battery for throwing Rolle to the pavement, according to the court filing.