FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After a jury found him not guilty of battery, Officer Steven Pohorence will be asking the Fort Lauderdale Police Department to reinstate him, his defense attorneys said.
Pohorence will also fight for pay after prosecutors charged him with battery for pushing a woman who was kneeling during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 near the Broward County Main Library.
The jury announced the verdict on Monday afternoon. The defense relied on an expert’s testimony who said Pohorence acted lawfully as he tried to help a colleague.
Carlos Gonzalez, an expert on law enforcement’s use of force, said last week that Pohorence used a police tactic to help a fellow police officer.
“I saw what I describe as a swim maneuver,” Gonzalez said in court. “He stepped through and swam over.”
Gonzalez said Pohorence was responding to a call for help by an officer who was afraid because a crowd of protesters surrounded him and were shaking a car.