The Associated Press
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - A former Martinsburg Police Department officer has pleaded no contest to a charge that he slapped a man in a holding cell.
Jason Fornwalt, 30, was ordered to pay a $50 fine and court costs after he entered his plea Friday. In exchange for his plea to one misdemeanor charge of battery, prosecutors agreed to recommend no jail time.
“I’m glad to have it all behind me,” Fornwalt said after the brief hearing. “I’m looking forward to moving on with my life.”
Fornwalt began working at the police department in 2000 and was fired in 2003. Fornwalt told Berkeley County Circuit Judge Christopher Wilkes he now is working as a security officer.
Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely said victim Andre Juste, who was 22 at the time of the incident, did not respond to at least two requests for cooperation.
Fornwalt’s attorney, Kevin Mills, said Juste had made threats against Fornwalt, his wife and his children before Fornwalt slapped him. Juste was not injured, the prosecutor said.
Fornwalt arrested Juste on several outstanding arrest warrants on July 19, 2003, and placed him inside a holding cell at the Martinsburg Police Department, where the two men began yelling at each other, Games-Neely said.
The city in June settled a federal lawsuit filed by Juste. The lawsuit alleged Fornwalt used racial slurs against Juste, who is of Haitian-American descent. Terms of the settlement were not immediately available.