Assault cases against two homeless men in Berkeley, California, were dismissed after video footage showed they were the victims rather than the instigators of a violent beating involving two of the city’s hospitality ambassadors.
The Alameda County district attorney’s office dropped the cases against the two victims, James Cocklereese, 30, and Nathan Swor, 23, last week – after the men had pleaded guilty to battery charges, according to spokeswoman Teresa Drenick.
Drenick said the men were allowed to withdraw the guilty pleas and their cases were dismissed. The judge made a factual finding of innocence.
The decision came after authorities reviewed video footage that appeared to show how a verbal confrontation between the hospitality ambassadors for a Berkeley downtown business association and the men escalated into a violent altercation.
The video of the March altercation shows Jeffrey Bailey, a hospitality ambassador for the Downtown Berkeley Association, repeatedly punching one of the men while his colleague, Carmen Francios, stands by. Bailey has been fired and Francios has been suspended pending an investigation, the association said.
On Bailey’s account of the incident, in which claimed he acted in “self-defense”, police arrested Cocklereese and Swor and the district attorney’s office filed seven misdemeanor charges against the pair.
By the time the video emerged, days later, the men had pleaded guilty to battery and been sentenced to probation.
The incident drew protests from community activists and members of the homeless community, who said the video highlighted the constant harassment those living in the street face on a daily basis.
