Acquitted officer vows to fight for reinstatement

By Franci Richardson Ellement, Globe Correspondent

A Holbrook police officer recently acquitted of charges that he used excessive force to book an uncooperative prisoner is vowing to use whatever means necessary to get back to work.

‘‘I’ll sue them,’’ John P. Kearney said in a short interview outside his Holbrook home last week. ‘‘If they want to do this the hard way, we can do that. ..... They will have to explain to the town why they paid me for two years.”

Kearney, 39, has been on administrative leave since he was indicted on assault-and-battery charges stemming from a Jan. 29, 2007, incident with Daniel H. Bonin, 27. He has been receiving his $70,000-a-year salary.

On Thursday night, Kearney will appear at an administrative hearing before the Board of Selectmen, which will determine whether to reinstate Kearney as a town police officer, Globe South reports today.

Prosecutor Jack Stapleton built his case during the five-day trial around a silent but graphic video of Kearney’s actions in the garage and in the booking room.

But Kearney’s lawyer, Peter Perroni of Lowell, presented an expert witness who testified that police officers are trained to meet a prisoner’s resistance with appropriate force to bring him under control. That testimony proved to be pivotal for the jury.

‘‘The expert testified that these guys cannot lower their guard,’’ said juror Garry Sherman, a 60-year-old graphic illustrator from Dedham, who helped return a not-guilty verdict in less than four hours on Sept. 12.

‘‘The minute you lower your guard, you could be dead or injured,’’ said Sherman, who called the state’s case weak. “We decided [Kearney’s] doing what he’s supposed to do. ... We may not like it, but what choice did he have?’’

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