Jury clears a trooper and his horse in assault case

A federal jury yesterday rejected a Boston police officer's assertion that a state trooper assaulted him with his horse after a New England Patriots game, causing serious injuries.

''I think this is a victory for all police officers who have to face frivolous lawsuits," said the Massachusetts state trooper, John Linquata, adding that he felt vindicated by the jury's conclusion that he had not used excessive force against the off-duty Boston officer.

Boston police officer Lawrence Calderone testified at the civil trial that Linquata had confronted him outside Foxboro Stadium after a Patriots game on Sept. 23, 2001, because Calderone had jaywalked across Route 1 rather than using a designated crosswalk.

Calderone accused Linquata, who was on horseback, of deliberately getting the horse to hit him in the face with its head, by pulling hard on the reins. The officer was out of work for five months, and testified that he suffered from severe headaches, blurred vision, and dizziness.

Linquata, an 18-year veteran of the State Police, testified that he had not forced the horse, Magnum, to strike Calderone, and that he believed that the officer was drunk. Calderone, an 11-year veteran of the Boston police who works as a community liaison at the West Roxbury station, denied the allegation that he was drunk, telling jurors that he had consumed only ''two or three beers."

Jurors deliberated less than two hours yesterday before concluding that Linquata had not used excessive force. Neither Calderone nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

''I did nothing wrong other than I swore at the guy, and I apologized for that," said Linquata, adding that he did not have any animosity toward Calderone.