SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – Spokane County Sheriff’s (SCSO) Sgt. Clay Hilton, who is accused of beating Kevin Hinton, has an official court date set in Spokane County to face charges that were filed by the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office.
Hinton sustained serious injuries from the incident, including 8 broken ribs, a punctured lung, lip disfiguration and, Hinton said, mental trauma from the beating.
announced that Sgt. Hilton faces charges of second-degree assault and making a false statement. Brusic indicated that Hilton is expected to be arraigned in late September.
of using excessive force against Hinton at Terrace View Park on Aug. 14, 2023.
According to Hinton, who is now suing Spokane County and the SCSO for civil rights violations, Hilton approached him while he was parked in the park late at night.
Hinton claims he was resting before continuing his drive to Colfax. He said he was informed by Hilton that parking in that area was illegal. When Hinton refused to provide identification, he was allegedly arrested with excessive force.
“I’ve been asked several times why I didn’t just simply hand over my identification. If he were able to have clearly articulated a crime that had been committed, I would’ve been more than happy to give him my ID. But I was under no legal obligation at that point to do so,” Hinton said.
In the months after the incident, Hinton filed a lawsuit against the SCSO and Spokane County.
“Yakima [County Prosecutor] has charged an aggravator of egregious lack of remorse for the assault charge. That allows a judge… to go outside the standard range,” Tim Note, Hinton’s attorney, said.
In short, Note told NonStop Local that if an “aggravator” is found by a jury,” this allows the judge overseeing the case to go beyond the standard range for sentencing. For a first time offender, in other situations, it would typically be a 3-9 month sentence.
For the second-degree assault charge, Hilton is facing 10 years and a fine of up to $20,000.
The false swearing charge has a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
SCSO said in a statement Monday that they are finalizing their internal investigation into this incident. They said they will issue an update once the investigation is complete.
Hilton’s arraignment is set for September 25. He will enter a “guilty” or “not guilty” plea.
