Judge to decide whether battery case against Wyandotte County sergeant moves forward
A Wyandotte County judge plans to decide next month whether the criminal case against a sergeant accused of beating up an inmate in elevator will move forward.
Judge Michael A. Russell heard oral arguments and evidence Friday morning during a preliminary hearing for David Toland in Wyandotte County District Court.
Toland, a former sergeant in the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office, was fired after he was charged with felony aggravated battery and misdemeanor mistreatment of a confined person last year.
Another sheriff’s office employee, Deputy Marcus Johnson, was also charged with mistreatment of a confined person and misdemeanor assault in a separate incident during the same search.
The charges stemmed from a September incident in which Toland allegedly punched a handcuffed inmate in the face before slamming his head into a wall, according to court records and testimony.
Toland was later appointed to a soccer coaching position at Bonner Springs High School.
The school district said last month that his charges were considered in the hiring process but that an employee’s standing in the district would be reevaluated upon criminal conviction. On Friday, a school district spokeswoman said his employment status had not changed. Toland is working as a school board member, she said, before transitioning to the coaching position.
At a preliminary hearing Friday, Toland’s attorney did not dispute video evidence that showed Toland punching an inmate in an elevator at the Wyandotte County Detention Center while four other deputies were present.
A Kansas Bureau of Investigation special agent, Steve Gillespie, testified Friday that a medical report showed the inmate was not injured in the attack.
Toland’s attorney, Sean McCauley, argued that because the inmate was not injured, the case was one of misdemeanor battery, rather than felony aggravated battery.
In order to be considered felony aggravated battery, the prosecutors would have to prove potential for great bodily harm.
The prosecuting attorney, Thomas Penland, argued that because the inmate could not fight back and because Toland punched him in the face and yanked his head back while holding his neck, the inmate could have lost teeth, suffered broken bones, experienced whiplash or developed a concussion.
“This could have been much worse,” Penland said.
McCauley, however, said the defense’s benchmark would make it so any battery would be considered felony aggravated battery.
The judge took the arguments under consideration. He said he would announce at a later hearing whether he determined there was probable cause that Toland had committed the felony crime.
After Toland was fired, Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald Ash announced his plans to hire an outside trainer to work with officers on the department’s use of force policy.
In an April news conference, Ash called the incident “disheartening and repugnant.” He said he would update the department’s policy in the hopes of preventing similar incidents.
At the same news conference, Ash announced that The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, paid the inmate a $50,000 out-of-court settlement.
