Corporal Christian Fow was found not guilty during his trial in April.HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -
A Franklin County man has filed a lawsuit in federal court against a state police corporal who was found not guilty of assaulting him.
Christopher Broadwater's lawsuit filed Thursday names Corporal Christian Fow, along with four state troopers, the state police barracks in Chambersburg, a retired police supervisor and various unknown supervisors, according to his attorney.
Civil rights attorney Devon M. Jacob said Broadwater alleges that his civil rights were violated and excessive force was used September 29, 2010 while he was handcuffed and restrained in the back of a state police car.
Broadwater had injured a trooper's leg by slamming a door on him and had resisted arrest before he was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation at his Shippensburg area home.
In a video recorded by an in-car camera and played during Fow's assault trial in April, Broadwater can be heard making complaints about the handcuffs being too tight and uncomfortable.
Jacob and prosecutors at the trial said the video later shows Fow using pepper-spray before Broadwater's head disappeared from view. The camera then recorded smacking sounds and screams.
Broadwater was later treated at Chambersburg hospital for facial wounds that required stitches.
According to his attorney, Broadwater alleges that Fow repeatedly punched him in the head while another trooper held him down and Tasered him outside the vehicle, and that two other troopers watched the attack and failed to intervene.
During his trial, Fow's defense argued that he was faced with a threat and was doing what was necessary to protect himself and others.
A state police spokesman said he could not comment on any active lawsuits.
