Indictments

The charges of manslaughter and misdemeanor assault were filed against the officers Jorg and Caton on January 3, 2001, for Owensby's death. A point of contention was which officer, Jorg or Caton, may have caused Owensby's death through improper use of force. Jorg and Caton had individual trials often sharing the same evidence and witnesses, but neither officer was found to have caused his death.^[2]

Testimony

In the trials of both Jorg and Caton there was a lack of consistent corroborating testimony by witnesses.^[9] A witness in the trial of Officer Jorg testified that he had used a choke hold on Owensby while Jorg testified that he only held the head to protect him.^[4]

The Coroner testified that Owensby died from mechanical asphyxiation (suffocation) but could not confirm that the body showed bruises from punches as stated by witnesses.^[9]

There was also conflicting evidence from police witnesses. The deputy coroner testified that forensic evidence showed that Owensby was dead when placed in the police cruiser, but officers stated that Owensby staggered as they led him to the car.^[10] Officer David Hunter stated that he saw Officer Caton punch Owensby as he lay on the ground handcuffed and swing at him in the cruiser but he was not supported by other officers testimony.^[11]

Verdict and mistrial

Caton was found not guilty. Jorg's case ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal.^[12] The prosecutor decided not to retry Jorg.^[13] There had been 10 white and two black jurors which incited black activists and reinforced the views of the community, " ... "In the black neighborhoods we knew what was going to happen because nobody else has been convicted," she said, referring to the September acquittal of Officer Stephen Roach in the death of Timothy Thomas."^[14]

In 2005 the Hamilton County Prosecutor was asked to reopen the case by a Cincinnati Council Member but he refused saying there was no new evidence.^[13]

Post trial

An article in Cincinnati CityBeat after the trial suggested that material which could have been presented at the trial was not presented. This included two witnesses seen in the video tape from the Suncorp Mini Mart who were not called to testify, discrepancies in testimony by two officers Hasse and Sellers regarding why they were present (Sellers has admitted that he lied under oath).^[6]

In 2004 a lawsuit brought by the Owensby family was set to be heard on June 14. The city appealed to the U.S. District Court which granted a summary judgment in favor of the Owensbys allowing the trial to proceed.

Judge Seigel wrote in his decision, "A reasonable jury, hearing all of the evidence, could only determine that (the officers) ... failed to satisfy their respective constitutional obligations to ensure Owensby was provided with the necessary medical care."^[15]

On March 17, 2006, the city and Owensby family reached a $6.5 million settlement after a federal judge awarded a summary judgment, finding police had violated Owensby's civil rights by failing to provide medical care.^[5]

The US Department of Justice continued to investigate whether any of the officers should face criminal charges under federal civil rights laws, although two local justice investigations reached no consensus on whether officers had acted improperly.^[15]

Combined complaint alleging racial profiling

A group combined individual civil claims against Cincinnati, the police force, and individual police as private citizens, into the Federal lawsuit brought by Tyehimba, filed March 14, 2001, on behalf of the Black men and their surviving family that had died since 1995. They alleged racial profiling but made sure to emphasize a demand for behavioral change by the Cincinnati Police Department beyond or instead of punitive and restitution damages.^[3] A settlement approved by a federal judge was reached on 7 August 2002. It included a five-year effort to bring about reforms within the police department and residents were to be responsible for reducing crime in their neighbourhoods. It also brought to an end the racial-profiling lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Cincinnati Black United Front, which alleged that police harassed and targeted African-Americans for decades.^[16]

Status of main officers involved

Internal hearings by Cincinnati police began into whether seven officers involved in the Owensby death should be disciplined. The officers were accused of, "... improper use of force, failure of good behavior and neglect of duty."^[17]

Caton later won his arbitration case against the decision to have him fired for "failure of good behavior" and was eligible to work for the police force again. He was promoted to lieutenant in early 2016.^[2]

Jorg resigned from Cincinnati police force ^[2] just prior to questioning in a local investigation and started working for another nearby police force in Pierce Township^[18] until mid-2003. He later moved from Cincinnati and is currently a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod pastor in Pennsylvania.

Jorg wrote 13 Minutes,^[19] a book describing what happened from his own point of view.