Jurors side with authorities who said the man poured beer on a deputy near the end of a Bucs-Packers game.
By TAMARA LUSH
Published May 23, 2003
TAMPA - Authorities said John Marshall dumped a beer over a Hillsborough sheriff's deputy's head during a Buccaneers game last year.
Marshall, a Largo accountant, claimed he didn't even have a beer in his hand when deputies threw him to the ground and arrested him.
This week, a jury sided with the deputies, deciding that Marshall was guilty of opposing or obstructing an officer. Judge Joelle Ober ordered Marshall to serve one year of probation and perform 100 hours of community service as punishment for the misdemeanor.
Marshall's lawyer, John Trevena, called the verdict "shocking."
"It underscores the attitude of juries in the Tampa Bay area that police can do no wrong," Trevena said, adding that his client had three witnesses that supported his version of events.
The incident happened Nov. 24 at Raymond James Stadium in the fourth quarter of the Bucs-Green Bay Packers game. With about five minutes left in the game, Marshall left his seat to go to the restroom.
Marshall says he was returning when he playfully tapped the hat of a Packers fan as he walked by. Terry Dixon, an off-duty sheriff's deputy there to watch the game, said he saw Marshall "knocking the ball caps off opposing team fans," a report said.
Marshall says Dixon started yelling at him, so he walked toward a uniformed officer who was standing nearby. Marshall says he told the deputy that he was being harassed by Dixon.
The uniformed deputy, Christopher Baumann, wrote in a report that he grabbed Marshall by the back of the belt and tried to escort him out of the stadium.
"(Marshall) spun around and poured beer from a cup on (my) hat, face and shirt," Baumann wrote.
Baumann says he took Marshall to the ground, but Marshall refused to be handcuffed. Two other deputies helped subdue Marshall, according to the report. Marshall says he wasn't carrying a beer, but he acknowledges refusing to put his hands behind his back. He says he was using them to shield his face from the ground.
Marshall was booked at the Hillsborough County Jail on three felony charges, which were later reduced to one misdemeanor.
Marshall took the unusual step of advertising in area newspapers for witnesses to the incident. Three people came forward, Trevena said, and testified in court.
Trevena plans to ask the judge for a new trial because of a "legal error" surrounding evidence submitted during the trial.
Lt. Rod Reder of the Sheriff's Office said the agency couldn't comment on the case while it is continuing but is relieved the jury decided in favor of the deputies. "We stood behind the deputies in their actions and the court's decision proves it," he said.
