HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) — The trial for former Hutto police officer Gregory Parris is set to begin Tuesday at the Williamson County Justice Center.
A grand jury indicted Parris in 2019 on charges stemming from a May 2018 arrest of a man named Jeremy Rogers at a home in Hutto. Parris is charged with official oppression and assault causing bodily injury.
The police department says someone called 911 saying someone was smoking marijuana and funneling the exhaust out of a garage. According to our previous coverage of this story, Parris had Rogers pinned against a truck in his friend’s driveway “within 30 seconds of walking upon the man.”
Parris was placed on administrative leave while under indictment but was laid off in March of 2020 as the city made cuts during the pandemic.
Rogers was initially charged with public intoxication, felony assault on an officer and resisting arrest. Prosecutors dismissed those charges one month later.
In August of 2020, Rogers and the City of Hutto agreed to settle a civil rights lawsuit.
The lawsuit cost the city $225,000. The suit states Rogers suffered a closed head wound and had to have his right ear sewn up at the hospital.
“Neither the City of Hutto nor Gregory Richard Parris ever expressed a desire to settle this lawsuit. Both Mr. Parris and the City have denied that they are liable to Mr. Rogers for any of his alleged claims, and the settlement signed by Mr. Rogers expressly disclaims any admission of liability by any defendant,” Archie Carl Pierce, the city’s attorney in the civil suit, wrote to KXAN shortly after the settlement.
The incident was recorded on Hutto Police Department Body cameras – Parris’ as well as one belonging to Officer Jamie Alcocer. Alcocer is still employed with the police department as an evidence/crime scene officer, according to the city’s website.
Officer Alcocer was named in the civil lawsuit but was not charged with any crimes. Her body camera video captured the wide shots of the interaction between Parris and Rogers.
KXAN will have a crew inside the courtroom and will update this story as the trial begins.