Closing Arguments Made In Trial Of Ex-La Mesa Police Officer

EAST SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA -- Closing arguments were delivered today in the trial of a former La Mesa police officer charged with lying on a police report in connection with his high-profile arrest of a young Black man near the Grossmont Transit Center.

Matthew Dages is accused of lying about the basis of his May 27, 2020, arrest of Amaurie Johnson, which sparked protests in the East County city when a video of the arrest went viral.

Dages, who was fired by the La Mesa Police Department months after the arrest, faces three years in prison if convicted of a felony count of filing a false report.

Starting Thursday, an El Cajon jury will begin deliberating whether Dages lied in his report when he wrote that he saw Johnson smoking, lacking a trolley fare while being in a ``fare paid zone,'' and then becoming combative once their encounter escalated into an argument.

Dages alleged he told Johnson he wasn't allowed to smoke in the area, then asked if Johnson lived at the apartment complex nearby. Though Johnson initially said he did live there, he later admitted he was waiting for friends to pick him up.

Prosecutors allege the interaction escalated into an argument when Dages would not let Johnson leave the scene after his friends arrived.

Videos of the incident show Dages pushing Johnson into a seated position and pushing him down again after Johnson stood up. Dages alleged in his report that Johnson balled his fists and took a "bladed stance'' towards him, which prosecutors and Johnson dispute.

Johnson was ultimately arrested on suspicion of assault on an officer, and resisting, delaying and obstructing an officer, and was released on a misdemeanor citation.

The police department later announced it would not seek charges against Johnson, who has filed a federal lawsuit against Dages and La Mesa.

Johnson's arrest occurred two days after the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and days after his arrest, a protest held at La Mesa police headquarters devolved into looting and rioting after dark.

Deputy District Attorney Fiona Dunleavy alleged that due to ``what was going on in the world, in our country'' at the time, the police department was under a microscope, prompting Dages to falsify his report in order to justify the arrest.

-- City News Service