BOSTON, Aug. 21, 2017—A former police officer was sentenced today for beating a woman during an arrest and then lying in subsequent reports on the incident, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins last month convicted JENNIFER GARVEY (D.O.B. 9/28/82) of two counts each of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and filing a false report as a public employee. Suffolk prosecutors had indicted Garvey on felony charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – a police baton – and causing injury while violating a person’s civil rights; Wilkins acquitted her on those charges.

“This defendant not only escalated the situation and used force far beyond what was necessary,” Conley said. “She also hijacked the criminal justice system by pursuing charges against the victim that she knew were unfounded. She injured the victim, she lied to the community, and she did a disservice to every officer who approaches the job with integrity.”

Assistant District Attorney Michele Granda, chief of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit, recommended a sentence of 2½ years in a house of corrections, with one year to serve behind bars and the balance suspended for a three-year probationary term. Granda recommended that Garvey undergo a mental health evaluation, undertake any treatment deemed necessary, allow probation officers to monitor that treatment, complete anger management training, stay away from the victim, and provide her with $230 in restitution for damage to the victim’s property that was incurred during her arrest during the suspended portion of her sentence.

Granda further recommended an order that Garvey not seek or obtain any employment in law enforcement or any other field in which she would be authorized to use physical force. Because she was acquitted of felony charges, Garvey is not legally barred from becoming a police officer.

Judge Wilkins imposed half the committed time recommended by prosecutors: an 18-month sentence, with six months to serve behind bars and the balance suspended for two years. He imposed all of the conditions recommended by prosecutors.

Garvey’s trial, in which she waived her right to a jury, ended on July 2 after seven days of testimony proving that she was a uniformed officer on March 26, 2014, when she and others responded to a call to assist an intoxicated passenger off of a bus at Dudley Station.

After the passenger was placed on a bench and handcuffed, the victim — an adult female bystander — approached the scene because she recognized the intoxicated person from her daily commute.

The evidence showed that the victim soon expressed concern over Garvey’s use of force during the encounter. At this stage, Garvey told the victim to leave or be arrested for interfering with the investigation.

The victim continued her verbal advocacy on behalf of the woman and eventually asked for Garvey’s badge number and began to call 911. Garvey provided the victim with her badge information and placed her hand on the victim and told her to move away.

The victim complied and remained on the phone with a 911 operator, expressing frustration that Garvey continued to push her even though she was moving back as ordered. During the struggle that followed, Granda argued, Garvey drew her baton and struck the victim three times in the legs, causing an open wound on her shin that required stitches and caused scarring that remains visible today. The victim was placed under arrest.

After the arrest, the evidence showed, Garvey completed two reports. The first was an arrest report upon which was based a Roxbury Municipal Court complaint charging the victim with assault and battery on a public employee, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. This report falsely stated that the victim had repeatedly bumped into and then charged at Garvey during the incident.

The second was a use-of-force report in which Garvey falsely claimed that the victim had attempted to prevent the arrest of the intoxicated passenger and assumed a menacing posture and moved toward Garvey, threatening an imminent attack.

The victim was arraigned the next day in Roxbury court, where charges remained until the continued investigation prompted Suffolk prosecutors to file a nolle prosequi affirmatively dropping the case against her.

Assistant District Attorney Michele Granda proved that Garvey

Tamisha Civil was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Garvey was represented by attorney Phil Tracy.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt