Assistant Summit County prosecutor Kassim Ahmed has resigned after a truly bizarre controversy over what appears a slight bump in the hallway that led Ahmed to file an assault charge against court employee Holly Trivett. The videotape below does not support the claim and Ahmed complained that he has “taken unfair criticism as a result of these negative articles.”
As reported first in the Beacon Journal, Ahmed filed a complaint against Trivett after what he called an “unprovoked physical assault” by Trivett on Oct. 10th at the Summit County Courthouse. He described the alleged assault in a letter to court officials who immediately sought to review security videotapes. What they saw was Trivett brushing by Ahmed in a narrow hallway where Ahmed was standing in the middle of the passageway.
The court assistant executive officer, Susan Sweeney, then raised the issue of whether Ahmed falsely accused Trivett and said that the court was “troubled and concerned about these inaccurate statements by an officer of the court against another court employee.”
However, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh has defended Ahmed and said that the surveillance video was misleading. However, it is hard to see how the encounter could have been viewed as anything more than a passing glance or bump. It certainly does not seem to warrant an assault charge.
Even if Ahmed viewed the bump as rude, it showed exceptionally poor judgment to convert that moment into a criminal matter, particularly for a prosecutor. If this is assault, a standard trip on the metro at rush hour would be a criminal melee.
Notably, this film would not support even a tort action for battery, in my view, under the lower standard of proof. Battery in tort is tied to an objective standard of an unconsented to touching that is offensive or harmful.
What do you think?
The hate speech meted out in some of these postings is truly disgraceful. I just ran across this, looking for something important for work. Looks like a lot of uneducated people have a little too much time on their hands. Free speech and all, but folks… really? I could possibly understand if you were living in a trailer down by the river in Mississippi with a 2nd grade education, but have some respect for yourselves! This dude apparently is a prosecutor. Just like cops, people sometimes don’t like them, but they sure are glad they are there when there is a problem. Give this dude a break!
Well said, Jean Lynn. I heard about this from my brother in law who works in Akron, OH. He said that this prosecutor was dealing with a pattern of hatred and prejudice DAILY. This was probably the day he had had enough. I think it might be time to step back and imagine what it would be like to walk in another’s shoes. It’s too easy for people to not care, too easy for people to brush it off and use it to further their own empty reasons for hatred and bigotry. How lucky for all of you to be walking around in a white paradise that ensures your entitlement. Whether it’s called culture or religion, his skin is brown and that’s why no one bothered to investigate the system in which he had to work in day in and day out. Everyone has a story people. We should all take the time to know this. He has a family and people that depend on him just like we all do. This whole thread, save for a few is really shameful.
I do not know him, but whatever happened to there are two sides to every story. I saw the video and this chick slammed into this guy and wasn’t even decent enough to say “excuse me.” Maybe she was having a bad day, but what she did was a passive aggressive bully move. This guy took the high road and got out of that racial cesspool. Good on him!
Whoops, wrong Summit County lol. Yeah, but still.