Jeff Noble, who owns Noble Consulting and Expert Witness Services, was hired by Spokane police to evaluate Hilton’s actions. When investigating fellow law enforcement officers, it’s not uncommon to outside use of force experts.

Deputies are trained on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Graham v. Connor, that requires officers to balance the intrusion into an individual’s right with the government interests at stake, Noble wrote. They must consider the severity of the crime, whether the suspect poses a threat to officers or others and whether the suspect is actively resisting or trying to flee.

Hilton mistakenly believed that being in a Spokane Valley park after dark was a misdemeanor when in reality it was a civil infraction that does not warrant an arrest. Regardless, Noble found that Hilton’s “uses of force were objectively unreasonable and inconsistent with generally accepted police practices.”

The sergeant did not engage in de-escalation tactics, including slowing down the interaction, the report said.

“Here, the violation was very minor, did not involve weapons or violence, and there was no need for haste,” Noble wrote. “Sergeant Hilton radioed for back-up deputies and while Mr. Hinton did not cooperate with Sergeant Hilton’s demand for identification, he did not present any imminent threat. Any reasonable officer would have attempted to engage in de-escalation techniques to slow the situation.”

Instead, Noble wrote, Hilton made comments to escalate the situation, such as telling Hinton he would probably end up in jail and that he was going to get hurt.

The sergeant said he used force on Hinton because he was scared the man was reaching for a weapon. Noble noted that Hinton never appears to reach for any kind of weapon in the video and did not make any verbal threats to the sergeant.

Hilton continued to punch Hinton after forcibly removing him from his vehicle.

“There is no evidence that at the moment Sergeant Hilton delivered those strikes that Mr. Hinton presented anything more than a low level of active resistance by not giving Sergeant Hilton his hands,” Noble wrote.

Hilton had no standing to make any arrest, Noble found, and therefore any force used would be excessive.

“Even if Sergeant Hilton was making a lawful custodial arrest, I am of the opinion that his uses of force against Mr. Hilton were excessive, objectively unreasonable and inconsistent with generally accepted police practices,” Noble wrote.