New US attorney offers plea deal to LA deputy caught on camera slamming woman to the ground

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The new interim U.S. attorney in Los Angeles is offering a plea deal to a sheriff's deputy caught on camera slamming a woman to the ground who was the suspect in a robbery.

In February, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Trevor James Kirk was found guilty of using excessive force during the shoplifting investigation outside of a supermarket in Lancaster.

A jury saw the video of Kirk throwing robbery suspect Jacy Houseton to the ground outside of a Winco store nearly two years ago and decided it, along with other factors, was enough to convict the deputy of a felony.

"The jury found that Trevor Kirk was guilty of a felony -- felony deprivation of civil rights," civil rights attorney Caree Harper said at a rally on Tuesday.

That conviction potentially brought a serious sentence.

"Now, under the federal guidelines, he is exposed to up to 10 years in jail," Harper said.

Despite the conviction, Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney Bill Essayli is offering Kirk a plea deal.

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Deputies from more than 20 sheriff's stations are protesting what they say is a wrongful conviction that has sent shockwaves through the department.

"It is a felony. What the U.S. attorney is proposing and has already filed is an unorthodox -- and we argue, an illegal -- document to give him a post-trial plea bargain of a misdemeanor," Harper said.

The plea deal would reduce Kirk's sentence from 10 years to one year. The prosecution has signaled it is willing to make a recommendation of no jail time, but instead, probation.

"People, a misdemeanor gives him his badge back," Harper said.

"So, they are already looking to make this a misdemeanor, put him back on the street, someone that blatantly beats a Black woman at 3 o'clock in the afternoon," said activist Waunette Cullors.

"I think the race card is abused by a lot of people. I think there are racism in this country, like any other country. It is the best country in the world, I'm going to die for it, but I think it is abused by a lot of radical groups," said defense attorney Tom Yu.

Yu says race should not be a factor in the case. He says, given Kirk had a clean record until this case, the plea deal was offered to him before the trial, and he adds that it's the U.S. attorney's discretion to offer it, even now.

"Offered deputy Kirk a misdemeanor, no jail time, offer. That was offered in December of 2024, two months before the trial," Yu said. "So this was always on the table, and I want the viewers to understand that."

The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment.

Yu says the judge in the case will consider the plea deal at a hearing next Monday.