State attorney re-reviews case against deputies accused of beating man

2 deputies charged with misdemeanors in attack on 50-year-old man

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. ā€“ After filing misdemeanor charges against two Broward Sheriff's Office deputies following a gas station surveillance video that caught them slamming a 50-year-old man to the pavement, state attorney Michael Satz is reconsidering the case.

The Broward County state attorney's office is "re-reviewing" the case to determine if the battery case against Deputy Justin Lambert should be upgraded to a felony due to the severity of the injuries suffered by victim David Gonzalez in the attack.

WATCH: Surveillance video of April 2014 incident

When Lambert and his partner, Deputy Mike Manresa, slammed Gonzalez face-first to the cement, Gonzalez suffered a broken orbital socket and other facial injuries, according to his attorneys, Eric Rudenberg and Mike Glasser.

"If a normal citizen who is not a law enforcement officer committed these acts, then they would certainly be charged with a felony," said Rudenberg, who represents Gonzalez in a federal civil lawsuit filed against Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and the two deputies.

Numerous attorneys and members of the public voiced disapproval of the prosecutors' decision to charge Lambert with simple battery. Under Florida law, any battery that includes "great bodily harm" constitutes felony battery. While the law doesn't overtly define great bodily harm, court decisions have said such cases are "distinguished from slight, trivial, minor or moderate harm" and "does not include mere bruises as are likely to be inflicted in a simply assault and battery."

In one case, Heck v. State of Florida, the appellate court upheld that a broken orbital socket did indeed meet the standard of felony battery as opposed to a misdemeanor.

"The victim's orbital fracture, swelling and bruising in this case was sufficient evidence of great bodily harm," the court ruled.

Both Lambert and Manresa were charged with falsifying police reports to justify the attack and charge Gonzalez with resisting arrest, a charge that was dropped after the surveillance video surfaced. There is no time table on when the state attorney's office will make its final decision on the case, though a decision could come as early as this week.

"They broke his face, to make it short and simple," said Rudenberg. "They lied in police reports that cause him to be charged with crimes and then their punishment is misdemeanors. It's clearly felony behavior."

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