A mistrial has been declared for a Los Angeles police officer accused of repeatedly kicking a handcuffed woman who later died.
A judge made the unexpected move Thursday in the trial of 49-year-old Officer Mary O'Callaghan.
Afterward, details emerged that a sergeant who witnessed the confrontation testified at a disciplinary hearing that he had told O'Callaghan to stop.
O'Callaghan's attorney, Robert Rico, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1AyS4c5 ) that an internal-affairs official gave prosecutors the new information Thursday morning.
Rico says the sergeant hadn't mentioned giving the order in previous interviews with internal affairs.
The felony assault case stemmed from the 2012 arrest of 35-year-old Alesia Thomas, who died following a struggle with officers who went to her home because she left her two children outside a police station.
Police declined to comment.
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