Former Rep. Vicente Camacho exits the courtroom on Wednesday.
Teipo Nikiti with Assistant Public Defender Emily Thomsen.
FORMER Rep. Vicente C. Camacho and his co-defendant, Teipo A. Nikiti, were found not guilty by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Govendo following a bench trial on Wednesday.
Camacho and Nikiti were accused of assaulting Steven Koch on the evening of Oct. 29, 2021, and were charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace.
According to the judge, “There have been a lot of rather confusing testimonies in this case. However, a couple of things stand out in the court. The testimony of Steven Koch and his daughter is almost identical. Very, very well-prepared, it gave me a lot of doubts,” he said.
“Mr. Koch testified that he had not used the bullwhip, not even on a dog, but he carried [one] in case — he was worried about dogs attacking him. Then it turns out that there was testimony from at least three people that the bullwhip was used on Mr. Camacho, Mr. Nikiti, and the juvenile. I tend to believe that version of the testimony rather than Mr. Koch,” the judge said.
He also found the two defendants not guilty of disturbing the peace.
When asked for comment, Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds said, “I thought it was a bad verdict. I do not agree with the verdict.”
He added, “I thought there was plenty of evidence that the defendants committed assault and battery. I thought that the victim in the case, Steve Koch, and his daughter testified credibly.”
He said the verdict was “unfortunate but as far as the criminal division is concerned, we will continue to fight the good fight.”
Attorney Michael White, who represented Camacho, said, “The facts speak for themselves. This case should not have been brought.”
White said his client and his client’s son suffered injuries at the hands of Koch, who was “the aggressor in this case — all Vicente Camacho did was defend himself.”
Nikiti was represented by Assistant Public Defender Emily Thomsen in the bench trial, which started on Monday.
