Convicted officer seeks new trial

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Convicted Lincoln Police officer Edward Krawetz has filed a motion for a new trial following a guilty verdict for assaulting a handcuffed woman outside Twin River casino in Lincoln.

Krawetz’s attorney John Harwood told Target 12 he filed the motion but has yet to sit down with the suspended officer about potentially appealing Judge Edward Clifton’s verdict last Monday.

Krawetz’s kick to the head of 44 year old Donna Levesque in 2009 was caught on a surveillance camera. Levesque had just been removed from the casino for disorderly behavior.

The video shows the Uxbridge resident kick the officer first with her bare foot. Krawetz’s kick a split second later sent the Uxbridge woman, who was sitting at the time, down to the sidewalk in a heap.

Harwood argued that Krawetz was defending himself after Levesque’s assault but Judge Clifton ruled otherwise, convicting the veteran officer of felony battery with a dangerous weapon.

Target 12 discovered this was the second assault conviction for Krawetz who was also found guilty in 2001 for misdemeanor assault after a confrontation with a jogger in Cumberland. He was given probation but suspended from the Lincoln Police Department for 30 days. At the time, his chief recommended dismissal.

A pre-sentencing report is due on March 5th with the sentencing scheduled for March 19th. Harwood said his motion for a new trial could be argued as early as mid-February.

“No matter what the sentence, we may want a new trial or an appeal,” Harwood said. “Because my client was clearly assaulted first.”

Krawetz is currently suspended without pay and Lincoln town leaders said they will seek to dismiss the officer from the force. That process will not start until the criminal case, including the potential new trial or the appeal, is completed.