MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The Wisconsin Court of Appeals says a Milwaukee police board lost its ability to sustain the firing of an officer who assaulted a handcuffed suspect because it failed to hold a timely trial.
The ruling Wednesday affirms a circuit court's conclusion.
Rodolfo Gomez Jr. was fired in 2015 after a video showed him repeatedly punching a suspect in an interrogation room in 2013. Gomez appealed his firing but the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners upheld his termination.
The circuit court vacated the board's decision because it didn't hear Gomez's appeal within 120 days.
Attorneys for Gomez and the board didn't immediately return calls. It wasn't immediately clear if the board would appeal or if Gomez would be reinstated.
Gomez pleaded guilty last year in federal court to violating the suspect's civil rights.
