A judge has denied former Dover Police officer Thomas Webster’s request to expunge his arrest record after a jury acquitted him last year of assaulting an unarmed black man.
Kent County Superior Court Judge William Witham says he will not erase Webster’s felony assault arrest record at this time because the former officer hasn’t presented any evidence that the record would cause “manifest injustice” in his life.
In his opinion, he cites the case of a former Delaware obstetrician-gynecologist who a jury found not guilty of molesting patients, but who later lost his medical license.
The court denied that expungement request because the incident had been covered heavily in the press and the Board of Medical Practice had revoked his license.
The former officer's case was also well-publicized after Dover Police released a dash cam video showing Webster kicking Lateef Dickerson in the face, breaking his jaw and leaving him unconscious
Webster will have another chance to present evidence to Superior Court, but his lawyer couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Earlier this year, Webster reached a $230,000 settlement with the City of Dover that ended in his resignation.
