Opening statements set for trial of deputies charged with assault on Vista men

VISTA - Opening statements were scheduled Wednesday, May 22 in the trial of two sheriff's deputies accused of assaulting a handcuffed Vista man and his father during an arrest last year.

Deputy Nicholas Morgan, 27, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault without lawful necessity by an officer, and Deputy Joshua Nahan, 31, with one count, for allegedly roughing up Gerardo Martinez Jr. and Gerardo Martinez Sr.

The father and son were arrested last May 7 after the lawmen responded to a domestic violence call.

A 22-second video shot by a bystander appears to show the deputies shoving Martinez Sr. into a wooden fence while his son was pinned on a concrete sidewalk and repeatedly struck in the head.

Morgan faces up to two years in jail if convicted, and Nahan could be sentenced to one year in jail if found guilty, according to the District Attorney's office.

Last May, the District Attorney's Office dropped all charges against Martinez Sr. before he could be arraigned, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. A resisting-arrest charge was dismissed against Martinez Jr., who pleaded guilty last July to a domestic violence-related charge and was sentenced to four years of probation.