Doctors offer different opinions regarding cause of head injury in trial of Rockville Centre Police Officer Anthony Federico

Dr. Peter Viccellio took the stand on Feb. 2 to wrap up the second week of testimony in the trial of Rockville Centre Police Officer Anthony Federico, who is accused of assaulting a resident during an arrest in May 2016 and later lying about specifics of the incident on police records. He pleaded not guilty to all charges last March.

The prosecution has said that Federico caused a six-centimeter laceration on the head of Kevin Kavanagh — who was drunk and high on cocaine as Federico responded to a fight on South Park Avenue at 2:40 a.m. — when the officer hit him over the head with a Taser while trying to arrest him.

The defense points to a fight Kavanagh was in before Federico arrived, during which Kavanagh was flipped in the air and hit his head, as the cause of the injury.

Frank Schroder, one of Federico’s defense attorneys, played surveillance footage from the Dark Horse Tavern last Friday, pointing to the top right corner of the screen, where an unknown man could be seen flipping Kavanagh in the middle of the street.

Viccellio, professor and vice chairman of emergency medicine at Stony Brook University, noted that Kavanagh landed on his head, comparing the motion to “diving into an empty pool.”

Kavanagh then extended his arms out in front of him and began waving them around, Viccellio said as he watched the video, which he testified is a movement consistent with a “contact seizure.”

The doctor added that Kavanagh’s wound, which is described in medical records from that morning as jagged and linear with macerated edges, could have been caused by that fall.

But prosecutor Robert Cavallo, deputy chief of Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas’s Public Corruption Bureau, referred to a video taken of the subsequent tussle between Federico, Kavanagh and Kavanagh’s brother Brendan, in which there is no blood visible on Kavanagh’s face or head. Witnesses over the last week have said that blood could be seen streaming down Kavanagh’s face only after Federico used what they described as excessive force.

In the crime report submitted as evidence and obtained by the Herald, Federico wrote, “The male that had been on the floor, Kevin Kavanagh, was bleeding from the head.”

“The reporting officer,” he continued, referring to himself, “then exited the vehicle and approached Kavanagh … to investigate further.”

Cavallo told Judge Christopher Quinn that Federico was “clearly making a false statement that [Kevin] was bleeding at a time when he was not bleeding,” and that the officer was “seeking to protect himself … from disciplinary action.”

Defense attorney William Petrillo asserted to Quinn that Federico’s actions displayed a “justifiable use of force.”

Viccellio, who had no previous knowledge of this case before being called as a medical expert, said that bleeding could be delayed with a blunt force injury of that nature, testifying that one “may see very little bleeding or a lot of bleeding,” and that the nature of the bleeding is “highly variable with the scalp.”

Schroder then asked Viccellio to hold the Taser that Federico used to subdue the Kavanagh brothers that night. “I do not see how this would cause the laceration that he had,” Viccellio said, adding that the weapon was “rather light-weight.”

During the cross-examination, a frustrated Cavallo replayed the surveillance footage of the fight in the street. He said that Kavanagh rotated quickly as he flipped, implying that he never fell on his head with the full weight of his body, which Viccellio had said just minutes earlier.

When Viccellio was asked to hold the Taser again, Cavallo asked, “It’s not a paperback book, right?”

“No, but it’s light,” Viccellio shot back.

Feb. 1: A different medical opinion

Viccellio’s testimony came a day after Dr. Alan Nemeth, a witness for the prosecution who treated Kavanagh on the morning of the incident, said that the laceration — which exposed the cranial bone — “would bleed immediately.”

The testimony backed up the prosecution’s theory that blood would be visible on Kavanagh’s head or face in the video if the laceration was suffered during the street fight before Federico arrived.

Nemeth, a doctor of emergency medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital, did not recall specifically treating Kavanagh, but reviewed the medical records he had prepared in relation to the incident.

Unlike Viccellio, Nemeth had not seen any videos related the incident, but Schroder asked if a laceration like Kavanagh’s could be caused by landing on his head in the street.

“Hypothetically yes,” he said, after looking toward the ceiling and pausing.

Jan. 31: Another eyewitness speaks out

Danielle Piccoli, a friend of Alyson Gallo who witnessed the struggle between Federico and the Kavanagh brothers, testified on Jan. 31 that she saw the police officer striking toward Kevin’s face while he had him pinned in a corner between a wall and a fence outside Croxley’s Ale House.

“Kevin’s legs were pulsating” during Federico’s several blows to his face, she noted. Piccoli added that she never heard Federico tell the Kavanagh brothers that they were under arrest during the skirmish, or command them to put their hands behind their back before using the Taser.

As Schroder played a portion of the footage taken by Gallo, Piccoli put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. Her voice on the video then rang out in the courtroom: “They’re not doing anything wrong!”

Piccoli testified that a bouncer had come over and stepped between Federico and the others watching the Kavanaghs being arrested. Cavallo has said that Federico was not in danger at that time, calling it “a break in the action,” but that the officer still “intended to cause injury.” At that point, Piccoli said, “[Federico] was just completely aggressive. It looked like he was actually enjoying himself.”

Several members of the public reacted to her words in disgust.

“[Federico] is being attacked by two guys drunk, one who’s on cocaine,” Schroder told the Herald outside the courtroom when asked about Piccoli’s comments. “This young officer has a wife and a baby at home. This is not his idea of fun, so I thought it was outrageous.

The trial is set to continue Monday morning, during which the defense is expected to call on more witnesses. The Herald will continue to update this story.