Trial starts in case of Lynn woman charged with assault who’s claiming police brutality

LYNN – A Lynn District Court jury heard opening statements this afternoon in the trial of a Lynn woman charged with assaulting a Saugus police officer in August 2011 after she stopped to help a fellow church member that had been pulled over.Assistant District Attorney Nicole Starrett told the jury Debora Merida, 31, of 49 Kirtland St. escalated a routine traffic stop in which she was not involved to the point that officer, Matthew Donahue, feared for his safety and was forced to take her to the ground.”This is now a mountain that started as a molehill of a traffic stop,” Starrett said during the trial in Lynn District Court.But Merida’s attorney, Michael Cerulli of Lynn, said Merida complied with Donahue’s orders to leave the scene, only to realize she had left her license with him and had to go back and get it.”We’re all sitting here because one police officer had a temper tantrum,” Cerulli said. “(Merida) was being well-intentioned and acting reasonable.”Read complete trial coverage in Tuesday’s Daily Item.