LAPD officer found guilty after in-custody death

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Los Angeles police officer has been found guilty of assault by a public officer for kicking and shoving a handcuffed woman, who later died.

Officer Mary O'Callaghan, a 19-year LAPD veteran, could face up to three years in state prison when sentenced.

Prosecutors opened their case in the trial with video allegedly showing the officer striking Alesia Thomas in the throat and kicking her in the stomach and groin area on July 22, 2012.

There was no dispute that Thomas had been resisting officers.

Thomas was allegedly kicked three times in the groin. She had been complaining that her chest and legs were hurting and that she needed an ambulance, but O'Callaghan allegedly thought she was "faking her distress," prosecutors said. Thomas lost consciousness in the car and never recovered.

O'Callaghan did not face charges in connection to the 35-year-old woman's death. An autopsy found Thomas likely died from cocaine intoxication.