A 4-3 opinion handed down by the state Supreme Court Monday found that police's actions were "wholly disproportionate" to the circumstances surrounding attempts to question Clovis Vigil about a potential drug deal in Walsenburg, Colo., in July 2009. Small bags of cocaine found in Vigil's pocket by the arresting officers were also thrown out as evidence.

Vigil received six hours of medical treatment as a result of his injuries and was released into the custody of the same officers who beat him earlier. He confessed a second time to them, according to court records.

“[T]he trial court found that Vigil posed no threat to the officers and that the amount of force the officers used against him was not only ‘wholly disproportionate to the circumstances involved,’ but rather coerced his statement,” Justice Alex Martinez wrote. And Vigil’s second confession can be suppressed as “fruit of the poisoned tree.”

Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey and justices Michael Bender and Gregory Hobbs concurred.

Justice Nathan Coats strongly disagreed with the majority's ruling, saying Vigil was legally obligated to cooperate with police during an investigatory stop. Two other justices disagreed on different grounds.