3rd ex-Fullerton police officer charged in death of homeless man A third former Fullerton police officer has been criminally charged in the death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man who died after being beaten by police at a bus depot in downtown Fullerton last year. Joseph Wolfe, 37, was arraigned Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force, both felonies. He pleaded not guilty. Wolfe was the first officer shown striking Thomas with a baton on a surveillance video of the beating, but he was not initially charged in the case. His indictment came a little more than a year after two other former officers were charged. An Orange County grand jury indicted Wolfe on Monday after hearing three days of testimony from 10 witnesses and examining 113 exhibits, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. In a statement, the district attorney said the office had "actively continued its investigation and legal review and decided to seek an indictment against Wolfe following extensive legal and factual analysis and development of evidence." District attorney's spokeswoman Farrah Emami declined to elaborate further on the evidence driving the decision to pursue charges against Wolfe, and the grand jury transcripts are to remain sealed until 10 days after the defense attorneys have received them. Wolfe was released on $25,000 bail Thursday. His defense attorney, Vicki Podberesky, said she had not reviewed the grand jury transcript but was confident her client will be proved innocent. "To say the least, we're very disappointed and really are confused and perplexed by the change of course by the district attorney's office, given that we are not aware of any new evidence that would affect their original evaluation of the case," she said. Podberesky questioned whether "external pressures or political response to public outcry" had motivated the decision. Fullerton has been in political upheaval since the beating. Last September, former Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos was charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and then-Cpl. Jay Cicinelli was charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force. Thomas' father, Ron Thomas, had pushed to have Wolfe charged, too. "Wolfe was the first one on and the last one off, and kept beating Kelly the entire time," he said. But the district attorney has to go with what he has. It's so much better than him not being charged at all. Ramos received the most severe charges because prosecutors said he had escalated the encounter by threatening Thomas, putting on gloves and telling the homeless man his fists were "getting ready to f - you up." Cicinelli, who arrived later, struck Thomas repeatedly in the head and face with the butt of a Taser, prosecutors said. Ramos, Cicinelli and Wolfe left the police force after the city initiated proceedings to fire them. Three other officers who were at the scene during the beating have not been charged. They have returned to work in a non-patrol capacity, Fullerton Police Department spokesman Jeff Stuart said. If convicted, Wolfe faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. He is scheduled in court for a pretrial hearing Nov. 2. Emami said the district attorney's office will seek to have all three tried together. Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.