Trial continues in Alabama officer’s excessive force case

Author: The Associated Press
Published:
MGN

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – Additional witness testimony is expected in the federal trial of an Alabama police officer accused of using excessive force during a stop that left an Indian man seriously injured.

Madison police officer Eric Sloan Parker’s trial is scheduled to continue Thursday morning in Huntsville.

Police investigating a call about a suspicious person in February encountered Sureshbhai Patel (suh-RESH’-beye pah-TEL’) and eventually slammed the man to the ground face first. Parker has said Patel resisted officers and put his hands in his pockets.

Patel denied that Wednesday through an interpreter, saying he speaks very little English and couldn’t understand what officers were saying when they stopped him.

Parker’s colleague, Officer Charles Spence, said the maneuver used to take Patel down was unnecessary and Patel didn’t appear to pose a threat.

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