Feds will retry Madison police officer for takedown of Indian grandfather (al.com)

By Challen Stephens | cstephens@al.com
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on September 21, 2015 at 5:15 PM, updated September 21, 2015 at 5:48 PM

Madison police officer Eric Parker will face a new jury on Oct. 26, as federal prosecutors once again try to make their case that Parker used unreasonable force.

The first attempt ended in a mistrial, as the deadlocked jury could not agree whether Parker acted unlawfully when he slammed down an Indian citizen on the morning of Feb. 6.

The defense argued that police were responding to a call about a suspicious man, then the man, Sureshbhai Patel, walked away from officers. The defense argued Patel then pulled his hand away from Parker and that he could have had a dangerous weapon in his pockets.

But Patel had just arrived in the United States days earlier to care for his new grandson. He was taking a morning walk on the street in front of his engineer son's home. He testified that he does not speak English and that he did not pull away from officers. Patel was left partly paralyzed, was hospitalized and had cervical fusion surgery.

Patel's surgeon testified that patients with Patel's injury were unlikely to regain full motion in the legs or grip strength in the hands.
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more: http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2015/09/new_trial_set_for_madison_poli.html