Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- The retrial of a civil suit brought by a Narragansett Indian against a state trooper in the wake of the 2003 smoke-shop raid is now in the hands of the jury.

During closing arguments today, Adam Jennings' lawyer asked the jury to look at the faces, the manners and the postures of the state police troopers as they restrained his client.

He told them to look for evidence of resistance as Jennings was on the ground, being restrained.

U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi told jurors not to let prejudice, sympathy or compassion cloud their judgment, and also to consider how much of a threat Jennings posed to the Jones and others around.

Jennings filed suit after his ankle was broken during the contentious raid of the tribal smoke shop in Charlestown.

This is the second civil trial for Jones. In 2005, Jennings successfully sued in civil court. U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres overturned the verdict, but an appeals court ruled in Jennings' favor, sending the case back to Torres to consider motions he did not rule on
after the 2005 trial.

In May, Torres granted the state's motion for a new trial. In ruling, he wrote that the state police testimony proved more believable than that of defense witnesses and Jennings during the 2005 trial.

Testimony has featured state police and surveillance videos of the raid, as did a criminal trial stemming from the action. Jennings, who was a defendant in the case, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Now the six women and two men will decide whether Jones violated Jennings' Fourth Amendment right, which guarantees his freedom from unreasonable search, seizure or other bodily violations from the government.

Extra: See photos, videos and extended coverage of raid and its 5-year aftermath on projo.com

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

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