A US police officer accused of violently assaulting a 58-year-old Indian grandfather that left him partially paralysed will face a retrial in Alabama on October 26 as the first attempt ended in a mistrial.
In <g data-gr-id="25">previous</g> trial, the jury was deadlocked as they could not agree whether Eric Parker acted unlawfully when he slammed down Sureshbhai Patel on Feb 6. Parker was charged with violating civil rights of Patel.
A new trial on the single count of deprivation of rights under colour of law was set for October 26, according to Peggy Sanford, spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office. A pretrial hearing is set for October 6, AL.com reported.
The defence argued that police were responding to a call about a ‘suspicious man’ who walked away from officers.
The defence said Patel pulled his hand away from Parker and that he could have had a dangerous weapon in his pockets. However, Patel had just arrived in the US days earlier to care for his 17-month-old 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 paralysed, was hospitalised and had cervical fusion surgery.
The original trial ended in a 10-2 split in favour of acquittal, according to jurors. Soon after the judge declared a mistrial on September 11, Robert Posey, Assistant US Attorney, said that the federal government would retry the case.