By Nigel Parry
DAY 10, VIDEO UPDATE 1, 12:15PM
Officer Sisak’s testimony
Don Carpenter reports:
The morning started with Jordan sitting alone at the plaintiff’s table, head low and almost emotionless. I could tell that this trial was finally taking it’s toll on the young man.
Sisak re-took the stand looking like hell. Either his guilty conscience was keeping him up at night, or he’s been hitting the bottle way to hard.
Some Sisak quotes from the day:
“You can read the files, we didn’t always get along, but they’re my partners, and at the end of the day I trust them with my life.”
“It happened lightning fast…I can’t even describe how fast this happened.”
“Mike had one cuff on him, then he said he lost it and Miles was going for a gun…the only thing I could do was punch him in the face.”
“I could either punch him or pull my gun, and I didn’t want to shoot anyone.”
“I lost my cuffs, and my flashlight, not sure where it went, but I never pulled my flashlight.”
“I struck him 2 or 3 times in the face… right where his face is swollen in the pictures.”
“He (Miles) didn’t respond to me punching him, only time he responded was when Rick hit him with a knee.”
“Miles asked me: If you don’t find anything, do I get to go home?”
“His(Miles) respiratory system wasn’t coming back to a baseline, his breathing was harsh, I thought he was gonna die.”
“Not gonna sit here and say I’m in excruciating pain, cause I’m not, but I do have a tweak, sometimes my knee will buckle, and my doctor says I will have to address that one day with surgery.”
Sisak became hostile when his OMI statements and FBI statements were repeatedly brought up.
“I never saw a bulge…Mike is the one who said he saw a bulge.”
“Miles was walking looking at the ground. When he saw us pull up in the car, he was clearly startled.”
“I hit Jordan hard, and tackled him through the bushes.”
“Jordan Miles fell on the ice… Maybe he hit his head, and maybe he didn’t…I don’t know.”
When asked where Ewing and Saldutte where when he was trying to cuff Miles, Sisak replied “I don’t know… I wasn’t paying attention.”
Mercy Hospital states Sisak was treated for a scraped knee. Sisak made the ludicrous claim that the hospital told him he might need surgery and “to come back in a year” if it wasn’t better. What hospital tells people to come back in a year? Not even vaguely credible.
Officer Richard Ewing’s testimony
Don Carpenter reports some of Ewing’s testimony:
Ewing tried to portray himself to the jury as innocent and intelligent during his attorney’s examination and kept saying to the jury: “I know you guys have heard this before, but….”
” I have to drive (the 99 car) with the windows 1/2 way down or down at eye level.”
“Saldutte’s window was down at eye level.”
“I’ve said numerous times to my supervisors that the car’s tint was too dark, and only being 2 doors made it unsafe for the guy in the back.”
“At the time, I didn’t know if it was a male or female, African American, white black, red or purple…all I knew was someone was on the side of that house.”
“He (Miles) was looking down at the ground, when we stopped he looked up at us and was shocked.”
“He (Miles) was not on the phone, at least not with his hands.”
“After Officer Saldutte’s questions, it appeared Mr. Miles did not want to talk to us.”
“It started off with a walk, and then turned into a run.”
“I was going to do an arm bar takedown, but was unable to do so, then I decided to do a leg sweep.”
“Once I did a leg sweep on Miles, I went to the ground with him and I tried grabbing his left arm.”
when asked if Jordan committed a crime, Ewing said emphatically: “Yes! He committed 2 aggravated assaults.”
“I gave 2 or 3 knee strikes to his left quad to no effect….Mike was doing the same thing as he later told me.”
“I knew he was excited and that something was wrong.” On Saldutte losing the cuffed hand and exclaiming Miles was going for a gun.
“I was scared for my life and my partners lives.”
“Thank God it didn’t happen!” Ewing on pulling his gun out and shooting Miles.
“I delivered a Knee strike to his neck, and at this point Mike and I were able to cuff him.”
“Encounter lasted no more than 2 minutes.”
“I was out of breath and my hands were freezing.” Ewing on the aftermath of the altercation.
at 1 pm, Ewing testified that “I observed him (Saldutte) coming up with a Mt. Dew Bottle. I could tell it was a Mountain Dew bottle because Mountain Dew has a very distinct color.” Said Ewing on Saldutte’s search of Miles.
Ewing stated 10 minutes leading up to the wagon arriving was spent searching for Miles Gun, drugs, Sisaks cuffs, and flashlight.
“No one struck him (Miles) once he was cuffed.”
“When he (Miles) said don’t take me to jail I want to go home, that indicated to me that he knew we were police officers.”
“Nobody ever choked him…it never happened!”
“If anyone did touch him after he was cuffed, I’d have stopped them…we don’t do that.”
“He was never praying…no one ever told him to shut up.”
“I’m not ashamed of anything that happened that night.”
“I’ve had 2 years to think about this…I wouldn’t have done anything different.”
Ewing addressed the Jury: “I know I didn’t do anything that they’re (Miles and his lawyers) saying I did.”
during cross examination by Lewis, Ewing’s innocence and confidence started to fade away, being replaced by and hostility:
Sisak slept thru most of Ewing’s testimony, and woke up just in time to mutter “ass” directed at Lewis who at the time was mocking Sisak’s previous testimony from the day regarding the FBI report.
“You’re confusing me sir, I never wrote this report.” when presented with a copy of the radio dispatch records for Miles’ transport.
Despite Miles’ phone records and ex girlfriend saying otherwise, Ewing said he was 100% certain that Miles wasn’t on his cellphone because he could see both of Jordan’s hands when they stopped.
“my version is what happened.”
“I didn’t specifically see Saldutte pull a Mt. Dew bottle from Miles’ coat.
“He (Miles) was never beat or beaten or attacked as you keep saying he was.” this was directed at Lewis.
When asked why, if he wasn’t armed, would Miles act as if he was Ewing responded: “you’d have to ask your client why he was acting like he had a weapon when he didn’t have one… I’m not a mind reader sir.”
“I didn’t know who Monica Wooding was until the prelimary hearing, and when you and your client got this story together and filed a complaint against us.”
“I never seen anyone pull his hair.”
“We did everything we were trained to do.”
“we don’t do Jumpouts.”
“I didn’t ever know what a jumpout was until your expert said it was a technique.”
“He(sisak) never tee’d off on Miles’ head, and if he did I would have stopped him if i felt it was inappropriate.”
“We tell the truth, all the time.”
[More content will be added from court notes later]
