The man from India a police officer in Madison, Alabama is accused of physically abusing and violating his civil rights took the stand Tuesday, reports WHNT.
Sureshbhai Patel was helped up to the witness stand in a federal courtroom. He remains partially paralyzed after being slammed to the concrete by Officer Eric Parker after Parker stopped Patel for questioning.
Patel said through an interpreter that he told officers several times he did not speak English. He also denied pulling away from the officers.
Patel said after he hit the ground, the officers tried to pull him up, but his hands and legs were completely numb.
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Police were investigating a call of a suspicious Black man when they stopped Patel.
Earlier jurors saw several angles of the incident taken from a dash cam.
You can hear the audio. One officer asks Patel several times if he understands. The other officer tells his partner that Patel does not understand, but the first officer continues to drill Patel with questions.
The first witness called Wedenesday was Officer Charles Spence. He responded to the call after Parker arrested Patel. Spence said Parker used a front leg sweep to take down Patel. Spence said such a move is usually used on combative suspects, but he said Patel was not combative.
Today, the first witness called was a Neurosurgeon Dr. Chang Tao. He described Patel’s medical condition, and said his spine problem is something exacerbated by a fall, trauma, or accident.
