Jury To Decide Fate Of PA State Trooper Accused Of Stomping Handcuffed Man
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jury deliberations were expected Monday in the trial of a Pennsylvania State Trooper charged with deprivation of civil rights. He allegedly used excessive force during an arrest in which the suspect was mistakenly targeted in his home following a drug raid a few doors away in Exton in August of 2009.
Zachary Bare was on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back. That's undisputed. But was he still a threat?
During questioning by prosecutor L. C. Wright, Bare testified he only lifted his head to question why he was being arrested when he was kicked in the head by 43-year-old Pennsylvania state trooper Kelly Cruz.
"Then that is when the back of my head got stomped," Bare testified.
"What happened to you?," asked the prosecution. "What happened to you when the back of your head got stomped?"
"My teeth got pushed up into my nose," Bare responded. "I got all chipped. I thought I lost all my teeth from how far my teeth went in. Blood was everywhere."
Trooper Cruz admits he pushed his foot down on Bare, but he says he reacted instinctively when he entered the kitchen, saw Bare trying to get up, and did not realize that he was cuffed. Cruz says he was immediately disappointed to see the injuries he caused.
The attorney for Cruz says the trooper has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the trial.
