FEDERAL PROSECUTOR PLANS TO PURSUE THIRD TRIAL OF HUNTSVILLE POLICE OFFICER

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – A federal prosecutor says he plans to pursue a third trial of an Alabama police officer accused of using excessive force on an Indian man if a judge doesn’t acquit him.

Prosecutors and the attorney representing Madison police officer Eric Parker had a phone conference with U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala on Friday afternoon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Posey says he told Haikala prosecutors would pursue another trial if she doesn’t grant the motion for acquittal filed by Parker’s attorney Robert Tuten.

Parker was charged with violating the rights of 58-year-old Sureshbhai Patel (suh-REHSH’-by pah-TEL’) during an encounter in February. Parker knocked Patel to the ground while investigating a suspicious-person complaint.

Patel has said through an interpreter that he doesn’t speak English. Parker’s two previous trials ended in hung juries.