Topeka police officer cites pre-attack indicators. Man he arrested says he feared for his life.

Timothy Harris never resisted during the incident in which his jaw was broken after he was handcuffed by Topeka police officer Chris Janes, Harris testified afternoon at the trial in his lawsuit alleging excessive use of force.

Janes strongly disagreed in testimony Wednesday.

He said Harris, who was bigger than him, showed numerous “pre-attack indicators,” "tensed up" as his hands were being cuffed behind his back to test his strength against that of Janes, then grabbed the officer's duty belt.

Proceedings began Tuesday and testimony ended early Wednesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Topeka in the use of force lawsuit Harris is pursuing against Janes.

Harris, who is Black, alleges that Janes, who is white, violated his Constitutional rights by beating him and breaking his jaw while he was handcuffed in January 2018 in East Topeka. Harris never actually paid the medical bills involved and wasn't required to do so, presiding U.S. District Judge Dan Crabtree was told.

Harris is asking for $1 million plus attorney’s fees, which totaled about $200,000 as of mid-January.

Jurors early Wednesday afternoon were sent home until they return to hear closing arguments at 9 a.m. Thursday. Crabtree planned to meet Wednesday afternoon with attorneys for both sides on legal issues.

The standard of proof Harris must meet to win is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not.

Here are seven takeaways from trial proceedings that took place Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

Jury appears to be all white

Jury selection ended shortly after noon Tuesday with the impaneling of a three-man, five-woman jury, which appeared to be all white.

The seven potential jurors who were rejected included one Black person, a woman.

Though the case had received media attention, all 15 potential jurors who spent time Tuesday morning in the jury box said they hadn’t previously heard anything about it.

Prosecution puts forth two witnesses; defense presents three

Jurors heard testimony Tuesday afternoon from two witnesses for the plaintiff, Harris.

Those were Harris, who was on the stand for about two hours, and the custodian of records for Stormont Vail Health — where Harris was treated — who appeared briefly.

Harris' attorney Carlton Odin, of Chicago-based Action Injury Law Group, LLC, rested his case Wednesday morning.

Jurors then heard from three defense witnesses. Those were two Topeka police supervisors and Janes, who was on the witness stand for about two hours before finishing early Wednesday afternoon.

Both supervisors said the actions Janes took during his altercation with Harris were consistent with the training he had received, considering the numerous "pre-attack indicators" Harris had shown.

City says Timothy Harris grabbed officer's duty belt

Tuesday's proceedings included multiple showings of Janes' body camera video of the incident.

Topeka police said Harris and Janes got into an altercation near 2600 S.E. 10th as Janes sought to investigate a complaint he'd heard earlier that day that Harris had stolen property from Harris’ former girlfriend.

Janes, a Topeka police officer since February 2016, said he was patrolling the area to which he was assigned about 7 p.m. that day when he saw that car parked illegally facing the wrong way in the 2600 block of S.E. 10th near Harris’ home, with Harris in the driver’s seat.

Janes said he turned on his emergency lights and Harris got out of the car, then got back in after Janes twice ordered him to do so.

Janes' body camera video shows Harris sitting in the driver's seat of the stopped car as Janes approaches.

Janes testified he’d learned earlier that day that Harris was wanted on an outstanding warrant charging him with violating conditions of probation, which was imposed after he was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia and interfering with a law enforcement officer.

Harris was consequently most likely going to jail, he said.

The video shows Janes, Harris and a woman in the passenger's seat exchanging words about the alleged theft and the parking issue, with Harris keeping his left leg outside the car.

After Janes tells Harris he's being detained, Harris takes off his jacket while sitting in the front seat of the car, throws down the cigarette he’s been smoking and gets out of the car.

Janes puts his hands on Harris' chest, tries to guide him back into the car and tells Harris he hadn't given him permission to get out. Janes then cuffs Harris' hands behind his back.

Janes was trying to walk Harris to his patrol car when Harris struggled and grabbed the duty belt of Janes, who then took him to the ground, with Harris falling harder than Janes had intended, said Janes' attorney Allen Glendenning, of Great Bend-based Watkins Calcara, Chartered.

"The officer then placed Harris on the ground for better control until additional officers arrived," Topeka's city government said in a statement issued in September 2018. "While on the ground, Harris again grabbed the officer’s duty belt. In response, the officer used two fist strikes to Harris’s torso and applied pepper spray to his face."

Timothy Harris says he feared for his life

Jurors watched attentively Tuesday as Harris denied resisting Janes.

Harris said after Janes punched and pepper sprayed him, a mixture of blood and pepper spray inside his mouth left him unable to breathe.

He said he feared he was going to die and was begging for his life.

Harris said he subsequently endured excruciating pain as his jaw was wired shut and he had to subsist on chicken and beef broth for two months. Harris now has a metal plate in his face, jurors were told.

Numbness from the injury still causes him to drool and affects how he eats, Harris said.

Glendenning questioned that assertion, noting that Harris mentioned no chronic issues when asked about his health as he received hospital treatment in June 2020 and was booked into the Shawnee County Jail in February 2021.

Officer was alone on a dark night

Glendenning suggested that Janes, being alone on a dark night facing a man who was accompanied by a passenger, had been resisting and showed various pre-attack indicators, acted reasonably by doing all he could to keep the situation from escalating.

He stressed that Harris is bigger than Janes and played college football at Utah University.

Janes said Harris displayed pre-attack indicators that set off alarm bells that suggested he was about to attack Janes or try to escape.

He said those indicators included that included:

• Getting out of the car he was in when Janes pulled up, suggesting he was thinking about running.

• After he returned to the car, sitting in the front seat with a foot outside of it.

• After learning he was being detained, giving Janes a “thousand-yard stare” that involved looking “right through” him.

• Taking off his jacket on a 30-degree evening, apparently to give himself more freedom of mobility.

• Throwing down a cigarette that “still had plenty of good smoking in it.”

• Getting out of the car without permission.

• Ignoring commands from Janes.

• Handing Janes his wallet as an apparent distraction tactic.

• And tensing up as he was being cuffed behind his back to test his strength against that of Janes.

Even after being taken to the ground, Harris continued to resist, Janes said.

Janes said he became increasingly fatigued as the struggle continued, which was why he resorted to using pepper spray.

Under cross-examination, Janes acknowledged that Harris never kicked, punched, head-butted or spit on him, and that Harris never threatened him, protested about being asked for his identification or said, “You can’t detain me.”

Objections were common

Attorneys on Tuesday, but not Wednesday, put forth numerous objections regarding the admissibility of different pieces of testimony or evidence.

Those generally resulted in the attorneys conferring with Crabtree at his bench while the sound of a static machine kept others in the courtroom from being able to hear what they were saying.

City of Topeka has eyes on the trial

Though Topeka's city government has been dropped as a defendant in Harris' suit, city officials were present at both Tuesday's and Wednesday's proceedings.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threncgannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here are takeaways from Topeka police use of force lawsuit trial