PROVIDENCE — Narragansett Indian tribe member Adam Jennings’ ankle was broken during a state police raid on a tribal smoke shop five years ago — on that everyone agrees.

But the circumstances that led to that injury are the subject of a civil trial that began yesterday before an eight-member jury and Chief U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi in federal court.

In opening arguments, Jennings’ lawyer, Michael Bradley, argued that Trooper Kenneth Jones snapped Jennings’ ankle in two places with his “bare hands” using excessive force during the raid.

Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Partington said Jones’ force was in keeping with his training and appropriate for the level of resistance he encountered from Jennings, who kicked as officers tried to arrest him.

At Governor Carcieri’s orders, the state police executed a search warrant on the shop July 14, 2003, to stop the Narragansetts from selling tax-free cigarettes. The raid descended into a confrontation that left at least eight people, including Jennings, injured and eight tribe members under arrest.

Jennings filed suit, accusing Jones of violating his civil rights by twisting his ankle until it broke.

Jennings, who was stocking shelves at the shop, was one of three witnesses to take the stand yesterday. He told the jury that customers trickled in as they waited for a cigarette delivery that day. It then became clear undercover officers were inside.

He said he was following Detective Kenneth Bell’s order to leave the shop when several officers grabbed him, he said. He did not assume an aggressive stance, but called out “I’m not getting arrested” because he believed he was not supposed to be taken in to custody, he said.

Jones, he said, kneed him in the gut, picked him up off the floor and slammed him back down. Officers ordered him to give them his hands, but he couldn’t release his left hand from under his body because there was too much weight on his back, he said.

He said he warned Jones he had previously broken his ankle and that it would break again if he kept twisting it. He placed both hands behind his back and believed he was handcuffed when he felt excruciating pain as his ankle broke, he said. He was taken to South County Hospital, where he was told it was broken in two places.

The ankle still swells when he works as a dealer at Foxwoods Resort Casino, he said, so much so that he has to take time off and leave early regularly.

Under Partington’s questioning, Jennings said he had broken his ankle and had surgery a year or so before the raid. He did not recall his doctor warning him that he was at risk for re-injuring it.

Partington tried to chip away at Jennings’ credibility, getting him to admit that he did not include in a sworn statement in 2004 that he had been arrested a month earlier for resisting arrest. He also said he had no memory of making a statement for the Narragansett tribal police.

She played a state police video that showed him gripping the counter during the raid as officers pulled at his arm, asking him if he was resisting officers at that time. “I always did what they told me to do,” he said.

She also questioned why he testified previously that his hand was under his body when his ankle was broken, to which he responded that he changed his story after closely viewing the video.

Shop worker Domingo Monroe also testified yesterday about watching Jennings’ arrest, saying Jennings had followed orders as he was about to leave the shop.

Bell, who was undercover inside the shop, was the first police officer to testify. A detective specializing in cyber crime, Bell described having profanities hurled at police when they announced their presence. He said he told an officer to arrest Jennings after his repeated outbursts, including making threats to uniformed officers who came through the door.

Bell’s testimony continues today under questioning by Special Assistant Attorney General John Moreira.

It is the second time the case has gone to trial. In 2005, a jury found that Jones used excessive force and battery against Jennings and awarded Jennings $301,000.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres overturned that verdict, but the federal appeals court ruled in Jennings’ favor, sending the case back to Torres to consider motions he did not rule on after the 2005 trial.

In May, Torres granted the state’s motion for a new trial. In ruling, he wrote that the state police testimony proved more believable than that of defense witnesses and Jennings during the 2005 trial.

A criminal trial against seven Narragansetts — including Jennings — that stemmed from the raid ended in April, with a split verdict on the misdemeanor charges. Jennings was found not guilty of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

kmulvane@projo.com