Federal jurors yesterday found a trooper used excessive force in the raid on the Narragansett shop

04:03 PM EST on Tuesday, March 29, 2005

BY KATIE MULVANEY
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island State Police said today they are mulling their options in the wake of a federal jury's verdict yesterday that a trooper used excessive force during a raid on the Narragansett Indians' smoke shop in July 2003.

After deliberating almost five hours, the 10-member jury found that state Trooper Kenneth Jones used excessive force as he subdued tribal member and smoke-shop employee Adam Jennings, breaking his ankle.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Trooper Kenneth Jones of the Rhode Island State Police leaves U.S. District Court House in Providence yesterday.

The jury also awarded $301,100 in damages to Jennings, who was working behind the counter in the recently-opened shop on tribal land in Charlestown.

"It's good to see some justice done," Paulla Dove Jennings, Adam's mother, said after the verdict.

The six state troopers in the courtroom appeared stunned. Tears streamed down Jones' face. State police Supt. Steven M. Pare, who attended most of the five-day trial, declined comment immediately after the verdict.

The jury concluded that two other troopers -- Ken Bell and Staci Shepherd -- were not liable for damages in the raid. Bell had been accused of excessive force and battery for wrestling with shop manager Keith Huertas. Shepherd had faced similar claims for allegedly slamming Dove Jennings into a wall.

This afternoon, the State Police issued a statement and held a press conference in support of Jones.

The agency is reviewing its legal options with the Attorney General's Office and could make an announcement on its intentions by the end of the week, according to Michael Healey, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

In its statement issued today, the state police said the agency is "certain that Trooper Kenneth Jones used only the force necessary to restrain Adam Jennings, who refused to obey specific directives.

"We continue to believe that members of the Rhode Island State Police, who responded to execute the Court-authorized search warrant at the Smoke Shop, demonstrated great restraint under difficult circumstances," the statement said.

During its deliberations, the jury played and replayed videotapes of the chaotic moments in which the state police raided the smoke shop on South County Trail on July 14, 2003.

The defense and the plaintiffs had relied upon the images, which showed undercover troopers posing as customers. The clips, taken by the state police and the Narragansett Indian tribe, also captured Adam Jennings' arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

In those few seconds, at least four officers assisted in taking a struggling Jennings to the ground and handcuffing him. Jones gripped Jennings' right leg.

Jones testified that he was unsure whether Jennings was armed and he had used a technique he learned at the state police training academy to bring Jennings under control. Jones joined the force in 1997.

Jennings testified that Jones twisted his ankle more forcefully after he warned him that it was previously injured.

In closing arguments hours before the verdict, each side accused the other of creating revisionist history.

Juror Richard Jackvony said the panel felt for Jones, in spite of finding against him on complaints of excessive force and battery.

"I don't think it was anything intentional. The bottom line is that it was done. Somebody got hurt. The guy's got permanent damage," said Jackvony, 30, who works in construction.

Jurors awarded Jennings $1,100 for medical costs and $300,000 for pain and suffering, he said.

Earlier in the day, Pare said the state would cover any damages awarded. He said no disciplinary action would be taken against officers, regardless of the verdict.

An internal state police investigation concluded in August 2003 that the officers "acted appropriately" with the "lowest level of force."

The civil suit -- filed by Adam and Paulla Dove Jennings and Huertas -- had originally accused seven troopers of violating the shop workers' civil rights, using excessive force, and false imprisonment. Pare had also been named as a defendant, but he was removed from the suit by stipulated agreement.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres dismissed the civil-rights claims last week. He trimmed the false imprisonment claims at the start of the yesterday's proceedings, ruling that the state had proved a search warrant had been served the day of the raid. The plaintiffs had claimed that the officers had not shown badges or a warrant.

The judge yesterday also dropped excessive force and battery complaints against Lt. James Demers, Cpl. Wilfred Hill and Trooper Kenneth Buoniauto. Cpl. Michelle Kershaw was released from the case last week.

State police raided the smoke shop on Governor Carcieri's orders to stop what the state claimed was the illegal sale of tax-free cigarettes. In a separate case pending in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the tribe argues that as a sovereign nation it is outside state taxing authority.

Paulla Dove Jennings said she didn't have high hopes when she originally asked lawyer Michael Bradley to file the lawsuit decided yesterday.

"I didn't come here expecting anything," she said. "I just wanted our voices heard."

-- With projo.com reports