JENNINGS

PROVIDENCE — A jury yesterday ruled in favor of state Trooper Kenneth Jones, finding he used reasonable force when he applied a hold to a Narragansett Indian’s ankle during a state police raid on a tribal smoke shop five years ago.

The eight-member jury deliberated almost three hours before reaching the verdict, concluding the five-day trial before Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi in U.S. District Court.

“There wasn’t enough evidence to prove excessive force was used,” said jury foreman Harold Gorman, of Coventry. Jones, he said, was trained to use the ankle hold and had applied it properly.

Their finding came as a relief both to Jones, who joined the force in 1997, and the state police.

“Yes, I’m happy,” said Jones, who hugged his lawyers after the verdict was read. “It’s been a long time coming.”

State police Col. Brendan Doherty praised the verdict and said he held Jones in high regard.

“Our integrity was challenged,” Doherty said at a news conference. “We see this as the final chapter in this case.”

It was the second time the case had been tried since the state police executed a search warrant on tribal land in Charlestown to stop the Narragansetts from selling tax-free cigarettes in July 2003. The raid erupted into a confrontation that left eight people, including Adam Jennings, injured.

Jennings, his mother and another shop worker filed suit, accusing state troopers of violating their civil rights, including their right to be free from unreasonable seizures.

In 2005, a jury found Jones used excessive force by twisting Jennings’ ankle until it broke and awarded Jennings $301,000.

U.S. District Judge Ernest C. 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 in 2005.

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

Three jurors interviewed yesterday shared that view at the second trial.

Carol Felber, of Cumberland, said it wasn’t clear when Jennings’ ankle was broken. While she believed witnesses on both sides, she said she found the state police slightly more credible.

“[Jennings’] resistance played a big part,” she said.

Jennings’ lawyer, Michael Bradley, said they were disappointed by the jury’s ruling and will appeal Torres’ decision to order a new trial.

“We have serious concerns about whether Judge Torres … substituted his own judgment for that of the first jury,” Bradley said. “We think it was in error and we think the decision constitutes a threat to the entitlement to have a jury of peers decide a case.”

Jennings, who was acquitted of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges related to the raid after a six-week criminal trial this year, did not return a phone call seeking comment last night.

Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Partington, who defended Jones at both trials, said she believed being able to focus on only Jones’ contact with Jennings helped give the state the edge the second time around.

“[The jurors] only had to deal with one set of facts,” she said, rather than a range of allegations against various state troopers. Special Assistant Attorney John Moreira assisted Partington at the retrial.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch lauded Partington’s work and the jury at a news conference attended by Doherty, Maj. Steven O’Donnell and members of the attorney general’s office.

“I am grateful for this verdict but not surprised by it,” Lynch said in a news release. “After a full and fair deliberation, the jury concluded what many of us have known all along — namely, that the Rhode Island State Police troopers who executed the court-approved search warrant on July 14, 2003, conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism in the face of very difficult circumstances. Although the images that have endured since that day are difficult to watch, the fact remains that the state police who responded did nothing more than that which they do every day on behalf of all Rhode Islanders: their job.”

Doherty said the state police did not change their techniques — such as the ankle hold — in response to the case.

“We have a difficult job to do,” he said, “and sometimes we end up in court.”

kmulvane@projo.com