John Brown, Narragansett tribal councilman and one of seven defendants on trial, listens to testimony yesterday.

PROVIDENCE — Lt. David Palmer learned early July 14, 2003, that he would be among the state police officers to execute a search-and-seizure warrant that day at a tax-free smoke shop the Narragansett Indian tribe opened in Charlestown.

He and about 35 other officers met around noon at the former Ladd School in Exeter, where then-Maj. John J. Leyden Jr., Capt. Steven G. O’Donnell, and Capt. Leo Messier briefed them. They learned the Narragansetts were selling tax-free cigarettes, in violation of state law, and five undercover officers would be on the scene. They were told the attorney general’s office had done “extensive research” and determined the state had powers on tribal land. There were serious concerns about tribal police being armed.

“It was told to us there was a possibility they would be on the side of the resisters” and that they might draw weapons, Palmer testified yesterday in Providence County Superior Court.

Palmer, who was named interim North Providence police chief last month, took the stand in the sixth day of testimony in the trial of seven Narragansett Indians charged with misdemeanor crimes, including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assault, related to the raid.

The officers made their way to an American Legion hall north of the shop, where they waited for Sgt. Donald F. Devine, one of the undercover team, to alert commanders that the tribe was selling cigarettes. When the call came, O’Donnell directed him to be in the lead car in the procession of cruisers responding to the smoke shop.

“We had strict orders no one was to be arrested unless we met resistance,” Palmer said.

Wearing a bullet-proof vest covered by a raid jacket, Palmer was the first person in uniform to arrive.

He was met by acting tribal police chief Lt. Rodney Champlin. “He asked if we had papers; I said yes we do,” Palmer recalled. He asked if it was a federal warrant. “I said no, state.”

Champlin and other Narragansetts tried to stop them from coming onto the land, with Champlin repeatedly shouting “federal papers, federal papers” and “no, no, no,” he said. Video footage showed several of the defendants — Tribal Councilman John Brown, Thawn Harris, a tribal conservation officer, and First Councilman Randy Noka — standing roadside as the troopers arrived.

“I told [Champlin] if you block us you’re going to be arrested,” Palmer said.

In the next minutes, Palmer said he saw Noka push an officer and then scuffle with Lt. Robert MacKisey, then a sergeant. “One was trying to take the other down,” he said. They were grabbing each others’ shirts.

Palmer went to assist in the arrest, he said, repeatedly telling Noka to stop resisting. “Just let me cuff you.”

He then heard Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, who he and the prosecutor referred to as Matthew Thomas, growing loud as he tried to stop Brown from being led away in handcuffs. Thomas, he said, told them, “It’s going to take more than one trooper to take me down.”

Thomas and MacKisey grew agitated. “I don’t know who touched who first,” Palmer said. Within seconds “Sergeant MacKisey and Matthew Thomas were trying to take each other off their feet.”

Thomas fell on MacKisey with three officers on top of them. Thomas was rolled first on to his back to free MacKisey and then face down to be cuffed, Palmer said.

Under cross examination by William P. Devereaux, Palmer said O’Donnell had given many of the commands that day and that at no time were officers told to withdraw if they met resistance.

“No one used the word withdraw at all,” he said. The police would never agree to retreat, he said.

Governor Carcieri publicly questioned in the days following the raid why the police hadn’t followed his instructions to withdraw if they met resistance.

Palmer said he had been involved in executing 500 warrants in his two-decade law enforcement career and that it was the only one over untaxed cigarettes. The only warrant using a comparable number of officers was on the Hells Angels, a motorcycle gang, he said.

Officers were told Devine would carry the warrant, but it was not typical to produce the paperwork until a scene is secure, he said.

“We don’t show a search warrant to people who are combative because it puts us in harm’s way,” Palmer said.

Defense lawyers have questioned why Devine did not present the warrant to Thomas or any tribal member until after the arrests.

“If they had let us execute the raid, no one would have been arrested that day,” he said.

Devereaux suggested that the state police, in fact, pushed Champlin and others aside as they came onto the land and that the scuffling matches were mutual.

“When you’re scuffling with a trooper, that’s an assault,” Palmer said.

Palmer will return to the stand Monday.

kmulvane@projo.com