The jury in the Jordan Miles civil lawsuit began deliberating at about 3 p.m. after a day spent hearing case summations from attorneys representing Miles and Officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing.
We reported some highlights from the officers' attorneys here. They told jurors that common sense would lead them to find for the officers. After lunch, however, Miles' attorney, J. Kerrington Lewis, said common sense was on his side in what he called "a case of great significance."
Here are highlights from Lewis' closing arguments:
On the officers' intentions:
"They came down that street and they thought he was a black, drug-dealing punk and they were going to take him down. Well they took him down for the rest of his life."
On the Mountain Dew bottle:
"Even if he had a pop bottle like they've been telling you for three weeks, is he really going to go for that bottle [during a struggle]. It's delusional. It's ridiculous. It's stupid. It's so ridiculous that it should be dismissed for the story that it is. They thought it would all work out because they thought he was a bad kid, but it didn't work out because he's a good kid."
On the police account of events:
"That report is phony. It was made up two hours later. They knew they had beaten him badly. They've got him as a cat burglar [and acting as a drug dealer would]. That's all boilerplate language. They needed an excuse for what they'd done."
On the subject of damages:
"Is this about money? Yes because it's his only recourse. Should he go out and hire six thugs to go give them what they gave him? That's not our way."
On Jordan Miles:
"[Miles] has led an exemplary life in an environment [Homewood] that [the defense] has graphically given you a picture of. There are kids who grow up in the best neighborhoods in this country that would be lucky to measure up to this kid."
