Case against Alabama officer tossed

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a civil-rights case against an Alabama police officer accused of using excessive force on an Indian man.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala granted a motion to acquit Madison police officer Eric Parker after his two previous trials ended in hung juries.

In her 92-page opinion, Haikala said evidence that was presented during Parker’s two trials didn’t eliminate reasonable doubt that Parker was guilty of a crime.

“The Court has no reason to expect a different result in a subsequent trial given the totality of the evidence that the parties have provided,” Haikala wrote.

Parker slammed Sureshbhai Patel, 58, down face-first during an investigation of a report of a suspicious person in February in a Huntsville suburb. It was recorded on cameras inside patrol vehicles. Patel was injured in the takedown.

Parker has testified that Patel tried to pull away from him, indicating he may have been up to no good.

Patel has said through an interpreter that he doesn’t speak English and couldn’t understand the officers’ orders.