Great Scott! It’s Back to Future Day

Today is the date Doc Brown and Marty McFly travel to in the 1989 movie “Back to the Future Part II.” So jump in a flying DeLorean or hop on a hoverboard to see the movie, which is being shown with others in the series at local theaters.

Closing arguments are expected begin today in the excessive-force trial of Orlando police officer Chase Fugate, a day after testimony by more than a halfdozen officers.

The case against Fugate, a member of the department’s tactical unit targeting violent criminals, relies heavily on one of the officer’s eyewitness accounts of seeing him punch a handcuffed suspect in the face last year. Officer Christopher Ehlers’ account of what he saw on June 13, 2014, changed Tuesday under cross-examination by Fugate’s attorney David Bigney. Originally, Ehlers told investigators that he witnessed Fugate hit the accused car thief so hard on “the left side of his face or cheek” he dropped motionless on the ground.

“After he was hit, he fell on his side and didn’t appear to move,” Ehlers testified during questioning by the prosecution.

But under questioning by Bigney, Ehlers admitted suspect Ronald “Nucci” McFadden was seated with his back toward him so he didn’t actually see where he was hit and if it was a punch or a slap.

The incident unfolded when Fugate attempted to stop a suspected stolen car in southwest Orlando but the driver and passenger fled. A short while later, the suspects were tracked to a Ramada Inn near the corner of Interstate 4 and John Young Parkway. The first officers at the scene were Ehlers and Officer Kyle Medvetz, who were not members of the tactical unit.

Ehlers and Medvetz both reported Fugate for using excessive force. Medvetz also testified Tuesday that he didn’t see how Fugate struck McFadden. Fugate has not taken the stand, but his attorneys say he hit McFadden on the shoulder with an open-palm strike to stop resistance and allow him to be handcuffed. In questioning last year, Fugate told a police sergeant investigating the incident that he didn’t realize McFadden already was in handcuffs.

Fugate, a five-year veteran of the force, is charged with misdemeanor battery and perjury.