Expert: Officer’s use of force justified

the conflict. “Fight or flight,” he said. He could have stayed on the ground.

“Submit. Surrender. Comply,” Mr. Jobe said.

Instead, he said, he got up and fought with the officer, requiring that Mr. Matakovich defend himself with a series of strikes.

Mr. Jobe was called by the defense to bolster Mr. Matakovich’s testimony Wednesday and Thursday in which he said he reacted because he felt Mr. Despres was about to attack him.

Mr. Matakovich also said the video, the government’s key piece of evidence, shows his actions but doesn't capture his mindset or the total circumstances.

“You can watch the video,” he said, “[but] it doesn’t show instinct, it doesn’t show emotion, it doesn’t show fear.” Mr. Jobe agreed. “It’s just a snapshot,” he said.

Mr. Matakovich is on trial in U.S. District Court on charges of depriving Mr. Despres of his civil rights and filing a false police report justifying his use of force.

The government did not put Mr. Despres on the stand. At a preliminary hearing in state court, he had said he did not remember much of what happened.

Prosecutors instead built their case on the video and the testimony of security staff at the game who witnessed the encounter.

All of them said that Mr. Despres, while drunk and belligerent, posed no threat to anyone when Mr. Matakovich suddenly pushed him to the ground and punched him in the head repeatedly.

The trial continues Friday.