Video of the Tasing of former University student Ian Van Ornum, 19, was key evidence for the state and defense in Lane County Circuit Court Wednesday.
Van Ornum is on trial for misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest during an anti-pesticides rally held downtown May 30, 2008.
Wednesday morning, the state called to the stand Eugene police officer Judd Warden, who stunned Van Ornum twice with a Taser gun during a 17-second span on May 30 in an attempt to gain control of Van Ornum for allegedly blocking traffic.
Some of EPD’s Tasers have cameras on them that begin filming when the gun’s safety is released. A camera was affixed to Warden’s Taser, and jurors viewed the video from it, depicting the stunning of Van Ornum and what occurred in the moments that followed.
The footage showed Van Ornum, who wore a white hazardous material suit to the protest, lying facedown on the ground with what appears to be his right hand behind his back. In the seconds before 1:16 p.m., Warden deployed the first shot from his Taser gun.
Van Ornum appears still, then writhes and spasms in pain. Warden agreed that the next images showed Eugene police officer Bill Solesbee handcuffing Van Ornum’s free hand.
Seconds later, Warden deployed the second Taser. Van Ornum continued spasming, incapacitated, after the 5-second deployment ended.
Officer Tim Haywood, who assisted Solesbee and Warden on May 30, testified Wednesday that Solesbee applied handcuffs to Van Ornum’s right wrist before the first Taser shot was fired.
Before the arrest, Haywood and Solesbee escorted Van Ornum from Kesey Square on the southeast corner of Broadway and Willamette Street, where the rally was held, across the street to the southwest corner of the intersection. During their attempt to arrest, he said, Van Ornum managed to free his left hand from Haywood’s grip.
At that point, Haywood decided to leave Van Ornum to Solesbee’s attention and turn to help Warden, who was on the ground while two protestors were “taking swings at him.”
Confused at the scene and concerned for Van Ornum’s safety, witnesses for the defense recalled the incident as an emotional ordeal in which many reacted to perceived police brutality.
University junior Carly Barnicle formed the student group Crazy People for Wild Places with Van Ornum, attended the May 30 rally and testified for the defense Wednesday afternoon.
“Ian (Van Ornum) waProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0
just asking why,” she said of the arrest. “I don’t think he ever got an answer.”
Before the first Taser shot deployed, the defense claims Solesbee grabbed Van Ornum by his dreadlocks, pulling his head to the ground while another officer pushed him from behind. Barnicle said she witnessed police “slam his head to the ground,” causing him to bleed at the hairline.
“Once he was on the ground, he was shaking so bad,” she said. “If I saw the police treating a dog that way, I would be shocked and appalled.”
Assistant district attorney Bob Lane asked Barnicle how the crowd reacted to the scene that transpired on the southwest corner of the intersection.
“Some people were crying,” she said. “Most people were yelling, ‘Don’t hurt him; please don’t hurt him.’”
Eugene elder law attorney Don Dickman witnessed the scene from his vehicle, parked and briefly got out to see what was happening.
Dickman saw the scene starting from when the police approached Van Ornum in Kesey Square, where Dickman said they tried to engage him in conversation.
“I would describe it as a typical slacker ignoring authority,” Dickman said.
Dickman felt compelled to leave his car when he saw police drag Van Ornum across the street and eventually Taser him for what Dickman said was “no apparent violation.”
Barnicle testified that Van Ornum told her he had been employing their theatrical tactic of approaching passersby with an attention grabbing statement like, “Do you want some poison sprayed on you?”
Lisa Arkin, executive director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance and former University professor, testified for the defense and said she was involved in helping Van Ornum organize the rally. She was also the first speaker at the event, where Van Ornum and other students spoke and handed out literature on pesticide awareness.
Arkin testified to the event’s “sleepy” atmosphere, and condoned Van Ornum and others’ use of white jumpsuits, the “pesticide” spray bottle, signs and their manner of soliciting passersby.
“There’s a long tradition of using street theater; I didn’t see him do anything inappropriate,” she said.
University student Anthony Farley, a friend of Van Ornum, fellow University student and one of the protesters who allegedly attacked Warden, testified Wednesday afternoon after recently pleading guilty on the charge of attempting to assault a police officer. He said the inhumane treatment of his friend moved him to act.
“When I made the action, I knew that going forward was definitely illegal; I did touch an officer … but my emotions at the time were overwhelming,” Farley said.
Van Ornum is expected to testify today.
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