Defense calls on police trainer, psychologist in excessive force case

AUSTIN,Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The defense is on day two making their case.

They brought forward a current police officer Enrique Flores and an expert on police training Mark Sawa.

Officers Donald Petraitis and Robert Pfaff responded to a shooting near 12th and Red River Streets in February and tased 30-year-old Quentin Perkins. The state argued Perkins was defenseless and had his hands up on body camera footage. The defense says Perkins did not follow commands.

That was the big topic of discussion and cross examination Tuesday. Were those commands confusing for Perkins? The verdict will depend on how the jury interprets the body cam footage.

Later in the afternoon, the defense also called upon Dr. David Gilden, a psychologist at UT Austin.

Fox 7 tried to obtain a copy of this footage but since it is being used in pending litigation, they are not releasing it.