The trial of a Meriden police officer accused of brutality has begun.



Evan Cossette, the son of Meriden Police Chief Jeffry Cossette, is accused of shoving a handcuffed man in the police department lockup in 2010. The man, Pedro Temich of Meriden, fell and fractured his skull on a concrete bench.



The incident was recorded on surveillance video, but Evan Cossette's attorney says the video was altered by police officials to leave out key moments when Temich disobeyed commands to sit down. The attorney, Raymond Hassett, asked jurors to see the case through police-colored glasses, that Cossette was defending himself against a drunk, uncooperative prisoner.

Prosecutors called Cossette's actions an abuse of the police badge.



Cossette has pleaded not guilty to using unreasonable force and lying in a report about the incident.