SPRINGFIELD – Two friends of Michael Ververis said that a group of police officers used excessive force in an unprovoked attack on the January 2011 night when Ververis was arrested in the entertainment district.

One of the men, whose testimony in the jury-waived trial was delivered through a video deposition, said Ververis was put in some type of choke hold by an officer and it appeared Ververis was rendered unconscious.

Ververis was arrested on Jan. 9, 2011, and the Middletown, Conn., man faces charges of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.



He had been charged with threat to commit a crime - trying to take Police Sgt. Steven Kent's gun - but that charge was dropped by the prosecution before trial.

The video was made by Ververis' friend Chauncey Hardy, who recorded his deposition because he was unsure of the date of his return when he left in August 2011 to play professional basketball in Romania. Hardy, who had played college basketball a Sacred Heart in Worcester, died after being attacked in a bar in Romania following a game.

Hardy, Ververis and Thomas Derosa - all drivers for FedEx - came together from Middletown, Conn., to go to Club Glo.



Kent and city police officers Christoper Collins and Michael Mitchell had testified the charges against Ververis are warranted and they used no excessive force.

Defense lawyer Luke Ryan, in the trial before Springfield District Court Judge Mark D. Mason, has contended evidence will show police brought charges against Ververis to "cover themselves" because of the excessive force used in the arrest.

Derosa, the driver that night, testified an officer told them to move along, but they were in traffic and could not move.



He said the officer took what he thinks was a flashlight and cracked the casing for his tail light.

Derosa said he pulled over, got out to look at the damage, and told the officer, “You just can’t hit my vehicle because you’re mad.”

He said he was getting back in his vehicle and yelled out, “Give me your badge numbers.”

Derosa said six officers went to the passenger side swinging through the window at Ververis and two came to his side and were jabbing him in the side of the head.

He said the officers tried to pull him out, but he had his seat belt on. He undid the seat belt and the officers pulled him out, laid him in the snow and pat frisked him.

Hardy said officers were on each side of the car punching through the windows at Ververis and Derosa, while he was in the back seat.

He said neither of his friends resisted when the officers pulled them out.



Hardy said after Ververis was in a choke hold and being punched and kicked, the officer let Ververis go and he dropped to the ground and an officer "dragged him like he was a rag doll."

Ryan submitted medical records for Ververis which said in addition to a laceration on his forehead he had bruises on his neck.

Over the objections of Assistant District Attorney Max Bennett the defense was allowed to call Kyle Walsh as an expert in the use of choke holds from his background in Kempo martial arts.

Walsh, with a public defender acting as volunteer victim, demonstrated how a choke hold which could render someone temporarily unconscious would be done.

He said a videotape taken by a bystander and in evidence in the trial was consistent with what it would look like if Ververis was temporarily rendered unconscious by a choke hold.

Under cross examination by Bennett, he said it also could be consistent with someone losing their footing or becoming dead weight.

Walsh said he could not see what Mitchell was doing with his arm because Ververis was surrounded by police officers.



The trial continues Thursday. About a dozen of Ververis family members have attended the trial each day.

