Jurors deliberate in Brandon Backe police abuse case

Dana Kohler and Brandon Backe at the Astros Wives Gala at Minute Maid Park Thursday July 31,2008. (Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle) Dana Kohler and Brandon Backe at the Astros Wives Gala at Minute Maid Park Thursday July 31,2008. (Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle) Photo: Dave Rossman, Freelance Photo: Dave Rossman, Freelance Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Jurors deliberate in Brandon Backe police abuse case 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Jurors on Tuesday sought to determine whether Galveston police officers engaged in savage beatings that ended the career of former Astros pitcher Brandon Backe and injured 12 other people attending a wedding celebration in 2008.

In closing arguments, attorneys for the officers said Backe and the other defendants were motivated by money and were being manipulated by their lawyers. Attorneys for the plaintiffs countered that police sought to cover up their excessive force.

The jury of six women and six men deliberated for several hours Tuesday and will continue on Wednesday.

"The plaintiffs' burden is to build a bridge to all this money they want," defense attorney William Helfand told the jury following nearly three weeks of testimony.

In a courtroom half-filled with uniformed police officers, Helfand said the case against 13 officers and the city of Galveston was built on misrepresentations and exaggerations.

Backe alone is asking for $12 million to $15 million in lost income and damages for a shoulder injury he alleges happened when police threw him onto a concrete sidewalk during a wedding celebration at the H20 bar at the San Luis Hotel in Galveston.

Backe and the other plaintiffs say they were shocked with stun guns, pepper-sprayed and beaten in violation of their constitutional rights as they congregated at the bar Oct. 5, 2008, after more than 30 officers responded to a request for assistance.

The plaintiffs' attorneys "take a point and twist it and bend it and try to shape it to what (they) want to say," Helfand said. "The lawyers told the plaintiffs who to sue and what to say."

Plaintiffs' attorney Charles R. Parker countered that the misinformation came from the police. "We have seen attack, deny, cover up and fabricate," Parker said. He pointed to differences between officers' trial testimony and their statements in sworn depositions and police reports.

High-fiving officers?

Attorneys for the plaintiffs painted a picture of police high-fiving in the parking lot after intentionally beating people attending the party.

"I'm the one who split your son's head open," an officer bragged to Gilbert O'Balle in the Galveston County Jail, plaintiffs' attorney James Zucker said.

Former Police Chief Charles Wiley was brought in to change a department that had a history of illegal and unethical conduct, including a culture of using excessive force and failing to make required reports on the use of force, Zucker said.

"If officers aren't held accountable, they continue to use force," Zucker said.

The brother of the bride, Cole O'Balle, one of the plaintiffs, was injured so badly he was flown to a Houston hospital, but none of the officers initially completed the required use of force reports, Zucker said. The reports were completed only at Wiley's order, Zucker said.

None of the reports mentioned use of force by other officers, he said.

Helfand told jurors that Backe had a career-ending injury before the fracas at the H20 bar and that the former Astros pitcher only blamed his injury on police after he left the Astros in 2009. Zucker pointed to a doctor's testimony that the injury to Backe's shoulder was too severe to have been caused by pitching alone.

Differing accounts

The two sides presented starkly different portrayals of how the incident began.

Helfand said a drunk and out-of-control Cole O'Balle, then 19, struck one of the officers in the face. Other members of the wedding party tried to interfere with officers as they tried to arrest O'Balle, forcing officers to use stun guns or pepper spray, he said.

A blow with a nightstick to O'Balle's head was struck accidentally as the officer aimed for his shoulder, Helfand said.

Backe arrived and, when asked to back up, told an officer to "chill out," words that could be interpreted as aggressive, Helfand said.

In contrast, Zucker told jurors that Shannon Belluomini, a friend of the family, threw herself on top of a prone O'Balle to protect him, believing that another blow by police would kill him. Zucker flashed photos onto a screen showing a long cut across the side of O'Balle's head that he said caused traumatic brain injury.

Backe tried to comply with police but was pushed to the ground and beaten by several officers, Zucker said.