A former Springfield police officer, whose body camera footage of an altercation with an east-side resident in 2017 went viral, was found guilty of official misconduct Wednesday by a jury in Sangamon County court.

Samuel A. Rosario was also found guilty of a battery count while cleared of another count of battery.

Rosario faces two to five years in prison on the official misconduct conviction when he is sentenced Nov. 1 by Judge John Madonia, though Rosario is eligible for probation for the felony. Rosario could also serve 364 days for the battery conviction.

A public officer commits misconduct when he or she "knowingly performs an act which he or she knows he or she is forbidden by law to perform," according to the Illinois statutes.

The seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated just over an hour before returning the verdict.

Rosario sat stone-faced when the verdict was announced. Several Springfield police officers showed up in the courtroom during parts of the two-day trial and for the verdict, sitting on the defense side as a show of support.

Rosario exited the courtroom arm-in-arm with his wife, Natalia. The family is currently living in suburban Chicago.

Rosario was responding to a criminal damage to property report in the 2100 block of East Stuart Street the night of Feb. 27, 2017.

After a verbal confrontation, a video captured on Rosario’s body camera showed the officer wrestling Robert E. Humes II to the ground and striking him at least a dozen times, including when Humes was in a defensive position.

Humes was not the subject of the original report and was never charged in the incident.

Sangamon County first assistant state’s attorney Derek Dion pounded home the fact in closing argument that “no one is above the law. Police officers are not above the law.”

State’s Attorney Dan Wright said the case was about accountability, in rebuttal to the defense’s closing argument.

Rosario’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, acknowledged Rosario’s actions were wrong that evening, but that Humes continually interrupted Rosario and made derogatory comments about his profession and his ethnicity, at one point telling Rosario in the video to “go back to Mexico.”

“How many times (on the video) did Humes ask Mr. Rosario if his body camera was on?” Fultz said in his closing argument. “If (Rosario) thought he was committing a crime, why does he keep his body camera on the whole time?”

SPD Officer Orlando Manzanares, who was present at the February 2017 incident but not engaged in the physical encounter, reported the incident to his supervisor. A formal inquiry led to the Springfield police requesting that the Illinois State Police conduct a criminal investigation.

ISP Master Sgt. Luke Satterlee and ISP Special Agent David Wolf, both involved in the investigation, were among those who testified Wednesday.

Now 22, Humes has reportedly moved out of state. He was not brought back to testify, leaving the body camera video as key evidence.

Rosario declined to take the stand Wednesday, a decision Fultz supported.

“There wasn’t a whole lot that he could add to it,” Fultz said. “Everything was on video. Putting him on the stand would have not have advanced the ball for us in any way.

“Everything’s subject to second-guessing, obviously, and that’s what we do when we lose — we second-guess everything. The fact of the matter is we made the decisions that we thought were right at the time and we live with them," he said.

“We are satisfied with the jury’s verdict,” Wright said. “The defendant was held accountable for his actions which do not in any way reflect upon the hard-working men and women of the Springfield Police Department who risk their lives every day in service to our community.”

With the Rosario's conviction, "the justice system," said Teresa Haley, president of the Springfield NAACP, "truly did what it was supposed to do. His action was unbecoming of any officer or citizen."

The NAACP fought for police body cameras, "an expense worth having," Haley said. "We're trying to build community with the Springfield police."

Rosario was hired by the city in 2015 when he was serving as an army reserve sergeant. He was terminated from the force on May 9, 2017.

“We knew it was an uphill climb,” Fultz said, concerning the case. “We weren’t operating under any pretenses that it was going to be easy. We respect the jury’s decision.

“You think you always have a chance (to win a case). You have to believe in what you’re doing.”

Contact Steven Spearie: 788-1524, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/stevenspearie.