SANTA ANA – Jurors watched in silence Tuesday as prosecutors played surveillance video of the escalating encounter between a mentally ill homeless man and Fullerton police officers that led to his death in July 2011.

One juror dabbed at her eyes with tissue as she listened to Kelly Thomas, 37, scream for help from his father toward the end of the 33-minute video, labeled People’s Exhibit No. 3, in the second day of the trial for two former Fullerton police officers.

The only sound in the 10th-floor courtroom came from Cathy Thomas, who tried to stifle tears as the video turned from a routine encounter between her son and police officers in the parking lot of the Fullerton Transportation Center into a nine-minute struggle. The video taken from a police surveillance camera on a pole near the bus depot shows Thomas being taken to the ground, struck with batons and a Taser, and handcuffed. (Key locations)

Former Officer Manuel Ramos, charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, sat near his attorney and alternated between watching the video on a monitor near the jury box and reading a transcript of the July 5, 2011, encounter. Ramos, 39, is the first police officer in Orange County history to face trial on a murder charge for an in-uniform, on-duty incident

FOCUSED ON TRANSCRIPT

Co-defendant Jay Cicinelli looked at the transcript, which detailed how he arrived at the scene to find two of his colleagues on the ground trying to control Thomas and how he used his Taser, first to jolt the struggling man and then to hit him in the face. Cicinelli, 41, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault under color of authority.

The video was played on the first day of testimony in the trial before Superior Court Judge William Froeberg.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who is personally directing the prosecution, said in his opening statement that the video shows the two officers killing Thomas with unreasonable and excessive force.

Defense attorneys John Barnett and Michael Schwartz contend that the same videotape shows the officers were doing their jobs and that it was Thomas who provoked the violence with his belligerent and uncooperative behavior as he refused to identify himself.

Court watchers had been warned that any disruption during the playing of the videotape would result in their removal for the duration of what is expected to be a six-week trial.

One man bolted from the courtroom just as the tape was being played mumbling something about mistreatment by police. He got on an elevator and left without incident.

AUDIO RECORDINGS PLAYED

The videotape – the key exhibit – was played for jurors after they listened to digital audio recordings of seven earlier encounters between Thomas and Ramos, dating to January 2009.

In those discussions, captured by the digital recorder on Ramos’ uniform, the officer called Thomas by name and referred to earlier conversations.

During one encounter, Ramos asked Thomas if he had been hit with a baton and how it felt, according to the recording.

“It hurts,” Thomas replied.

Ramos frequently asked Thomas to spell his last name during the earlier encounters and repeatedly asked the homeless man to move from one location or another.

“He’s very recognizable, dude, you can’t miss him,” Ramos is heard telling another officer about Thomas. “He has full red beard, full head of red hair dude. Yeah, he’s always around here.”

On another occasion, Ramos asks Thomas if he is feigning being disabled.

“You’re not as dumb and disabled as you make (yourself) out to be,” Ramos said. “What’s your problem? What’s your problem?”

In another encounter, Ramos asks: “Let me ask you a question: Why are you homeless? … Do you like being homeless?”

Thomas replies: “Not really.”

In another exchange, Ramos says, “Please, I am asking you nicely … (people) don’t like you hanging out here. You bother the customers.”

Prosecutors started playing the digital audio recordings from several officers Tuesday afternoon.

“I f——- beat (Thomas) probably 20 times in the face with this Taser,” Cicinelli is heard saying on one officer’s recorder.

“What he’s saying is driven by a high state of anxiety, stress and disbelief,” Cicinelli’s attorney, Michael Schwartz, said after Tuesday’s court session.

Schwartz told the jury in his opening statement Monday that Cicinelli gave Thomas two “short jabs” on the forehead with his Taser to restrain a combative Thomas but that that is not what killed him.

Another officer is heard on another audio recording saying “three of us couldn’t even control him.”

Contact the writer: lwelborn@ocregister.com or vjoly@ocregister.com