The civil-rights trial of a Little Rock police officer accused of using excessive force during an off-duty arrest outside a Hillcrest restaurant was indefinitely delayed Friday, and both sides were court-ordered to attempt to discuss a settlement.

U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. canceled Monday's trial on a request by plaintiff attorneys Reggie Koch and David Williams. They asked for the delay because another member of the legal team, Adrian Brooks, is set for surgery Tuesday. The lawyers said recent changes in the law make Brooks' participation crucial to their case.

They represent Jon Christopher "Chris" Erwin and Travis Blake Mitchell, who were arrested by police Lt. David Hudson as he was working security for a private party in late October 2011 at what was then the Ferneau restaurant on Kavanaugh Boulevard. The case gained notoriety after the online posting of a bystander's cellphone video of Erwin's arrest.

The Little Rock men are suing Hudson, the Little Rock Police Department, former Police Chief Stuart Thomas and the restaurant holding company, Ferneau LLC, over the way the officer handled their arrest. They said they were subjected to civil-rights violations by illegal use of force, assault and battery, and said the city of Little Rock and the restaurant company share liability for Hudson's actions.

Hudson, who has since retired, was initially suspended for a month after an internal investigation found that he had violated department rules on excessive force, but the punishment was overturned on appeal by the city Civil Service Commission.

The judge ordered the parties to attend a settlement conference Tuesday. Court filing show the sides have never talked about the possibility of a settlement. The lawsuit was filed in October 2012, almost exactly a year after the Halloween-weekend arrests.

Police said the men had been asked to leave the restaurant after they and their dates intruded on a private party.

Hudson said he decided to arrest Erwin because the man refused to leave the premises. Erwin said Hudson was the aggressor.

Mitchell was arrested because he tried to intervene in Erwin's arrest. The charges against them were eventually dismissed.

The 2-minute cellphone video shows Hudson, who has since retired from the department, confronting Erwin and grabbing Erwin's coat outside the restaurant.

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The officer tries to turn Erwin toward a wall before delivering seven blows to Erwin's face while still holding his coat. A second man intervenes until he is moved away by a third man who moves between Hudson and the approaching spectators. Hudson then pushes Erwin to the curb.

The crowd then briefly obscures the scene, until the photographer moves forward and shows Erwin on his back with his hands raised above his face, gesturing, as Hudson straddles him and speaks into his radio.

Hudson then puts his hand behind Erwin's head and rolls the man onto his stomach while lying on top of him.

The view is again obscured by spectators momentarily, then shows a blonde walking up to the struggling pair and leaning down near Hudson's face to tell him that the arrest is being video-recorded. She's then moved away by a spectator and starts to argue with another man just as the recording abruptly ends.

The charges against Erwin -- misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and trespassing -- were dismissed after a judge ruled prosecutors had taken too long to turn over evidence to Erwin's lawyer. Public intoxication, disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer charges against Mitchell, 49, were also dismissed.

Ferneau was sold less than a month after the October 2011 arrests, and the restaurant was renamed Rocket 21. The site is now the home of the Japanese restaurant Kemuri.

Metro on 01/07/2017