A Sevier County jury has acquitted a man in the state's first ever assault by panic attack case.

Jurors in Sevier County Circuit Court deliberated roughly three hours before acquitting Brian Mullinax, 41, of assault, on Thursday evening.

Mullinax was unarmed, brandishing a cellphone and saying he was recording with it when now-former Sevier County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Justin Johnson opened fire without warning and — four minutes later — suffered a panic attack.

Mullinax was 20 yards away from Johnson and face down on the ground when Johnson, his gun still in hand, began suffering a panic attack.

The same jury also acquitted Mullinax's then-girlfriend, Tina C. Cody, of a related resisting arrest charge but convicted her of a lesser charge of attempting to resist arrest. She has already served 42 days jail, so Judge Jim Gass sentenced her to time served and set her free on unsupervised probation.

Closing arguments

Prosecutor Ron C. Newcomb told jurors Thursday Mullinax put Johnson “in fear for his life” when he crouched down, grabbed his cellphone from his back pocket and brandished it like a gun.

“The situation went ballistic and nuclear when Mr. Mullinax … gets in a crouch and pulled something from behind him,” Newcomb said as he mimicked the movement for jurors. “This is not how you take pictures, especially if you’re an officer engaged in a situation Mr. Johnson testified to … Everybody was afraid.”

The incident, captured on body cam

The incident, which occurred in a mobile home neighborhood on Sharp Road in December 2016, was captured on Johnson’s body camera. That footage was repeatedly played for jurors during the two day trial. It captured Mullinax saying he was “recording” when he brandished the cellphone, contradicting an initial claim by Johnson and testimony from two paramedics that Mullinax threatened Johnson.

“We have sat here today and we’ve watched that video several times and we know what was said, but when that arm comes around, that officer has got to decide whether he’s going to go home,” Newcomb said. “That’s what this case is about, ladies and gentlemen.”

Defense: No intent to panic

Aaron Kimsey, representing Mullinax, argued it was Johnson who “mistook” a cell phone for a gun and Johnson who panicked. Mullinax, he said, did nothing to “assault” Johnson.

“You’ve seen the video,” Kimsey said. “He said, ‘I’m recording.’ I don’t think there’s any doubt Officer Johnson was in fear — he started shooting. You have to find my client intended … for the officer to fear imminent bodily injury.”

Mullinax's then-girlfriend, Tina C. Cody, was also on trial in Judge Jim Gass' courtroom.

The two are now married. She faced a resisting arrest charge for allegedly refusing Johnson’s commands, in the moments before he opened fire over her head and that of a paramedic.

'How was she a threat?'

Johnson was summoned to Mullinax’s neighborhood on Sharp Road in December 2016 to help paramedics dealing with a mentally ill woman who had fallen through the floor of a camper trailer. Video footage and testimony showed he saw someone walk past that trailer and went outside to investigate.

Johnson insisted he thought the woman he saw when he walked out of the trailer — later identified as Tina C. Cody — was a fugitive because he earlier had seen a warrant in his patrol “zone book” describing a “white blond woman” with a Sharp Road address.

But she wasn’t. No warrant or “zone book” document was entered into evidence at trial to back up Johnson’s claim.

He conceded he drew his weapon without identifying himself as a law enforcer and ran down a driveway — blocking his view of the woman — before turning onto Sharp Road and then turning toward the field where Cody was standing.

The video showed Cody stood still as Johnson pointed his gun at her and ordered her to “come here.” Seconds passed with no movement from Cody. When Johnson approached her, she turned and ran from him. He tackled her. Once on her back, Cody stared up at Johnson. He asked her name. She answered.

“How was she a threat?” asked attorney Samantha McCammon on behalf of Cody.

Johnson answered, “The threat is I had not had a chance to pat her down.”

McCammon noted the video clearly showed Cody was not armed or even moving when Johnson first confronted her at gunpoint.

“Then when is a person not a threat?” she pressed.

Johnson replied, “If she had cooperated and allowed me to check for any weapon through a pat down.”

'Took a knee'

Johnson testified he saw a man, later identified as Mullinax, walk onto the porch of a mobile home as Johnson — 20 yards away — struggled to handcuff Cody.

“Mr. Mullinax took a knee in what appeared to me to be a shooting stance,” Johnson testified.

Johnson said he saw Mullinax reach behind his back and then extend his arm forward with something in his hand.

“I felt my life and the EMTs were in danger,” Johnson said. “I fired four shots. As I was backing up, I fired three more shots.”

Newcomb asked, “Why did you fire that many shots?”

“To neutralize the threat,” Johnson replied.

Newcomb continued, “Mr. Johnson, did you perceive a threat?”

“Yes, I perceived Mr. Mullinax to be armed,” Johnson answered.

Kimsey noted Johnson claimed in a statement that he heard Mullinax threaten him. Johnson admitted Thursday he was wrong about that.

“I thought he said, ‘I’ve got a gun, (expletive),’” Johnson said. “(But) he said, ‘I’m recording.’”

“So, you misunderstood him?” Kimsey asked.

Johnson answered, “I could not hear him. It was a stressful situation.”

“You misunderstood him?” Kimsey repeated.

Johnson replied, “Again, I could not hear him. I assumed it was a firearm. That’s what I perceived at the time. It was a high stress situation. I did not have sufficient time to make sure what that item was.”

Johnson is no longer with the sheriff’s office. He was forced to resign earlier this year after USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee revealed he failed to list his 2013 employment with the Johnson City Police Department on his Sevier County job application.

Records obtained by the news organization showed Johnson was fired from that agency for misconduct, including fanning his gun over an officer’s head and lying to his chief.

Johnson admitted in testimony Thursday that he hid that past record from the Newport Police Department when he took a job there after being forced to resign from the Johnson City agency and from SCSO when he applied there in June 2016.

“The reason I omitted it was I did not want to disclose that I resigned from there in lieu of termination,” Johnson testified.

Kimsey asked, “Have you omitted anything from your testimony today?”

“No,” Johnson replied.

Johnson wrote in a report that he fired seven shots after turning toward a noise behind him. His body camera showed he remained facing forward, toward Mullinax, the entire time.

He never mentioned the panic attack in his report. SCSO Detective Johnny Bohanan testified he initially charged Mullinax and Cody with a felony assault charge because he believed Johnson was having a heart attack.

Mullinax and Cody spent 42 days in jail on felony aggravated assault charges filed against them by SCSO and directly accusing them of causing Johnson’s panic attack.

The grand jury rejected charges Cody caused Johnson’s panic attack, instead indicting her for resisting arrest. The grand jury indicted Mullinax on a misdemeanor assault charge.