Bloomfield Police Officers Sean Courter and Orlando Trinidad are charged with official misconduct and related offenses in connection with a 2012 arrest on the Garden State Parkway
NEWARK -- On the witness stand Tuesday at his official misconduct trial, Bloomfield Police Officer Orlando Trinidad broke down in tears while testifying about his involvement in a 2012 arrest on the Garden State Parkway.
Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin immediately ordered the jurors to leave the courtroom. Before the jury returned to the courtroom, the judge consulted with the attorneys, and asked Trinidad whether he could continue testifying without losing his composure or needed more time.
"I think I should be fine, your honor," Trinidad told Ravin. "I can't guarantee it. I'm very emotional about my job and that I did my job that night."
When the jurors returned to the courtroom, the judge said they could consider Trinidad's demeanor, but instructed them that "you cannot decide the merits of the case based on bias, passion, prejudice or sympathy."
Trinidad maintained his composure during the rest of his testimony.
Trinidad, 34, of Bloomfield, and his co-defendant, fellow township police officer Sean Courter, 35, of Englishtown, have been on trial on official misconduct and related charges in connection with the June 7, 2012 arrest of Marcus Jeter.
Prosecutors have alleged the officers made false statements in police reports about the incident when they claimed Jeter tried to grab Courter's gun while Courter was trying to remove him from the vehicle, and that Jeter had hit Trinidad.
Jeter, 31, has testified he had his "hands up" the whole time and said he never tried to disarm Courter and did not strike Trinidad.
During Trinidad's testimony on Tuesday, he maintained that he saw Jeter trying to grab Courter's gun, and that Jeter hit him. Trinidad also said he was justified in hitting Jeter since he was resisting arrest.
"I struck him because he was resisting. I was trying to get him to comply," said Trinidad, adding that "I didn't do it out of malice or to hurt him."
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The series of events leading to Jeter's arrest began when Courter and a third officer, Albert Sutterlin, responded to a domestic-related call at Jeter's Bloomfield home.
Soon after the officers arrived, Jeter left the residence. Courter has claimed Jeter was drunk and fled the scene after he ordered him to stop, but Jeter has said he was not drunk and that Courter indicated he could leave.
After Courter later stopped Jeter on Parkway, followed by Sutterlin, the officers approached Jeter's vehicle with their guns drawn and ordered him to get out.
Trinidad arrived at the scene and struck the front of Jeter's car with his patrol vehicle. After getting approval from his supervisor, Courter ultimately broke the driver's side window and removed Jeter from the vehicle.
Jeter was ultimately charged with eluding, attempting to disarm a police officer, resisting arrest and aggravated assault.
Prosecutors initially only had the police dashboard video from Courter's vehicle. After prosecutors later reviewed the video from Trinidad's vehicle, they determined that video was inconsistent with the officers' police reports.
As a result, the charges against Jeter were dropped and Courter and Trinidad were charged with official misconduct, conspiracy, tampering with records, and false swearing. Trinidad also is charged with aggravated assault for striking Jeter during the incident.
Sutterlin, who retired in May 2013, pleaded guilty in October 2013 to falsifying or tampering with records, and is awaiting sentencing. Under a plea deal, Sutterlin is expected to receive probation.
During his testimony last week, Sutterlin admitted to including information in his police reports that Jeter tried to grab Courter's gun and that he struck Trinidad, even though Sutterlin had not witnessed those events. He said he received those details from Courter and Trinidad.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.