Testimony clashes in officer's assault trial

"Did it give you a rush to assault an unarmed suspect?" prosecutor Lisa Godon asked St. Paul police officer Adam Siegfried on Friday afternoon at his trial in Ramsey County District Court.

It was the last question Godon asked during her cross-examination of Siegfried, and she had to have known that defense attorney Earl Gray wasn't about to let his client answer.

"Objection," Gray shouted.

"Sustained," said District Judge Joanne Smith.

Siegfried is accused of punching Ryan Smith, 28, an off-duty bartender, at O'Gara's Bar & Grill in St. Paul during a holiday party for police in January 2008, and then attacking Dennis Olson, a friend of Smith's who tried to intervene. He is charged with five misdemeanor counts of assault and disorderly conduct.

Godon, a Minneapolis assistant city attorney, is prosecuting the case to avoid a conflict of interest.

Siegfried, a patrol officer in the Western District, took the stand and walked through the events of Jan. 20, 2008, under questioning from Gray:

He said it was about 11:30 p.m. when his patrol partner pointed out an obviously intoxicated man -- Smith -- talking to a female officer, and Siegfried said he went over to ask the man to leave.

"He mutters something under his breath as he walks away," Siegfried said. "It sounded like [an expletive]."

A short time later, Siegfried's partner pointed out that Smith had returned.

"I walked around to see if I could stop him from coming all the way in," Siegfried said. "As I was coming around the bar, I told a group of guys, 'Watch my back.'"

Siegfried said he had one hand on Smith's left bicep and another on his left wrist and tried to walk him backwards out of the room. Smith stumbled and fell onto his butt, taking Siegfried part-way down with him. Smith pulled himself up, "cups his mouth, says 'What the [expletive],' turns and runs toward the door," Siegfried said.

He lost sight of Olson when a group of eight to 10 people behind him rushed forward and pushed Olson out of the room.

On Thursday, Mary Ann (Molly) Michel, a server at O'Gara's who had worked at the party, said she saw Siegfried approach Smith and ask him to leave.

"Ryan said, 'It's OK, I work here, I'm a bartender,'" she said. Siegfried shoved Smith, then punched him in the face as Smith stumbled backward. With Smith on the floor, Siegfried kicked him "more than three times" and other partygoers joined in, Michel said.

Smith testified earlier in the trial that he had been drinking since about 1:30 p.m. that afternoon but wasn't "bombed out of my mind."

The jury is expected to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations sometime on Monday.