UPDATE: The jury in the federal police brutality case of former Nebraska State Trooper Lindsey Bixby deliberated briefly Monday and will be back at it Tuesday morning.

[See Nebraska State Patrol cruiser cam of the chase and confrontation above]

During closing arguments today prosecutors argued:

  • Brian Davis who led police on a high speed chase that ended with Bixby hitting him with the butt-end of his         rifle went from a “suspect to a victim.”
  • In the moments before being hit by Bixby, Davis—who had consumed a pint-and-a-half of whiskey, Xanax           and methadone—and was “drunk obviously” was “surrendering” when Bixby “used deadly force.”
  • Bixby, a 13-year-veteran at the time of the March, 2016 incident, “knew better.”

Bixby’s lawyer argued:

  • In the “3,558 seconds” from the start of the chase to the blow to Davis’ head, Davis had “threatened the lives”       of Bixby and his partner, Trooper Kyle Kuebler.
  • It was only, “By God’s grace that (Davis) didn’t kill someone.”
  • Davis had a “You’re not taking me alive mentality.”

ORIGINAL REPORT: Its round two of a police brutality case—all caught on camera—that became part of a larger, wide-ranging scandal in the Nebraska State Patrol which was first reported by News Channel Nebraska and shook the patrol from top to bottom.

In a Covid-challenged courtroom, former Trooper Lindsey Bixby is accused of head-slamming a Colorado man with the butt-end of his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the middle of the night six years ago.

For the second time in the last few months Bixby is on trial in US District Court in Omaha and is facing up to 10 years in prison for violating the man’s civil rights, a case that could go to the jury as early as today.

Bixby spoke briefly with NCN today (see video above).

NCN’s Joe Jordan: Mr. Bixby, are you confident?

Bixby: I believe so yes.

NCN’s Joe Jordan: Do you want to go back into law enforcement?

Bixby: No sir.

His first legal go-round ended in a mistrial with the jury unable to reach a unanimous decision—reportedly with 10 voting guilty, two not guilty.

Bixby telling the new jury that in the moments after suspected drunk driver, 34-year-old Brian Davis —a five-foot-11, 235 pound White man—got out of his ditched car following an hour-long chase north of Scottsbluff with speeds up to 110 miles an hour Bixby “believed (Davis) had a weapon behind his back.”

John Berry (Bixby’s attorney): If you believed he had a gun why didn’t you shoot him?

Bixby: I didn’t want to kill him.

After smashing Davis in the face —Bixby says he was aiming for the shoulder—and realized there was no gun, his attorney asked Bixby how he felt, “I was deflated, I guess,” said the current “maintenance technician” who spent 13 years with the patrol.

Clearly questioning Bixby’s sincerity on the witness stand prosecutors displayed three text messages sent later that day—March 4, 2016— between Bixby and fellow Trooper Kyle Kuebler who was just a few feet away from Bixby during the confrontation.

Kuebler who led the chase, the troopers in separate cars providing two separate dash camera videos, took Davis to the hospital where he was not treated for any injuries but was examined for possible methadone withdrawal.

Here are the texts:

Bixby: I hope the hospital visit is going ok…

Keubler: He’s been very polite since he met you :) [Happy Face emogi].

Bixby: Muahhhaahhaa I may be on days off and not vacation. [Bixby apparently referring to possible discipline for his handling of the arrest].

Bixby was not fired but reportedly resigned a few months later.

His rifle-wielding actions part of a larger 2017 internal probe by an under-the-gun Ricketts’ Administration which found that then-Superintendent Brad Rice downplayed Bixby’s incident and was “not interested in a criminal inquiry into trooper misconduct.”

That same report—examined by the FBI— also detailed another 2016 western Nebraska high-speed chase which ended with the driver crashing and dying and the chasing trooper changing his story.

It was all part of an exclusive News Channel Nebraska investigation which found a widespread cover-up within the ranks.

[See NCN’s original reporting from 2017 above]

All this led to Gov. Pete Ricketts’ firing of Rice and the demotion or exit of several others in the agency.

As for Davis, in 2016 he was convicted of two misdemeanors, willful reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. He was sentenced to two years’ probation.

The judge today voiced clear concerns that this trial is in virus-jeopardy.

Twelve jurors are needed, 14, including two alternates were originally chosen.

But over the week-end one of the 14 tested positive for Covid and has been excused.

A second juror was exposed but remains in the courtroom.

The judge told lawyers on both sides the trial has to get to the jury today and he blasted Bixby’s attorneys for stalling tactics last week that have endangered the outcome.