Jurors in the involuntary-manslaughter trial of Cincinnati Police Officer Robert “Blaine” Jorg deliberated until just after 8 p.m. Monday, were sequestered overnight, and will resume deliberations this morning.

Jorg

Owensby

        The case went to the Hamilton County jury after a morning of closing arguments in which prosecutors said the officer crossed the line from public safety to a criminal act in the death of Roger Owensby Jr.

        Officer Jorg's attorney said he didn't mount a defense because the state proved nothing during four days of testimony.

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        Prosecutors say Officer Jorg used excessive force when he wrapped his arm about the head of Mr. Owensby, a 29-year-old College Hill man whom he and four other Cincinnati officers were attempting to arrest Nov. 7.

        Mr. Owensby died at some point during the arrest in a Roselawn gas station parking lot. Prosecutors say his death was the result of oxygen deprivation caused by Officer Jorg.

        Officer Jorg is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor assault. If convicted he could be sentenced to a maximum five years in prison.

        “For a couple of seconds or a minute, (Officer Jorg) went beyond his training. He lost it, acted recklessly and caused the death of Roger Owensby Jr.,” said Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier. “We're not saying this was an intentional act.”

        Holding up the stained left sleeve cut from Officer Jorg's shirt, Mr. Piepmeier told jurors that it contains proof that Officer Jorg did something to cause Mr. Owensby's death.

        “Roger Owensby didn't just die. He died because somehow his oxygen was restricted. Who could have caused that?” Mr. Piepmeier asked.

        He recounted the positions of the five officers who struggled with Mr. Owensby and pointed to Officer Jorg as the only officer who could have caused Mr. Owensby's death.

        “The only person in the area (of Mr. Owensby's head and upper back) that could have caused the death ... was Jorg,” Mr. Piepmeier said.

        The coroner's office determined that Mr. Owensby died from mechanical asphyxia caused when his air supply was cut off, either by a choke hold gone bad or by a large amount of weight placed on his upper torso.

        A staff pathologist testified that Mr. Owensby vomited lung fluid during his struggle with officers and that it, along with blood from several facial wounds he'd suffered, was soaked up by Officer Jorg's sleeve.

        Officer Jorg's defense attorney contended that there was no scientific proof that fluid on the shirt was from Mr. Owensby's lungs and that it could have easily been Mr. Owensby's perspiration.

        “The facts fail miserably to convict my client,” said R. Scott Croswell, Officer Jorg's attorney. “The reason the facts fail to convict my client is because he didn't do anything wrong.”

        Mr. Croswell added that much of the prosecution's case hinges on the testimony of 19-year-old witness Aerial St. Clair, who said on the stand she was high on marijuana when she saw Officer Jorg put a choke hold on Mr. Owensby that night. She also testified she had bought marijuana from Mr. Owensby previously and considered him a friend.

        “Her testimony is totally and completely, absolutely 100 percent not credible,” Mr. Croswell told jurors.

        Mr. Croswell also explained to the jury why he didn't put one witness on the stand in the four days of testimony.

        “I didn't present a defense because you have our defense already through the prosecution witnesses. I didn't present a defense because I'm not even going to dignify what has been presented (by the prosecution) with a defense,” he said.

        Members of the Owensby and Jorg families have been in the courtroom every day of the trial, including Monday.

        Jurors will be sequestered throughout the duration of their deliberations, officials said.

        They were not instructed to consider any lesser charges, only the original charges of involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor assault.

        Also on trial in another courtroom is Officer Patrick Caton, charged with misdemeanor assault for his part in the incident. Other Cincinnati police officers have testified that they saw Officer Caton continue to beat on Mr. Owensby even after he'd been handcuffed and placed in the rear of a police cruiser.

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