TV. All it needs is the reggae theme: “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?”

        But the video I was watching the other night was not made for TV. It was made for prosecutors and investigators who charged Cincinnati police Officer Robert “Blaine” Jorg with manslaughter in the death of Roger Owensby Jr. at a convenience store Nov. 7, 2000.

        I was watching it because the case refuses to go away, like an oil stain on pavement.

        Black activists keep using it as Exhibit A in the case against “racist” Cincinnati. Officer Jorg, who is white, was set free by a hung jury that voted 10-2 for acquittal. And now that Lt. Col Ron Twitty, a black assistant chief, has been suspended 1/2ndash 3/4 suspected of trying to cover up damage to his city car 1/2ndash 3/4 the Jorg case is cited over and over as an example of egregious unfairness: White cop accused of manslaughter, set free; black cop accused of fender bender, on the griddle.

        At the same time, Officer Jorg's father, Gary Jorg, is working to prove his son was unfairly accused and tried. He has spent many months and piles of money trying to prove his son did not do anything wrong in the arrest.

        So I looked at the tape taken after the arrest was over. And I checked out the claims by Gary Jorg with prosecutors. And I asked why the cop is not being re-tried, now that a police officer who testified at the trial has admitted he perjured himself.

        Gary Jorg's theory is that Mr. Owensby, a drug dealer, somehow managed to swallow some cocaine during the struggle and had a heart attack. He believes Mr. Owensby was still alive when he was put in a squad car.

        Drugs were recovered from Mr. Owensby. The first hospital report cited possible “cardiac arrest,” not a choke-hold, and said “the deceased may have consumed some crack cocaine, as an empty bag with residue was found near the subject.”

        But the autopsy showed no drugs in his system, except traces of marijuana. There were no drug traces in his throat or stomach.

        “I understand where he's coming from. He's trying to defend his son, but he's way off base,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen.

        Officer Jorg “came within a hair of being convicted of manslaughter,” said Mark Piepmeier, who prosecuted him. “We proved he did put a choke hold on (Mr. Owensby) and strangled him.”

        Why not try the case again?

        “We looked at the perjury,” Mr. Allen said. “And the nature of his changed testimony did not rise to the level that would change the outcome of the trial.”

        Perjury had nothing to do with the verdict. The jury acquitted Officer Jorg immediately after it asked the judge if they could find him guilty even if “he was one of several contributing factors to the death of Roger Owensby.”

        The judge said no.

        “The coroner wouldn't say the cause of death wasn't the guys on his back,” said Prosecutor Tom Longano, who teamed up with Mr. Piepmeier on the case. Several cops helped subdue Mr. Owensby when he tried to run from police and wrestled on the ground with Officer Jorg.

        “The coroner testified that it could have been the people on his back,” said Mr. Longano. The coroner doesn't intend to change his opinion.

        This is where the theme music comes back: Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? I think Officer Jorg probably made a mistake.

        But I'm sure Roger Owensby made the fatal mistake of resisting arrest.

        Can we let it go now?

        E-mail: pbronson@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/bronson

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