FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jorge Sobrino took the stand on Thursday during his trial for battery in Fort Lauderdale. Prosecutors said his victim was handcuffed to a hospital bed.
Video shows Sobrino, 24, punched David O’Connell on Jan. 2, 2019, while at Broward Health North, according to prosecutors.
Sobrino was donning a suit and tie in court when he attempted to explain why he decided to punch O’Connell.
“He lifts his left arm up. He places it on my upper torso and he begins to push against me,” Sobrino said adding, “In my perception, he was again becoming aggressive and violent. I delivered one strike to him in order to defeat his resistance and that one strike was successful.”
O’Connell testified on Wednesday. O’Connell met Sobrino when he was arrested at a Walmart in Pompano Beach. Witnesses accused him of trying to get into a fight with a Walmart employee.
O’Connell said he was afraid of Sobrino and raised his arm to keep him from striking him again.
“I was defending myself,” O’Connell said.
The video shows O’Connell taunting Sobrino. He shouted expletives and said, “What? You’re going to beat my a** again?”
BSO has employed Sobrino since Jan. 12, 2015.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 1 p.m., on Friday. If convicted, Sobrino faces a maximum punishment of a year in jail.
***WARNING: Obscene language is used in the video that some viewers may find offensive***
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