The jury on Tuesday reviewed police body camera footage from the early morning hours of June 7, when officers were called to an apartment complex in the 3100 block of Kear Sage Drive. At the time, Lake Havasu Police Department Officer Chad Graybeal reportedly determined probable cause for Adams' arrest in connection with a domestic violence incident involving Adams' younger brother, Zephaniah A. Adams.

Body camera footage presented to jury

Smartphone video footage taken at the scene by Noah Adams' brother shows part of the encounter before he was removed from the home by officers. That footage was posted online in November, but police body camera footage on Tuesday added potentially new context to the incident.

The footage showed Graybeal approaching the door of Adams' home, which was allegedly opened for officers by Adams' sister, Rebecca Adams. Graybeal called the residence and asked Adams to come to the door and speak with an officer. Adams refused, and Graybeal entered the residence with Mohave County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Condra.

Graybeal and Condola entered the home's living room and found Adams lying on the couch. Graybeal's body camera footage showed Adams rising from a sitting position and reaching into one of his pockets as officers entered.

Condra said Adams' posture when police entered was defensive, or perhaps aggressive.

“When he reached into his pocket, it was a safety issue,” Condra testified this week. “It's like Mary Poppins' purse. You never know what's going to come out of it.”

Graybeal lunged at Adams, but Adams pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. At that point, the footage showed Graybeal stopping and again asking Adams to talk about the incident.

Adams was known to police to have special needs, but he refused to speak to Graybeal, attorneys said. Graybeal grabbed Adams' hand and tried to shove him behind his back, telling him he was under arrest.

Body camera footage showed Adams struggling with law enforcement and telling officers “no.” During the struggle, Graybeal's body camera came off its shoulder mount, leaving almost half of the remaining footage to be audio only.

Condola also testified that during the struggle, his uniform microphone was tapped, potentially sending an emergency signal to other law enforcement officers. As many as six additional officers may have arrived on the scene shortly thereafter to assist in arresting Adams.

According to Condra, Adams was handcuffed and taken into custody only after Condra punched him multiple times in the biceps and repeatedly used electric shocks from an electronic stun device. Police say there was more than six minutes of active resistance. Adams to police officer.

Defense: “Drive Stun” impact may have exceeded safe increments

Adams was hospitalized last year with burns and burns after receiving repeated shocks from Condola's electronic stun device during a struggle with officers. Doctors at Havasu Regional Medical Center later diagnosed Adams with rhabdomyosis, muscle damage caused by direct or indirect damage from electric shock.

Medical records suggest Adams may have been shocked up to 30 times, an estimate Condra disputed.

Condra said the stun devices his department issues record data related to each use and the increment of use. Condra used the weapon in a manner known as “drive stunning,” which refers to direct contact between the device and the target's body.

Condra said Tuesday that those logs show the device was activated eight times during the June 7 incident at Adams' home. Of these eight activations, Condola testified that only five struck Adams. One of those discharges missed and the other accidentally shocked Graybeal, he said. Condra was wrestling Adams in another attempt when he accidentally shocked his calf, he said.

Scottsdale defense attorney Jesse Lee James said continuous or repeated shocks from such devices for 15 seconds could pose a health risk to the subject. Records show Condra's stun device was released for a cumulative 22.235 seconds during Adams' arrest.

Belligerent vs. Non-compliant

Graybeal's statement Tuesday said Adams did not attempt to harm the officers during the June 7 incident. Condra further testified that Adams' resistance included attempts to protect his arm by leaning back from arresting law enforcement officers. At the time of the incident, Adams was repeatedly told by police officers to stop resisting arrest.

“In the case of an arrest, if the officer finds probable cause for the arrest, the suspect does not have the authority to negotiate,” Yeager said in closing arguments Tuesday. “The defendant in this case had the ability and authority to comply with law enforcement and prevent the incident from occurring. He could have complied and surrendered at any time. The level of force used by the officers in this incident It was only because he used force against the arrest.”

Even if Adams was not actively attempting to harm the officer during the encounter, he may have used force to prevent Adams from handcuffing the officer, resulting in a more forceful attempt to arrest the officer. Force was needed, Yeager said.

“The important fact to remember in this case is that the defendant was key to the officers' use of force,” Yeager said.

Yeager added that Adams was repeatedly told throughout the incident to stop resisting officers and put his hands behind his back. Yeager said Adams refused to comply with any commands.

“He didn't need to be surprised,” Yeager said. “He didn't need to be stunned with a Taser. He made that choice by fighting the police.”

Adams' attorney countered that his due process rights may have been violated during a confrontation with law enforcement officers at the scene.

“I would like to believe that anyone who may be arrested in this country still has a right to due process,” James said. “(Adams) was arrested at his home where police entered without a warrant. They started taking him to the ground before he could tell him what he was being arrested for. (Greybeal's) Please review the body camera footage as many times as possible, but that's the situation.”

Mr. James suggested that jurors consider the legal definition of physical violence that the state must prove to justify a guilty verdict by a suspect who may resist arrest. That definition requires applying force to another person's body.

“It was clear that the officers were using physical force,” James said. “Whether or not (Adams) used physical force is a question of fact (for the jury). Each witness I cross-examined said they believed (Adams) had used physical force or not. He was counting saying he didn't do or do anything. Disobedience doesn't mean violent disobedience, which is essentially what he's being charged with.”

James also questioned whether the fact that Adams did not commit any violent acts against the officers justified the officers' use of force. And if that force wasn't justified, the crime Adams committed wouldn't exist, James said.

“We wouldn't be here if David Adams hadn't used force to stop police officers from arresting him,” Yeager argued in his rebuttal.

Regarding the charge of resisting arrest, Mr. Yeager added: he didn't obey. What would you call it? ”

Phoenix-based law firm Mills & Woods filed a notice of claim against the city of Lake Havasu in November, citing the use of force against Adams during his arrest.

Mills & Woods filed 2,000 charges last year, citing charges including unreasonable use of force, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, gross negligence, failure to hire, train, and supervise police officers, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. He threatened to file a million dollar lawsuit.

In November, Mills & Woods representatives said at the time that Adams' family was seeking an $8.5 million settlement from the city. The law firm said the case remained pending as of last year if no settlement was reached.

As of Tuesday, Adams did not appear to have filed a lawsuit in Mojave Superior Court.