A Penn Township man testified in federal court
today that two state police officers shackled him to a bench and beat him up in
retaliation for him getting into a fight with an off-duty trooper during a 2007
Toby Keith concert in Burgettstown.
His lawyer said in opening statements for what
is expected to be a three-day civil trial that although his client didn't
suffer severe injuries from the beating, that doesn't change the fact that the
officers violated his constitutional rights.
A lawyer for officers Vincent White and Adrian
LaPaglia said the beating never happened and all the injuries that Christian
Boehm, 39, suffered were the result of his fight with the off-duty state police
officer.
Boehm pleaded guilty to charges from the fight
and was sentenced by a Washington County Common Pleas judge in May 2008 to
three to one year and six months in jail and two years and three months on
probation, according to court records.
Owen Seman, his lawyer, said the fight was over
and Hanover police had Boehm in custody before the state police showed up and
took over.
"Mr. Boehm was in the back of a police car,
handcuffed," he told the seven people on the jury. "Situation
over."