JURY WEIGHS PLIGHT OF CAMPBELL IN CAPE MELEE

HILLSBORO -- After nearly nine hours of deliberation, a jury had yet to reach a verdict late Thursday night in the trial of Kenneth Campbell.

Campbell, 35, of Cape Girardeau is the last defendant to go to trial in connection with a June 11 civil disturbance in the Good Hope neighborhood of Cape Girardeau. Campbell is charged with assault of a law enforcement officer, a felony, and interfering with an arrest, a misdemeanor.

After three days of testimony, the case was sent to a Jefferson County jury at 2:20 p.m. As of 11 p.m., the jury of seven men and five women remained deadlocked.

Campbell is accused of attacking Cape Girardeau policeman Rollin Roberts as the officer attempted to arrest Campbell's brother, Greg.

The incident, which occurred in the 300 block of Good Hope Street, soon escalated into a near riot. According to police, 150 people, most of whom were leaving the nearby Taste Lounge, yelled obscenities and threw rocks and debris at police. Several officers were injured.

The trial was moved out of Cape Girardeau County on a change of venue.

Just nine days ago a Boone County jury acquitted Greg Campbell of assaulting Roberts and a second felony count of resisting arrest. That decision resulted after just 75 minutes of deliberation at the conclusion of a two-day trial.

Six other men were charged with interfering with an arrest in connection with the incident. Juries convicted two men of felony counts and a third of a misdemeanor charge. Three others pleaded guilty to felonies.

If convicted, Kenneth Campbell faces 10 to 30 years or life in prison on the assault charge and up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for the misdemeanor count.

During his closing statement, Cape Girardeau County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ian Sutherland urged jurors to trust the testimony of the three police officers, who said they saw Campbell assault Roberts, and return a guilty verdict with a strong sentence.

"I ask you to sentence him harshly because he intended serious harm to that officer," Sutherland said.

Defense attorney Charles M. Shaw urged the jury to consider the evidence carefully, particularly whether Roberts could have received the beating the officer says the Campbell brothers inflicted and emerged with only minor injuries.

"The state of Missouri always wins when the verdict is fair, just and impartial," Shaw said.

Prosecutors claim Greg Campbell provoked an incident with Roberts for no reason and eventually attacked the officer, knocking him to the ground. Kenneth Campbell arrived and joined his brother in stomping the downed Roberts.

The defense argued Roberts was the source of the whole incident. They said Roberts' patrol car nearly ran down Greg Campbell, and the officer became belligerent when challenged about his driving. It was Roberts who attacked, the defense claimed. Kenneth Campbell was merely coming to the aid of his brother.

Evidence presented by both sides throughout the trial centered more on elements of the incident involving Greg Campbell than on those involving Kenneth Campbell.

Each side accused the other's witnesses of lying in their testimony.

"I don't like to stand up calling people liars," Shaw said. "But at this point I don't mind doing it because (Roberts) disrupted an otherwise peaceful neighborhood."

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said the testimony of defense witnesses did not accurately reflect the events of June 11.

"This case has seen a parade of liars, particularly Greg Campbell and Kenneth Campbell," Swingle said.

Swingle also accused defense counsel of "playing the race card." The Campbells are black. Roberts and the other officers who responded to the scene are white.

"When you can't win an argument, a disagreement or a trial on its merits, blame race," Swingle told the jury.

Campbell spent about 30 minutes on the witness stand Thursday morning. He testified he was in the Taste Lounge when a friend alerted him his brother was involved in an altercation with police.

According to his account, he arrived on the scene to find Roberts striking Greg Campbell with his baton. "I couldn't say how many times, but it was repeatedly," Kenneth Campbell said.

At no time did he hear any officer tell his brother he was under arrest. Campbell said at that point he did not have any contact -- physical or otherwise -- with Roberts and did not stomp on the officer.

Campbell then fled down a nearby alley, where he was pursued, tackled and captured by several officers, including Roberts. Campbell said he did not put up a struggle, as police testified.

After being booked at police headquarters, Campbell was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital to be treated for injuries, which included a bruised back and swollen wrists.

During a brief cross examination by Sutherland, Campbell admitted he had been convicted of misdemeanor assault in Cape Girardeau County when he was 19 and has another misdemeanor conviction for property damage.

After the defense rested its case, the prosecution called two rebuttal witnesses to address questions raised by Shaw concerning the extent of Roberts' injuries from the altercation.

While testifying Tuesday, Roberts said the brothers had stomped on him a total of 30 times with the majority of blows landing on the officer's head.

Roberts, who called his injuries "minor," said his training and success at defending himself prevented him from being seriously hurt.

Shaw said a medical report from St. Francis Medical Center indicated Roberts had suffered no visible trauma anywhere on his body.

One witness, Patricia McCoskey, an emergency room nurse at St. Francis who was on duty at the time, read from Roberts' medical report. The report indicated he had suffered multiple contusions.

Officer Gary Burchell also testified that Roberts had suffered visible injuries. Photos of those injuries taken by Burchell showing injuries to Roberts' face were admitted into evidence.

Marc Powers may be contacted in Jefferson City at (573) 635-4608 or by e-mail at mppowers@socket.net.