Eighty-Three-Year-Old Antrim County Man Begins Trial For Resisting, Obstructing Officer Case

Posted: Jul 19, 2017 7:38 PM EDTUpdated: Jul 19, 2017 8:06 PM EDT

It's a story we've been following since March.

That's when Larry Sevenski was pulled over by troopers near his bar on US 131 and Thumb road in Elmira.

Court documents say Sevenski got out of his car telling troopers aggressively he wished he had a weapon.

That's when the trooper took the 83-year-old down to the ground.

Sevenski's on trial for resisting and obstructing a police officer.

9&10’s Megan Woods was at the trial Wednesday.

Wednesday is just day one of the trial and both troopers involved, EMTs that responded and technology experts took the stand as witnesses, all to find out what exactly happened that Saint Patrick’s Day.

One of Sevenski’s attorney’s says, “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have video, it's unfortunate we don't have audio, but what we do have is credibility.”

Technology plays a big role in evidence but with a dash cam malfunction this trial heavily weighs on witness testimony to paint the picture.

Trooper Jacob Hubbard, who was driving the patrol when the incident first happens explains, “Trooper Artfitch, doing what we were trained to do, trying to create a little bit of a gap with his hand like so. Though I never saw him put his hands on the defendant I did see he had his hand like so trying to create a gap as so for safety reasons.”

The trial even included the testimony of a programmer for the dash cam as to why it could record the five traffic stops before Sevenski's. Digital Ally Programmer Leslie Pingel traveled from Kansas City to come to the witness stand. Digital Ally is the supplier for Michigan State Police dash cams’. He explains there was a malfunction during the stop directly before Sevenski’s traffic stop and wasn’t triggered by the emergency lights as usual.

Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter asks, "There was no evidence or misbehavior, tampering or anything of that nature?"

Pingel answers, "No. In my 31 years of writing of software this is the first time having to go to court."

Pingel also explains that that malfunction is fixed.

The last witness Wednesday, Trooper Brock Artfitch, the trooper who took Sevenski down.

The courtroom got tense during his testimony.

One of Sevenski's attorneys, Christoper Turkelson asks if Trooper Artfitch can demonstrate for the second time how he tried to pat down Sevenski for any weapons as Sevenski allegedly made a fist and tried to punch him.

"Show me again how he did this. Once you bring out Larry's hand what did he do that you felt threatened?"

Trooper Artfitch responds, "So he immediately tenses up very tightly and grabbed."

Turkelson asks, "So tenses up means he grabbed your thumb?"

"Well he grabs it very--well we didn't have thumbs we had more of a full hand hold that night. I don't know how much you want to hold hands," says Trooper Artfitch. 

Turkelson then says, "I just want you to show the jury what he did."

Wednesday morning at 8:30 is day two of the trial where Larry Sevenski himself is expected to take the stand. 

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FREE LARRY

The jury began deliberating about an hour ago, let's hope they do the right thing.

The thing you have to remember is that the defendant Larry Sevenski is willing to risk his livelihood to prove his innocence.

A felony conviction can strip him of his liquor license. That in turn would ruin his business.

I am certain the prosecutor was hoping he would plead guilty to a lessor charge, one that is reduced to a misdemeanor.

A guilty man would readily jump at that offer. 

But Larry is willing to jeopardize his career in order to prove he is innocent

Everything from the dashcam malfunction to the officer claim that he feared for his safety is bullshit.

INNOCENT

Justice for Larry

Was that the final outcome shinblind? Innocent I hope too, thanks. 

As per TV 9&10 

GUILTY

An Antrim County jury has found Larry Sevenski guilty of assaulting a trooper.

Court documents state 84-year-old Larry Sevenski was pulled over on St. Patrick’s Day.

It shows he got out of his car and confronted the two troopers, saying he has a bone to pick with the officers and that he wished he had a weapon.

Moments later, a trooper took Sevenski down to the ground.

He was on trial from assaulting a Michigan State Police trooper.

Thursday afternoon, a jury found Sevenski guilty.

People, wake up.

It looks like Larry got a raw deal and the cops and camera maker / software maker got what they needed. An innocent verdict would have shed bad light on the police and would also have been a serious blow to the camera company for creating a faulty product. Darn fishy that the camera malfunctioned during Larry's ordeal but worked fine up until then.

Fishy? I say typical in this kind of situation 99% of the time. Plus, judges, prosecutors, and attending police witnesses usually intimidate the juries with looks, talk, and acts. 

An appeal in Michigan is almost impossible.

It would have to be based on evidence that was discovered after the trial.

Or there would have to have been a judicial error.

Neither one qualifies. 

Having incompetent legal representation is not a cause for an appeal.

Incompetent counsel can be used for an appeal, it just doesn't have a good chance of being overturned, especially in this case. 

A good attorney may be able to find something to appeal for Sevinski, especially in the decisions made by the court that seemed to favor the prosecution or court instructions that may have restricted the jury's ability to come to a just verdict.  I defer to anybody of legal mind that may have attended the trial looking to see Sevinski skate to help us understand whether that may have occurred. 

I'd say Michigan State Police lose very seldom on anything, unless it's a case like Seymour here in town, stats are probably 99% in their favor due to fear of retribution on the citizens on the jury. 

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