In a stunning reversal, former cop Patrick Pogan—whom countless people saw in a YouTube video slamming a cyclist off his bike during a 2008 Critical Mass ride—has acknowledged what everyone with eyes and an Internet connection already knows: that Christopher Long did not ride his bicycle "directly into [Pogan's] body, causing [Pogan] to fall to the ground," as written in the police report.
On Friday, Pogan testified that he had been "knocked down" twice during the arrest, while admitting that he wasn't "knocked down" by Long on his bicycle. His lawyer is arguing that Pogan just did a poor job articulating what happened when he spoke on separate occasions to a sergeant and assistant DA Laura Millendorf, who charged Long with assault based on Pogan's account. "If you heard his testimony and you saw the video, you saw he was knocked down, he did go down two separate times," Pogan's lawyer told the jury. "In his own mind, he knew he had gone down he just unfortunately juxtaposed, he made a mistake."
Today the prosecutor asked Pogan, "Were you in fact knocked to the ground?" "For certain, I can't tell you," Pogan answered. "We all went to the ground." According to the Post, the prosecutor pressed Pogan, "I'm not asking if you went to the ground. Were you in fact knocked to the ground?" To which the ex-cop replied, "I went to the ground...This was 45, 60 seconds of adrenaline rush. So, I guess I wasn't knocked to the ground at that point."
"What we're hoping now is that the jury does not listen or remember the fanfare leading up to this case, but listens to the evidence, as it was calmly presented and the story that was told here," Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch tells NY1. "When you sat in that courtroom, it all made sense." Summations are expected to begin this afternoon, with the jury beginning deliberations tomorrow.
