After deliberating just over two hours, a jury convicted a 27-year-old man Thursday of aggravated assault and driving under the influence in connection with his violent July 2013 arrest.
Steven Hacker faces three to six years in prison for the aggravated assault, said his attorney, Robin Flores. But in a "compromised verdict," jurors found him not guilty of violation of a traffic control device, violation of registration law, and evading arrest, Flores said.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled Aug. 2 before Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole.
Jurors returned the decision after listening to three days of evidence in the case. Using audio, video, blood work and officer testimony, prosecutor Charlie Minor portrayed Hacker as an inebriated man who ignored law enforcement, ran inside his house and threatened officers before coming outside, armed with a kitchen knife. Because of that, one of the officers fired a Taser, causing Hacker to fall through a window and injure himself, records show.
"Whether you have blue lights or not, that's not important," Minor said of the incident. "What's important is a police officer gave an order. And as a citizen, he was to stop and comply. Had he done that, what happened afterwards may not [have]."
Earlier that day, Hacker was around Sandy's Liquor Store at 2410 Glass St. when an officer "saw an individual come up to the defendant's car and have some sort of interaction," Minor said.
Believing he had witnessed a drug trade, the officer followed Hacker as he drove drunk through a red light at the corner of Glass and Campbell streets, Minor said. Then, after Hacker pulled into a driveway at 712 N. Crest Road, the officer checked his license plate. When it came back listed as belonging to a different vehicle, the officer went to speak with Hacker.
On the witness stand, Hacker said he was terrified when the officer followed him into the driveway. He was unsure why the officer wanted to talk - asking for his identification - and then walked inside. He paced, from the kitchen to the garage to the front door, and finally stepped outside, hands up, willing to cooperate, he said.
During closing arguments, Flores countered that officers overstepped their bounds and never fully explained themselves.
"This isn't Zimbabwe. This isn't Argentina in the early '70s or '80s," Flores said. "This is the United States. A police officer must state some reason here."
Overall, he said, officers would do anything to justify excessive force to a jury because they face a $600,000 lawsuit that Hacker and Flores filed in 2014 in Chattanooga's federal district court. That lawsuit has been put on hold until attorneys have fully dealt with Hacker's state criminal charges.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at 423-757-6347 or zpeterson@timesfreepress.com. Follow @zackpeter son918.