Court: RI judge made right call in smoke shop case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A federal appeals court says a Rhode Island judge was correct to order a new trial for a state trooper who was ultimately cleared of using excessive force during a raid on a tribal smoke shop.

A federal jury in 2005 found that Trooper Kenneth Jones had used too much force in restraining Adam Jennings and awarded Jennings $301,000. The lawsuit stemmed from a violent July 2003 state police raid on a Narragansett Indian Tribe smoke shop that was selling tax-free tobacco products.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres threw out the verdict, saying the evidence showed Jones had used reasonable force. An appeals court reinstated the case, and Torres granted Jones a new trial. A second jury last year ruled in his favor.

The appeals court said Thursday that Torres' decisoin was correct.