Key Witness Returns To Stand In Trial Of Suspended Opa-locka Officer

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A key witness in the trial of suspended Opa-locka police Sergeant German Bosque is expected to continue his testimony Wednesday.

Bosque faces a number of charges including false imprisonment and tampering with a witness.

Bosque, who has been fired a total of eight times by three different agencies, six times by Opa-Locka, was arrested for a 2012 incident in Opa-locka in which he allegedly punched a man during a domestic disturbance call. When Korey Davis tried to go to the police station and file a complaint, Bosque reportedly forcefully removed him from the department's lobby, handcuffed him and placed him in a holding cell for 14 minutes.

Bosque did not threaten Davis with arrest until after Davis tried to file the complaint against him.

Ofc. Jesse Ortiz, was on the scene of the domestic call, said Wednesday afternoon that she saw Davis do nothing that warranted arrest, and said she would not have grabbed the little boy from the father.

Ofc. Orlando Bueno, who was also on the scene of the domestic call, delivered a blow to the defense earlier, testifying that he didn't believe the mother's claim that Davis had tried to hit her with his car on Wednesday afternoon.

On cross-examination Bueno said it is possible another officer might have believed the mother's claims about the car, but would have been required to make an arrest on the spot.  Using a car as a weapon would have been an "aggravated battery" and an officer would have been in "neglect of duty" to have not made an arrest if the allegation was believable, he said.

"There was no probable cause for an arrest.  There was no crime committed," the officer said.  Bueno also testified that Bosque had no legal authority to grab the baby from Davis's arms.

The officer said it was a "mere child custody issue" and not a matter for the police.  Bueno said he was surprised to see Davis in handcuffs later that night.

Earlier Wednesday the alleged victim, Davis, was cross examined by defense attorney Arango, who got him to admit he refused police orders to hand over his son at the domestic call scene. Davis, a city employee, even conceded that he was on his cell phone with then Police Chief Cheryl Cason, who told him he should hand over the child, over whom he had no custody rights.

Cason even radioed officers to take the child and arrest Davis.

The baby's mother told police Davis had earlier tried to hit her with his car, the toddler on his lap. Davis denied that allegation.

Davis admitted that Bosque let him go, despite directions from higher up to arrest him.

Davis insisted that Ofc. Bosque punched him in the face, something the defense has denied.

Davis acknowledged that at the police station, where he had gone to file a complaint, it was not Bosque, but another officer who put him in a holding cell. That would tend to support Bosque's defense against a count of false imprisonment.

Davis testified that Bosque told him he could still be arrested for trying to run over the child's mother, but the police chief decided to let him go, rather than further complicate a volatile situation, and in light of Davis's allegations of abuse.

Davis said he was not permitted to file his complaint.

Davis also said he intends to file a civil suit to get "money damages" from Bosque and the city.

In the end, Davis remained adamant that he had been slugged at the domestic scene and that he "was in fear" at the police station that he would be arrested on a trumped up charge and lose his job.

Bosque, who has never shied away from talking to the press, insisted before the opening statements that he would prevail. In a court hallway before the start of the trial Bosque said he's confident that a jury will acquit him.

"The facts are always studied. Every single time, I'm always found acquitted, I'm standing on my feet, I get my job back because I am a good officer," said Bosque.

Bosque has a checkered past with the police department. During his career there, he's been fired, then re-instated, eight times. The last time the city fired him, October 2012, Bosque faced a number of allegations including:

• Busting a handcuffed suspects skull
• Beating juveniles
• Caught with drugs and alcohol in his squad car
• Ripping off suspects
• Falsifying reports
• Participating in an unauthorized chase where four people were killed
• Calling in sick from Cancun.

Click Here to see Walter Makaula's report.

Bosque says he has been wrongly portrayed in the news.

"Anybody who doesn't know me or know about the case exactly, they hate me. I hate myself when I read what the media says about me, and it's not true."

The trial is expected to last several days and Judge Miguel de la O hopes to have closing arguments done by Friday.

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