Deliberations in Pepper Spray Case to Start

SAN FRANCISCO — A lawyer for nine logging protesters whose eyes were swabbed with pepper spray accused officers Friday of imposing “punishment for thought” and urged jurors to “strike a blow for liberty” by awarding damages.

But an attorney for Humboldt County and the city of Eureka told a federal court jury that the officers made “a reasonable use of a tactical tool” to arrest locked-down demonstrators without risking serious injury.

“It did indeed produce discomfort, but we expect law enforcement officers to use pain compliance to enforce the laws,” defense lawyer Nancy Delaney said during closing arguments.

The demonstrators’ lawyer, Macon Cowles, used different language to describe the effects of the chemical: “searing pain . . . humiliation . . . the sense that your humanity is being ripped from you”

After a two-week trial, the eight-member jury is scheduled to begin deliberations Monday on whether sheriff’s deputies and police used excessive force on demonstrators last fall.