Off-duty St. Paul police officer goes on trial, accused of assaulting man in jail cell

Both the prosecution and defense agreed that a shoddy investigation was done after Luke Prescott accused Scott Wendell, an off-duty St. Paul police officer, of assaulting him in a Ramsey County jail cell.

No photographs were taken, and it was months after the cell was cleaned and had housed numerous other occupants before investigators went in to try to find DNA evidence.

Wendell, 46, of Columbus, is on trial this week in Ramsey County District Court on charges of felony third-degree assault in connection with the Nov. 2, 2008, incident. He is on an unpaid leave of absence from the Police Department, pending the outcome of the trial.

The trial is being heard by District Judge Gary Bastian, rather than a jury. It is being prosecuted by assistant Hennepin County attorneys Elizabeth Cutter and Elizabeth Johnston to avoid a conflict of interest.

Johnston summed up the case in her opening statement:

Prescott, then 28, was riding in the back seat of a car with Samantha Perry, then 17, who was Wendell's stepdaughter. The two were not dating but were friends, and were with Maria Jordan and Damien Lauth, who were in the front seat.

Two St. Paul police officers pulled the car over on the city's West Side. A minute or two later, Prescott testified Monday, a gun was pointed at his head, he was handcuffed and pulled out of the car through the open window.

When Wendell arrived at the jail, Johnston said, he walked into Prescott's cell, grabbed the handcuffed man by the arms and pushed his face into the concrete wall.

Another officer watched until that point, then turned away. That officer returned when he heard screaming, and found Prescott lying on the floor in a pool of blood. A laceration to Prescott's head took 12 staples to close.

Defense attorney Michael Scott agreed that Wendell grabbed Prescott by the arms. But, he said, it was to turn Prescott around, look him in the eyes and tell him not to monkey with his family, Scott said.

Prescott slipped and fell, hitting the back of his head against the metal door jam, Scott said.

Testimony will continue Tuesday.