The defense  was not asking for a get out of jail free card, but police officers, like every other individual in this country have a Constitutional right to be presumed innocent UNTIL proven guilty. The facts are clear that Officer Sharlow did NOT beat Bumpas either in the the field, or the jail and no one in court stated that he did. The video does not show Officer Sharlow beating Mr. Bumpas and the State did not claim that it did. Officer Sharlow was not abusing his authority by taking a highly agitated, belligerent, and hostile inmate to the ground inside a small booking room to avoid the situation escalating. Allowing the situation to escalate so that it would have required a higher use of force was warranted given the situation. That is the sworn testimony of the expert witness and Officer Sharlow.