A federal jury ruled in favor of two state police troopers at the Butler barracks in a civil case alleging they used excessive force when they arrested a Brady Township man in August 2017 on a warrant for growing two marijuana plants outside of his home two years earlier.

Federal Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly granted a defense motion that removed a third trooper as a defendant.

At the conclusion of a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the jury ruled Thursday that Cpl. Gregory Bogan and Trooper Nathan Spangler did not use excessive force in violation of Danny Pollock's Fourth Amendment rights. The jury also ruled that neither officer committed assault or battery.

“We were, of course, disappointed in the defense verdict because we thought we had a substantial case,” said Butler attorney Al Lindsay, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Danny Pollock and his wife, Sheri Pollock. “But we're gratified that they got their story out and people can hear what occurred.”

Read more in Sunday's Butler Eagle.