GREENVILLE - After more than four years, Chris Reed got his chance to take the witness stand to tell his version of events about the repossession of a car from Leflore County Judge Solomon Osborne in 2002.
Osborne and another man pursued Reed once he had successfully retrieved the car, a Mercedes, from Osborne's law office driveway on Walthall Street and cut him off a few blocks away, Reed said.
It was like something that might have happened in mythical Hazzard County, Ga., he said.
"I was halfway across town before he stopped me. He ran me off the road. He slid around like the 'Dukes of Hazzard.' He kept saying 'Put it down, put it down,'" Reed said, referring to Osborne.
Reed's $30 million lawsuit names as defendants Osborne and Greenwood Police Officers Curtis Lee and Police Chief Henry Harris. At the time of the incident, Harris was a shift captain. Reed is being represented by Greenwood attorneys Lee Abraham and Preston "Bo" Rideout.
The trial is expected to continue through early next week before being handed over to the jury of seven women and one man.
Reed said Osborne was extremely agitated when he got out of the car, an old Ford sedan. "I thought he had dope in it the way that he was acting," Reed said.
Osborne allegedly repeatedly banged on the cab of the tow truck that Reed was driving, demanding that Reed unhitch the Mercedes. Reed also said the judge climbed into the bed of the tow truck All the while, Reed said, the man who drove Osborne leaned on the hood of the tow truck "staring at me like he was going to kill me," Reed testified.
Reed said he advised Osborne to call the lien holder, General Motors Acceptance Corp., about the vehicle.
During this period, Reed said, he called the Greenwood Police Department on his cell phone.
"I called the police to get him off my car," Reed told Osborne's attorney Leonard McClellan of Jackson during cross-examination.
Reed said that in his line of work, he often met "dangerous people, crazy people," and he said he had never physically threatened Osborne.
At one point, Reed testified, as he was securing the Mercedes on the street, Osborne pulled him out of the vehicle, which caused Reed to strike his head on the inside roof of the vehicle, injuring him.
Lee arrested Reed for blocking the street. During his arrest, Reed's head hit the pavement twice and his wrists were covered with red marks from the handcuffs.
In the lawsuit, Reed alleges that Lee used excessive force. He claims Harris declined to proceed with an affidavit that Reed wanted to file against Osborne.
Reed said Harris told him that the only way charges could be filed against a judge was through another judge.
Reed never filled out an affidavit against Lee, although he said he wanted to.
Through the trial Thursday, Osborne, Lee and Harris sat quietly on the left side of Judge Allen Pepper's courtroom accompanied by their attorneys.
Defense attorney Gary E. Friedman of Jackson, representing Lee and Harris, asked Reed about the extent of his injuries.
Although Reed admitted the "knot" on his head did go down after a while, he soon developed "post traumatic stress disorder" along with neurological injuries, he said.
Reed testified Thursday for more than six hours. He was preceded by his wife, Karen Reed, who testified for an hour on her husband's condition immediately after the incident allegedly took place.
Testimony in the case will continue today.
McClellan said he intends to call three witnesses today, including Osborne.
Abraham said the defense contends it will only take 2½ hours to complete questioning, but he expects his cross-examination to last at least that long.
