Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard testified in his own defense today at his trial for assaulting a police officer, and he said that while it was possible he hit the officer with his right arm while trying to pull away, he did not intentionally punch the officer.
“I had no idea I hit the officer with my right fist,” Dennard said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Dennard acknowledged that he resisted when Officer Benjamin Kopsa attempted to arrest him, but Dennard said that he was confused when Kopsa grabbed him after a brief skirmish with another man.
“I turned around and I saw it was a police officer,” Dennard said. “He said, ‘You’re under arrest.’ . . . I said, ‘No I’m going to go home.’ He kept trying to grab my arm, I kept pulling it away.”
Kopsa testified that Dennard punched him in the jaw, and if Dennard is convicted of that felony charge, he could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison. The case is expected to go to a jury on Tuesday, after the three-day Presidents Day weekend.