The lawsuit arising from the 2011 beating of a customer at a Hillcrest restaurant by Little Rock Police Lt. David Hudson, acting as private security, goes to trial today in federal court.

The jury will see video of the beating. It will also undoubtedly hear details about Hudson’s record as a cop, which includes multiple complaints of misconduct. 

Hudson, now retired, beat Jon Christopher Erwin in the face. He said Erwin had been refusing to leave a private party at what was then Fernau’s restaurant on Kavanaugh Boulevard. He also arrested a friend of Erwin, Travis Blake Mitchell, for trying to intercede. Charges against him were dropped but he is part of the lawsuit.

The trial is scheduled for five days in federal Judge Jay Moody’s court.

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