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Retrial of ex-officer begins in torture case

Charles Schwarz

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A former New York City police officer went back on trial Monday, accused of violating the civil rights of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima by participating in a brutal attack in a police station bathroom.

A jury heard opening arguments in the trial of Charles Schwarz, whose 1998 conviction in the attack on Louima was overturned earlier this year by a federal appeals court.

Schwarz is accused of holding Louima down in a police station bathroom while another officer, Justin Volpe, sodomized Louima with a broken broomstick.

Prosecutor Lauren Resnick called that "a humiliating brand of revenge."

RESOURCES • Indictment: U.S. v. Schwarz  • 2nd Circuit decision setting aside Schwarz's original conviction: US v. Volpe, et al.  (FindLaw documents, PDF format)     LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

"Both Volpe and Schwarz each believed they were assaulted," Resnick said in her opening statement Monday, referring to Volpe's claims that Louima had punched him during a brawl outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997.

The two officers "decided Abner Louima would pay a severe price for assaulting a New York City police officer," she said.

Louima has testified at three previous trials in connection with this case. At each, he said the driver of the patrol car was the one who held him down in the bathroom, but he has never been able to positively identify Schwarz as his attacker.

On Monday, defense attorneys said prosecutors had the wrong man.

"I will ask you to right a terrible wrong," defense attorney Ronald Fischetti said to the jury. "Being a victim does not give Abner Louima the right to lie, commit perjury and implicate an innocent man."

Louima received an $8.7 million settlement from the city and now lives in Miami.

A federal appeals court threw out Schwarz's original conviction, citing what the judge called an inadequate defense and a jury tainted by news reports about the case.

Five other former officers have been convicted in the case.

Louima received an $8.7 million settlement from the city and now lives in Miami.

-- CNN Producer Jamie McShane contributed to this report.