ELMIRA, NY (WENY) -- A jury deliberated for just about an hour before returning a not guilty verdict in Chemung County court in the trial for Elmira Police Officer Eduardo Oropallo.

The jury acquitted Oropallo on two counts, of Second Degree Assault and Second Degree Attempted Assault. Oropallo had been on trial, accused of assaulting Gary Strobridge of Elmira in August 2019. Charges were brought by the New York State Attorney General's Office. 

"I think the jury clearly understood that officer Orapollo and the officers with whom he works were just doing their job and they were doing it right and the attorney general overstepped herself in prosecuting this case," said Ray Schlather, Oropallo's attorney.

Schlather argued that sometimes hard decisions need to be made and if the police were not making them, who would. 

"If not the officers, if not the police then who, and that became very clear throughout the trial, when the hospital personnel and the police, all people who had some involvement in this particular violent struggle," said Schlather. " It was a violent struggle not because of anything the police did, it was a violent struggle because of a very difficult patient to get under control." 

The jury started deliberating at 2:40 PM and had a verdict by 3:44 PM. Schlather said he believes the time it took for the jury to deliberate speaks volumes about what happened in the courtroom. 

During the defense's closing arguments, they told the jury that what happened in St. Joseph's hospital between Oropallo and Strobridge "was all in accord with the rules of the police department" and that Oropallo did not have criminal intent in his altercation with Strobridge.

August 22, 2019, Elmira Police responded to a home on Horner Street for reports of a man acting unusual. Officers say they attempted to take Strobridge into custody under the Mental Hygiene Law when Strobridge allegedly hit an officer in the face. Police say they then tased the man and he was taken into custody, and was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Elmira.

During testimony on Friday, Elmira Police Officer Joseph Linehan described what transpired in the hospital room. 

Linehan said he was guarding the door while Officer Eduardo Oropallo was in the hospital room with Strobridge. Linehan explained that Oropallo was talking calmly to Strobridge, trying to encourage him to cooperate with the medical staff.

At the hospital, Linehan said Strobridge was not handcuffed and at one point he recalls Strobridge’s demeanor changed. He testified that Strobridge made his way to the corner of the hospital room, "crouched in the corner like he was seeing something that wasn't there", and sprinted at officer Eduardo Oropallo. During this altercation there were three Elmira Police officers present as well as one Arnot Health security guard. 
 

Linehan then said for about 20-30 seconds officers struggled to get Strobridge to the ground. He recalled the officers as well as Strobridge, falling to the floor without bracing for impact and said Strobridge fell belly first.  

Body camera footage presented in court then showed Oropallo’s right arm lodged underneath Strobridge’s body on the floor. 

Linehan said while on the ground, Oropallo struck Strobridge in the face multiple times and also testified that Linehan had also struck Strobridge in the face multiple times at various points while they attempted to restrain him. Linehan explained that striking to the face is a tactic with the goal of putting a subject in a defensive stance. He said even after the altercation, Strobridge was trying to get up off the floor. 
 
Strobridge was transported to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse where he later died. The medical examiner who conducted Strobridge's autopsy said he died by "cardiac arrest combined with violent restraint caused by medicine." His death was ruled accidental.
 
After the verdict was read, applause broke out in the courtroom. The father of Gary Strobridge was in attendance, and sat in silence.