The SKS rifle prosecutors say Rodney Cadle used to shoot Rome-Floyd SWAT officer Mike Martin in 2001 is waiting in a jury room this morning for the panel of 12 expected to begin deliberating Cadle’s case by lunch.

The jury, which has been hearing evidence in the case since Monday morning, must decide if Cadle is guilty of aggravated battery and seven counts aggravated assault, charges stemming from a May 2001 standoff during which he allegedly shot at Rome-Floyd SWAT officers.

He was convicted on these counts in November 2001, but a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling in February sent the case back for retrial based on a technicality in jury instruction.

Cadle’s standoff with police began in the early morning hours of May 8, 2001, when he barricaded himself in the bedroom of his Harold Drive mobile home after officers tried to arrest him for threatening neighbors.

SWAT officers Scott Weaver, Tom Ewing, Joey Jacobs, Kirk Henderson and Martin himself all testified Wednesday morning to the severity of the wound to Martin’s knee. “It was literally spurting out like a firehose,” Weaver said.

Jacobs, who wiped a tear from his eye while on the witness stand, called the wound “devastating,” and Henderson noted he found blood spatters and a chunk of Martin’s tissue left behind on his uniform.

At this point, Weaver said, the officers were forced to fire back. “We put quite a few rounds into that room in a short period of time.”

In his closing argument, defense attorney Rex Abernathy called that response “an overreaction.” He alleged police used excessive force against Cadle, entering his trailer without a warrant or any direct knowledge he had committed a crime.

The police did not spend enough time negotiating with Cadle, he argued, having called Cadle’s mother, Sandra Pace, as his sole defense witness to tell jurors she thought she could have helped end the situation had police allowed her to speak with her son.

“This case is not about right, wrong and bad guys,” Abernathy concluded. “It’s about the law.”

Prosecutor Hal Goldin, however, contended Martin and his fellow officers were simply performing their lawful duties when the shooting occurred.

“This is a straightforward case,” he said, warning jurors that Abernathy was attempting “to put the police department, or the SWAT team, on trial .… In no way was it an illegal arrest.”

Proceedings will resume this morning at 9:30 a.m., when Floyd County Superior Court Judge Larry Salmon will instruct the jury on law related to the case before leaving them to deliberate.