Fired Pittsburgh Police Sergeant Takes Stand In Civil Rights Trial

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A fired Pittsburgh police sergeant is set to continue testifying in his civil rights trial on charges he wrongly beat a drunken man and then lied about it in a report.
Former Sgt. Stephen Matakovich testified Wednesday that he thought 19-year-old Gabriel Despres was preparing to attack him and that he struck Despres to prevent that.
But federal prosecutors say a surveillance video of the incident doesn’t support Matakovich, who is charged with deprivation of civil r