ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It’s round two for the prosecution and defense in the trial of former Albuquerque police officer Kenneth Skeens. 

He’s accused of a wrongful arrest and is facing charges of false imprisonment, perjury, and making a false report. 

On Tuesday, both sides made their opening statements in the trial, just under a year after a previous trial ended with a hung jury. 

“Freedom is important, and it’s important to get things right,” said Johnna Walker, a prosecutor. 

Skeens is accused of wrongfully arresting Matthew McManus at the Target on Coors and Irving in 2022. McManus was attempting to buy a bike in the self check out line. 

“He was struggling to pay. You’re going to hear that he has some cognitive issues. You’re going to hear in his sworn statement he had a stroke a couple of years ago, and you’re going to hear it takes him a little longer to do things,” said Walker.  

Prosecutors showed the jury lapel camera video of the confrontation between McManus and Skeens Tuesday:

McManus: “I’m calling 911.”

Skeens: “That’s OK.”

McManus: “I’m calling 911.”

Skeens: “We’re walking out.”

McManus: “I’m calling 911.”

Skeens’ defense said it was a Target loss prevention employee who pointed out McManus to Skeens. 

“The tape doesn’t lie, the tape will tell you exactly what happened. Skeens was in no desire to even approach McManus. And really did not want to until he got the proper authorization from Target. Once he understood he got the proper authorization, he then approached simply to remove McManus from the Target property,” said John D’Amato Jr., a defense attorney. 

At the time, McManus was charged with resisting arrest and concealing his identification.

The charges were dropped when McManus was found incompetent. The defense argues those charges were lawful. 

“As the case develops and in our closing arguments, we’ll show you how the false imprisonment falls away, and how filing a police report and perjury fall away,” said D’Amato Jr.