COEUR d'ALENE — Whether Paul Trouette committed criminal acts when he helped drag a woman out of a legislative town hall at Coeur d'Alene High School and put his hands on three other people is now up to a jury.

Trouette faces four counts of battery, two counts of false imprisonment and citations for security agent uniform and duties violations, all misdemeanors, in connection with his actions at the Feb. 22 event at CHS.

Jurors deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours Wednesday night before agreeing to resume deliberations in the morning.

Defense attorney Joshua Hanners said it's impossible for Trouette to have committed battery or false imprisonment at the town hall because he was acting at the behest of Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris. In Idaho, sheriffs have the authority to command citizens to aid them in executing their duties.

Ryan Hunter, chief deputy prosecutor for the city of Coeur d'Alene, contended that immunity does not apply because Norris never gave Trouette an order to remove, restrain or detain anyone.

"Not in a single instance was the defendant commanded to do anything," Hunter said.

Hanners argued that video evidence shows Norris "accepting" Trouette's aid during the chaos, even if he didn't give specific directions.

"It is ridiculous to think this statute, this protection, requires a play-by-play command of the sheriff in order to carry its effectiveness," he said.

Central to Wednesday's arguments was a letter from the Idaho Attorney General's Office outlining its decision not to charge Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris with any crime related to his conduct at the town hall. 

Dan Haley — the lead investigator of the town hall case and now Rathdrum's police chief — pointed to assertions in the letter that he said were contradicted by video evidence. Hunter asserted that the Attorney General's Office conducted no independent investigation and never informed persons close to the matter, including Haley, of its charging decision.

"This document here is a complete and utter distraction," Hunter said. "This might be worth the paper it's printed on, but nothing more."

Hanners said the Attorney General's Office took a different view of the evidence.

"The sheriff didn't commit a crime and he commanded the aid of all these individuals," he said. "If the statute says if you help the sheriff, it's not a crime, then how can Paul Trouette be guilty of a crime?"

Norris revealed on the stand that he never completed a use of force report after the town hall, though his agency's policies require one, and the internal investigation about his conduct that the sheriff's office publicly announced never happened.

"Would you like me to answer why?" Norris asked.

"At this point, it's a foregone conclusion," Hunter replied.

Norris testified that he connected with Trouette before the event began and understood that Trouette and his team would provide security services.

Hours after the town hall ended, Norris told The Press that he knew nothing about the security arrangements. He also denied giving the security personnel any direction as they removed Borrenpohl from the auditorium.

"I didn't have anything to do with the security detail," Norris said at the time.

Tensions were high and the situation in the auditorium was "deteriorating," Norris said in court. He said he honed in on Teresa Borrenpohl, who was behaving in a "loud and boisterous manner," with others yelling at her.

"I felt like the temperature in the room had reached a flashpoint," he said. "If I had not done something, something could've sparked."

Norris said he was concerned for Borrenpohl's safety when he first told her to leave. She refused.

Video footage showed Norris shouting at Borrenpohl before taking hold of her arm and pulling. When she stayed put, he threatened to pepper spray her. He said he then directed security personnel to remove her.

Trouette said it was difficult to remove Borrenpohl due to her "going limp."

"I just assisted to help remove so that we could keep Ms. Borrenpohl reasonably safe and also to assist in that so we didn't need to use any unnecessary force," he said in court.

Borrenpohl testified that she had finger-shaped bruises on her breasts and other injuries after she was dragged out.

Before touching Borrenpohl, Norris directed the man sitting at the end of the row, Gregg Johnson, to get up and step aside. Johnson complied.

Johnson testified Tuesday that he was alarmed to see unidentified men wrestle Borrenpohl to the ground.

"Hey, leave her alone," Johnson said.

After he said those words, Norris grabbed Johnson and threatened to arrest him.

Norris walked Johnson out of the auditorium. Trouette joined him, and together, they pushed Johnson against a wall, kicked his legs to force them open and restrained his hands behind his back.

Prosecutors argued that Norris gave Trouette no verbal command to help him detain Johnson. Trouette testified that he was following Norris' actions.

"It was clearly out of hand at that point," Trouette said. "There was a lot of fog of war going on there, a lot of chaos. I felt at that moment, for an officer's safety, that I assisted him."

Sarah Forsgren said she was leaving the town hall when she saw three unidentified men, including Trouette, drag Borrenpohl out of the auditorium. Borrenpohl "looked terrified," she said, so she remained in the hallway to observe what was happening.

"I said, 'Stop touching her, get your hands off her,'" she told the court Tuesday.

Trouette approached her and took hold of her.

"I did what we call a soft escort," he said. "I chose to just put my hand on her back. She said, 'I'm not going anywhere.'"

Footage showed Trouette push Forsgren into a wall. He said he acted because he believed Norris wanted the hallway cleared, though he received no specific command to remove Forsgren.

Deliberations continue today.

    Paul Trouette faces charges of battery and false imprisonment related to his actions at a town hall in February.