Defense lawyers for a former Gaffney police officer and the officer himself all maintained that he did everything by the book during his arrest of three men at a city nightclub in December 2007.

Much like he did when the trial began Tuesday, Attorney John O’Leary argued to a jury on Friday morning, “We shouldn’t be here.”

The 11-members remaining on the jury at the end of the week, however, didn’t agree.

After a little more than two hours of deliberations Friday, the 5-men, 6- women panel decided that former police sergeant Scott Tallent was guilty of misconduct in office.

Tallent later was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Derham Cole to 90 days in jail followed by two years of probation, with the first six months of probation served under home confinement. Tallent also was fined $1,000 and may have to pay medical expenses for the three victims in the case.

Tallent was accused of using excessive and unnecessary force during his arrest of three men inside Benna’s Sports Club on Dec. 16, 2007. He retired from the police force a few months later, about a month before he was indicted on the charge.

Two of the three men arrested by Tallent that night, Eddie Gilfillan and Leonard Tinnin, both from the Blacksburg area, were relieved by the jury’s verdict.

Both men were painted by Tallent’s defense attorneys as being responsible for the incident but the jury disagreed. Neither man asked the court to send Tallent to jail, even though prosecutors asked the court to hold Tallent to a “higher standard.”

“Jail is up to you,” Gilfillan told the judge.

Asked if he wanted anything specific, Tinnin told the court, “I’d like to be able to hear again. That won’t happen.”

Tinnin said he lost his hearing in one ear due to the beating he took that night.

Assistant Attorney General Dale Scott, who prosecuted the case, had alleged Tallent sprayed Gilfillan in the face with pepper spray simply for his response to a question that Tallent deemed disrespectful. Tinnin, meanwhile, was struck repeatedly with a police baton while witnesses said he never resisted arrest, Attorney Scott argued.

The prosecutor claimed Tallent then arrested a third man, David Cobb, just because he objected to the way Tallent had treated Cobb’s wife in jerking her out of his way inside the bar.

Tallent claimed he was shoved by Gilfillan and then sucker-punched and choked by Tinnin and that he had to use reasonable force, not only to make an arrest but to protect himself. He claimed he was injured by Tinnin during the incident.

Tallent further claimed Cobb assaulted him by shoving him as he was trying to arrest Gilfillan, who had gone to the bar’s bathroom to wash the pepper spray from his eyes.

Attorney Scott argued to the jury the officer’s contentions weren’t plausible. “Three men just out of the blue decided they were going to attack and assault a police officer?” he asked. “Does that even make sense?”

Testimony during the trial showed there was some bad blood between Tallent and the bar’s coowner Belinda Thompson and that Thompson had repeatedly called Tallent’s supervisors to complain about Tallent’s frequent and allegedly harassing visits to Benna’s.

While Attorney Scott argued to the jury the case was not about Benna’s, and instead centered on Tallent’s treatment of the three men, he said, “Law enforcement can’t let a personal conflict affect their judgment.”

According to court testimony, former Gaffney Police Chief John O’Donald had the charges dropped against all three men arrested by Tallent.

Attorney O’Leary argued that expert witnesses presented at the trial showed Tallent followed proper police procedures in his use of force. Moreover, Tallent’s witnesses said his actions were appropriate given the series of events Tallent described.

“The purpose of this whole proceeding is truth, not vengeance,” O’Leary told the jury while making reference to recent Internet postings from Thompson. O’Leary also argued some of the witnesses were trying to use the trial to lay groundwork for a civil lawsuit.

“We’re talking about a man’s life,” O’Leary told the jury. “They want to put him in jail because he was doing his job and doing his duty.”

Attorney Scott had told the jury at the start of trial he took no pleasure in the case.

“This by no means should be taken as an indictment against law enforcement,” he said at the close of the case. Police officer’s have tough jobs and their commitment is appreciated, he said. That’s why they’re entrusted with certain powers and rights.

But, the prosecutor argued, “Citizens have rights too. They have a right to not be unlawfully arrested and to not have unnecessary and excessive force used against them.”

Two of the 13 jurors selected to hear the case on Tuesday were released from service, leaving 11 to decide Tallent’s fate.

While relieved by the verdict, Tinnin offered, “I just hope it never happens to anyone else