"Did you threaten him?"
"No."
"Did you attempt to assault him?"
"No. I tried to keep myself in the chair."
Harlan explained how Derek grabbed the armrest, the sudden loss of balance, and the pain that followed. He described the officer pulling his shirt and demanding identification. When Wyatt asked how the encounter changed after the wallet was opened, Harlan said the officer stopped using force and became frightened. He did not savor the answer. He looked toward the jurors and stated that the officer's newfound caution showed he could control himself when he believed the consequences might be serious.
The defense approached Harlan carefully. Price asked whether he had understood that a disabled person could still create an obstruction, regardless of the right to cross. Harlan said yes. He asked whether Harlan had refused the officer's order to move immediately. Harlan said he had explained why moving over glass without assistance might cause danger and had accepted Caleb's offer to help. The lawyer pressed him on the phrase "I will move when it is safe," suggesting it might sound defiant to an officer managing traffic.
"It was a statement about safety," Harlan replied. "The video contains my tone. The jury can hear it."
Price asked whether Harlan's long career investigating dangerous people made him more likely to assume the worst about Derek. Harlan thought before answering. "My career taught me that assumptions are dangerous," he said. "That's why I have tried to separate what he did from what I thought he intended. What he did is on the recording."
The lawyer questioned his consultation with the Department of Justice before the incident, raising the possibility that he had been seeking evidence against Derek. Harlan explained the review of public complaint patterns and denied arranging or provoking the encounter. He had not known which officer would turn the corner. He had no plan to drop eleven dollars' worth of honey into an active street and subject himself to a physical attack. A few jurors shifted in their seats, but Harlan did not smile at the absurdity. He let the facts stand.
"Mr. Whitaker," Price said finally, "you told my client he had made a mistake he would not be able to undo. You wanted him punished."
Harlan looked at the attorney. "I wanted him stopped. After that, I wanted the event investigated under the law. That's what I've said from the beginning."
"And you were angry?"
"Yes," Harlan answered. "I was frightened and angry. Having those feelings did not put his hands on my wheelchair."
There was no outburst in the courtroom. The answer landed quietly, and the cross-examination moved on. Harlan stepped down feeling more tired than he expected, not because the testimony had been unfair, but because reliving a few minutes of fear over several hours of questions required a kind of stamina different from physical rehabilitation. Simone met him outside and accompanied him to a small café where they ate sandwiches without discussing the case for the first twenty minutes.