Aaron Pike testified about the canine examination. He explained the difference between ordinary exploratory behavior and a trained indication, using a diagram supplied by the prosecution and reviewed with the defense before trial. The animal had completed two exterior passes without alerting, he said, and he had told Lawson that in words recorded by multiple cameras. When Keene asked whether handlers could ever misunderstand their animals, Pike agreed that human interpretation was not infallible.
"Was there an ambiguity that day?" Price asked on follow-up.
"Not in what I told Sergeant Lawson," Pike answered. "I said there was no alert. Twice."
"Did you authorize him to describe your dog's behavior as a positive alert?"
"No, sir. I did not."
The jurors next watched the search of Faith's trunk. Lawson pulled out the gift bag and opened the cooler while Faith repeated that she had not consented. The camera captured him handling the Bible and photo album, then pushing the garment bag aside without looking inside. Price did not need to explain that the objects were innocent family possessions; the footage made that obvious. He asked the jurors to focus instead on what evidence Lawson claimed to have found before opening the trunk, because that question determined whether the intrusion could be justified.
Ellen Pierce testified after a brief break. She described stopping for fuel, noticing the number of patrol cars, and beginning to record because the encounter seemed wrong. Keene asked whether she could hear every word from the service station and whether distance might have concealed a threatening gesture. Ellen answered that she could not hear everything and would not claim otherwise. But she had recorded the movement of the bodies, the placement of Faith's hands, and the moment Lawson pressed her against the hood, and the full original file was available for comparison with the officers' cameras.
Robert testified about his call to dispatch and confirmed that he had asked for a supervisor because he feared the woman was being mistreated. His voice softened when he described Ellen refusing to put down her phone even after he suggested they leave. He said he had been frightened that becoming involved might bring trouble to his family. The prosecutor asked what changed his mind, and Robert answered that he had looked at his wife and realized she was more afraid of walking away.
Brennan entered the witness stand on the second day. His uniform was crisp, but his face showed the fatigue of months spent examining one morning he could no longer change. Price asked him about the database check, the questions he had asked Lawson, the canine's response, and the use of force. Brennan described the events carefully, occasionally pausing to make sure he distinguished what he had seen from what he later learned from recordings.
When Price asked why he had not interrupted Lawson sooner, Brennan took a longer breath. He said he had feared retaliation from a senior officer responsible for his training, and he acknowledged that the fear did not justify standing by while the detention escalated. Keene challenged whether Brennan's later regret had altered his memory. Brennan answered that his regret had altered his view of his own decisions, but that the independent recordings confirmed the central facts he was reporting.