NATCHEZ — Now that former Natchez Police Department officer Dwayne E. Johnson has gone from co-defendant to apparent star witness for the prosecution in a case against NPD Officer Elvis Prater, Johnson is expected to break his silence.

This week’s trial, which started Monday, will focus only on Prater, who is accused of a civil rights violation in connection with the May 2009 beating of Jason Ellard, a man he had arrested, and of lying to the FBI.

Attorneys for both sides hinted Monday Johnson is expected to testify against Prater.

Johnson pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to use Ellard’s credit cards. A jury in a previous trial that took place late February and early March found Johnson guilty of stealing the cards.

Johnson, who was also charged with two counts of lying to the FBI and of a civil rights violation for not protecting Ellard in his custody, is not on trial for the two remaining counts at this time.

Prater’s attorney Abby Brumley used Johnson’s plea agreement to pick away at his credibility during her opening statement Monday.

“What does Johnson get for saying Officer Prater (beat Ellard)? Brumley posed. “He gets a deal.”

Brumley also pointed to Johnson’s evolving statements to police to discredit him.

“(Johnson has) given eight or nine different statements,” Brumley said.

She also suggested Johnson might be the one responsible for the beating.

Prosecutors told the jury a story from their side of what happened during the early morning May 23, 2009. Prater beat Ellard out of revenge after Ellard and his brother fought with Prater outside a Main Street bar, U.S. prosecutor AeJean Cha said.

“When I get hit, I hit back,” was the first words Cha spoke in her opening statement.

Prater allegedly said those words to a jailer, Cha said, before beating Ellard in the back of Johnson’s police car.

“I ask you to show the defendant he is not above the law,” Cha said to the jury.

Cha asked the jury to consider the meaning of Johnson’s anticipated testimony that he saw Prater get out of Johnson’s patrol car while Ellard lay on the seat handcuffed.

Later on the first day of the trial, prosecutor Fara Gold called Ellard to the stand, asking him to cross the courtroom and demonstrate on a bench located near the jury box his position in the back seat of Johnson’s car.

“I was trying to move my face from getting hit,” Ellard said before demonstrating with his torso sideways on the bench and feet on the floor. “I was trying to move my head to the floorboard.”

Ellard confirmed through Gold’s questioning that because of his positioning and efforts to evade Prater’s blows, that Ellard could not identify his attacker.

Gold asked Ellard to explain why he named Johnson as his attacker in a civil suit soon after the incident.

Ellard said at one point he thought Johnson might have beat him because he recognized Johnson’s voice as the driver of the police car, but he admitted he was never sure who it was who beat him in the back of Johnson’s car.

Jonah Ellard testified about her husband’s injuries, as the jury observed photographs from the hospital.

Jonah said when she met her husband at Natchez Regional Medical Center he was “unrecognizable.”

Jason Ellard’s eye was swollen like a baseball, his jaw — broken in two places — was free floating in his mouth and so much blood was pouring from his mouth that he had to sit up to avoid choking on it, Jonah testified.

Jonah said her husband also had to have an emergency tracheotomy because he went into respiratory distress. And Jason could not eat for nine days after the surgery, she said.

Jason Ellard said he underwent two surgeries and had four metal plates and 12 screws inserted in as a result of the injuries. The decision to file a civil suit was partially in effort to pay medical bills, Ellard said.

On cross-examination, defense attorney George Lucas questioned the source and timing of Jason Ellard’s injuries.

Lucas reminded Ellard he told investigators for the Mississippi Attorney General’s office he could not see where he was while riding in Johnson’s car because “his eye was messed up,” before the alleged attack occurred.

“I was confused and on pain medicine at the time,” Ellard said of his statement during the conversation.

Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg Lee testified that Ellard was uninjured on Main Street at the time of his arrest.

Lee also said Jason did not sustain injuries from falling down when Lee Tased him — something the defense argued in the first trial.

At the first trial, Prater was acquitted of the beating of Jason Ellard’s brother, James Daniel — known as Daniel — Ellard. But after a week of testimony and two days of deliberations, the jury was unable to come to a verdict on six of the eight counts.

Prater testified at the first trial, proclaiming his innocence, while Johnson exercised his constitutional right to remain silent.

Sentencing for Johnson on charges of stealing and conspiring to use Jason Ellard’s credit cards is scheduled for Sept. 12, at which time the court could possibly be asked to dismiss other charges.

At sentencing, Johnson faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison for participating in the conspiracy and 12 months in prison for the civil rights offense based upon the theft.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen approved the termination of Johnson at a March 22 meeting at the recommendation of Police Chief Mike Mullins.

Prater remains on unpaid administrative leave until remaining counts are retried.