A Mower County sheriff’s deputy and the national champion K-9 Tazer are the focus of an excessive force trial that started Monday in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis.

Deputy Jeff Ellis is accused of unjustly allowing Tazer to attack a man who was lying on the ground during an incident three years ago in Waltham. The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim and is expected to last several days, according to the office of one of the plaintiff’s attorneys.

Bryan Musolf, the 51-year-old plaintiff, filed a lawsuit in December 2007 against both Ellis and Mower County. He is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for what he claims were serious injuries.

The county is no longer a defendant in the case, however, following a federal judge’s decision this past July.

As of August, Mower County had paid all of Musolf’s medical bills, according to a statement written by Musolf’s attorney William French, of Rochester, that month.

However, Musolf still has “suffered a loss of income, continuing pain, and an inability to hold a steady job because of his injuries,” French wrote.

Ellis’ attorney Jason Hiveley, of Bloomington, wrote in a statement of case, which was also filed in August, that Ellis warned Musolf that he might send the K-9 after him but got no response. French said no such warning was given.

Hiveley also said that Ellis and another deputy on-scene were concerned with Musolf’s criminal history and considered him to be potentially violent. At one point, Ellis was concerned that Musolf was reaching for a weapon before he was apprehended, Hiveley wrote.

The incident occurred in a soybean field near Musolf’s Waltham residence on Oct. 3, 2006. Musolf went into the field after his wife said he couldn’t be at the home because of an order for protection against him and called authorities.

According to a civil complaint, Musolf laid down in the field and waited for the officers to arrive.

French wrote that officers found Musolf on his side, casually smoking a cigarette. Ellis ordered Musolf to get down, but the plaintiff said he already was, the attorney claims. Then, “without warning and unnecessarily,” Ellis deployed Tazer, French said, and the dog ripped flesh from Musolf’s right leg.

Hiveley counters that Ellis asked Musolf to show his hands but he only quickly put one in the air before bringing it down again. It was at this point that Ellis became concerned that Musolf might have a weapon, Hiveley said. Ellis yelled again for Musolf to lie on his stomach with his arms out and, when Musolf didn’t, the deputy deployed the K-9.

Hiveley wrote that Ellis told Musolf that the dog would be called off when he complied. When Musolf finally went onto his stomach, Ellis stopped Tazer, Hiveley said.

Tazer is a five-time national champion at the U.S. Police Canine Association’s National Field Trials. The dog went through leg surgery earlier this year but still competed in the 2009 trials this past fall, finishing third.