A federal jury deliberated for more than five hours Thursday before finding that a West Valley City police officer did not use excessive force during a traffic stop in which he was captured on videotape throwing a motorist to the ground.

"I feel great," said officer Jared Cardon outside the courthouse after the jury's unanimous verdict was read just after 9:15 p.m. "I'm very satisfied right now."

Cardon smiled at his attorney Heather White as he exited the courthouse. He then took questions from reporters and explained that he used the force that he did to protect himself from any possible threats, even those that were unknown. He said he reacted only to driver Cesar Medina's actions and mentioned that in the thousands of traffic stops he has made this was an exceptional case.

"I'm very happy with the verdict," Cardon said. "I believe in the system and the system came through."

Video footage from Cardon's patrol car during the July 18, 2009, traffic stop shows Cardon walking up to Medina, who is standing in front of the open door of his truck. Both men appear to pitch into the front seat, and Cardon puts his arms around Medina and swings him to the ground.

As Medina left the courthouse Thursday night, he said he was surprised by the verdict.

"I'm dissatisfied with the verdict but respect the jury's decision," he said.

"Officer [Jared] Cardon has never been held accountable for his actions," said Robert Sykes, attorney for Medina, who claims Cardon unreasonably threw him to the ground during a trumped-up traffic stop.

"The West Valley Police Department doesn't get it," Sykes told the jury during closing arguments in federal court. "... You folks are the conscience of the community."

Cardon's attorney countered that Cardon took reasonable action to subdue Medina, whom Cardon followed after Medina allegedly ran a stop sign.

"One of the most dangerous things officers do is conduct traffic stops," said White. "... We've spent three days analyzing what Officer Cardon had to analyze in ... a matter of seconds."

Cardon testified that he pulled up behind Medina, who had stopped his pickup truck at his girlfriend's house, and Cardon turned on his flashing lights. Cardon said he told Medina to get back in his truck and decided to handcuff him when Medina did not comply.

Medina testified that he tried to comply as soon as he could understand Cardon's shouting.

Sykes said he suspects Cardon only took aggressive action because he made a racist assumption about Medina.

"Officer Cardon sees a new truck driven by a Hispanic-looking young man, and he has a hunch that the truck is stolen," Sykes said. He noted that Cardon called for backup and then followed Medina without turning on his flashing light bar.

White said Medina committed several traffic violations — the allegations included speeding, failing to use a turn signal, running a stop sign, and parking at an angle to a cul-de-sac curb — all in full view of a police officer, and that was why Cardon was on heightened alert.

"Here is someone who is not acting like a normal person does when they acknowledge a police officer," she said.

Sykes pointed to testimony by Medina and his wife, Julie, that Cardon immediately asked each of them about the owner of the truck, which a friend had loaned to Medina for his birthday.

"To look at his story, there are 15 [traffic] violations, but the first thing he says is, 'Whose car is this?'" Sykes said, adding that Cardon initially told Medina he was pulled over only for running the stop sign and raised the other allegations later.

"The story grew with each telling," Sykes said.

White said the traffic violations were only the beginning of Medina's insubordination. Cardon testified that Medina initially walked away from the truck, ignoring Cardon's commands to get inside. He said Medina only later returned to the truck door, where he appears in the video footage. Cardon testified that a problem with the camera caused the film to miss 10 to 15 seconds at the beginning of the incident; Sykes noted that the problem did not recur when Cardon demonstrated it during a deposition.

Judge Bruce Jenkins barred Cardon's defenders from questioning an officer who trains policemen regarding use of force. With the jury outside of the courtroom, Jenkins said the significant questions in this case deal with police training and methods specifically related to traffic tickets.

"One of the problems I have is ... the training on how to issue a traffic citation," he said, noting that Cardon did not turn on his light bar until after both he and Medina had stopped.

"You have some ... problems in this case regarding when the officer's presence is made known," he told White. Jenkins also questioned the practice of handcuffing someone — "twice," he added — "at a traffic stop." Medina has testified that Cardon put handcuffs on him a second time when he refused to sign the citation.

Officers "are there to enforce the law," White said. "Sometimes they call us on the carpet when we do things wrong, and sometimes people aren't cooperative."

Medina was seeking between $35,000 and $75,000 in damages.

Salt Lake Tribune reporter Jason Bergreen contributed to this story