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Patrick Pogan faces five charges, including two felonies, alleging he falsified records regarding the 2008 arrest of Christopher Long.

A jury of six men and nine women have been seated to hear the charges.

Long was riding in a Critical Mass bike ride in Times Square when Pogan arrested him for assault.

Those charges were later dropped when a video appeared on YouTube showing the then officer bodychecking Long to the ground without any apparent provocation.

Florida tourist Asam Ismail, who caught the now infamous scene on his camera, was the first witness to take the stand Monday.

Defense lawyers say Pogan was a bright-eyed, naive but professional officer who was just doing his job to keep order on the streets for the monthly Critical Mass bike ride which they say usually starts off peaceful but ends in chaos.

They're also painting Long as a less-than-innocent victim who treats Critical Mass like a party and "orchestrated" the whole incident to line his pockets with cash.

"The fact that he got pushed off the bike is a red herring. It doesn't give you a 360 degree view of what occurred, it just shows you a small snippet. He wasn't injured at all, he got back up, never went to the hospital, refused medical attention, attempted to get away. Often police work does not look pretty but he was just enforcing the law," said Defense Attorney Stuart London.

The defense also argues Long has a history of smoking marijuana and that evidence will show he was actually discharged out of the U.S. Army for getting high.

London adds Long was disrupting traffic and creating a dangerous situation for others on the road that summer evening and was found with rolling papers upon arrest.

"For a jury to properly evaluate his credibility they need to know who he is, what his background is, was his judgment impaired, is he anti government, is he an anarchist," London said.

Prosecutors argue Pogan's official written statements were riddled with lies and that he accused Long of barreling into him to cover up his own acts of violence.

Pogan was fired from the NYPD following an internal investigation over the falsified report.

Long is also suing the New York City Police Department for $1.5 million, alleging Pogan tried to cover up the incident.

Testimony in the case resumes Tuesday.