AP A suburban policeman hunted down a homeless, frequently arrested illegal immigrant, hit him hard and left him to die last year, a prosecutor told jurors in opening statements of his manslaughter trial Friday. Assistant District Attorney Perry Perrone said Mount Kisco Officer George Bubaris later confided to a colleague, "I went out hunting or looking for Rene Perez. I found him. I took him to Byram Lake Road," where Perez was found. Perrone said that the next day, as it became known that Perez had died, Bubaris told the colleague, Officer Edward Dwyer, "You're the only one that knows, bro." Perez, 42, had a long history of drunkenness, arrests and 911 calls in Mount Kisco and neighboring Bedford, about 40 miles north of New York City. Defense attorney Andrew Quinn called the prosecution's case "medically absurd" because Perez often injured himself while drunk. He also said Dwyer, who is to testify, "had demons of his own." In April 2007, Perez called police from a coin laundry, possibly seeking a lift to a hospital. Prosecutors say Bubaris, 31, drove the intoxicated Guatemalan immigrant to an out-of-the-way area in Bedford and "inflicted blunt force trauma to Perez's abdomen," leaving him severely injured. Though the indictment does not say how the trauma was inflicted, a lawsuit filed by Perez's brother suggests a nightstick was used.

Bubaris, who has since left the force, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter, unlawful imprisonment and official misconduct. He could face five to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Quinn has not said whether Bubaris will testify, though he repeatedly reminded potential jurors that he doesn't have to.

Quinn said video from a camera in the coin laundry will show Perez clutching his stomach, doubling over and asking to be taken to a hospital before he encounters Bubaris that night. Prosecutors, however, say an autopsy shows Perez's injuries were so severe he would have been unable to walk or even stand, so he must have suffered them after the video was taken.

Quinn said the prosecution believes Bubaris is guilty because they started with that conclusion before investigating — a "cardinal sin" of homicide work.

"Faith is a beautiful thing when we're in church," he said. "But this is a courtroom."

The case has brought attention to the relationship between police officers and illegal immigrants as law enforcement agencies nationwide consider taking on increased deportation duties and legislation on immigration policy languishes in Congress.

The civil suit also claims that police in Mount Kisco and Bedford engaged in a policy of "dumping" immigrants over each other's boundaries.

Fernando Mateo, president of Hispanics Across America, has said his organization would monitor the trial "to make sure justice is done."

Federal authorities have said they will observe the county's prosecution of Bubaris and determine afterward whether a civil rights case is warranted.