Last week, a Walker County jury acquitted him on felony charges of assault on a peace officer and harassment of a public servant after his attorney played jurors the cell phone footage taken by his 12-year-old son.
"It was haunting because it was like my character, me as a person, me as a man was being questioned for something I know I would never do to any human being," Jafari Stewart said of the 17-month legal battle.
Stewart said he and his three children had just returned to their apartment late one night in March 2025 when two Huntsville police officers knocked at their door.
According to an indictment obtained by Eyewitness News, the officers were there to investigate a "welfare concern regarding children."
"We just got in the house, like, what do you mean a domestic dispute?" Stewart said.
Stewart claims officers pushed past him when he wouldn't let them in.
Police declined to release body camera footage citing pending misdemeanor cases stemming from the same arrest.
When the cell phone recording starts, you can see one of the officers attempting to put handcuffs on Stewart.
Things escalate when an officer puts his hand on Stewart's neck and Stewart jerks his shoulder forward.
"It's technically an assault," said retired Houston police detective Mark Stephens after reviewing the video.
But the indictment doesn't accuse Stewart of assaulting the officer with his shoulder.
It states Stewart spat on one officer and pushed him into a wall, neither of which can be seen in the three-minute video clip Stewart's attorney provided.
"I don't like to call people liars. But fabrication, yes. Cover up, yes," Stewart said.
After Stewart jerks his shoulder, an officer can be seen pulling him and loses his balance in the process.
"They're backing toward a wall and the officer slips, and I think in the heat of the moment, the officer felt like he was probably up against a wall," said Stephens. "Having been there many times myself, I get that."
That's not how jurors saw it. Stewart's attorney said they were swayed, in large part, by the cell phone recording.
"It was vital," said attorney Benjamin Jefferies. "Both officers' body cameras fell off in the middle of this incident. One of them was recording the floor and the other was looking straight up a wall where you couldn't see anything."
In a written statement, Walker County Criminal District Attorney Will Durham said that the body cameras were recording the entire time and that the cell phone footage didn't contradict police.
Huntsville Assistant Police Chief James Barnes declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Stewart's arrest but released a statement saying that any assertion the officers lied is false.
"We stand behind our officers and while we disagree with the verdict, we respect the verdict and trust in the judicial process," the statement read.
Stewart says he generally supports police as well. At the time of his arrest, he says he was working as a prison corrections officer and had just passed the civil service exam to join the Dallas Police Academy.
"That was actually, like, my goal is to become a cop," Stewart said.
It's a career choice that would have been impossible with two felony convictions on his record.
With the felony cases behind him, Stewart said he'll now fight the misdemeanor charges of resisting and failure to identify he's facing.
"Having to ask my 12-year-old son, who saved my life, to record, it's just like I don't wish that on nobody," Stewart said.
Walker County Criminal District Attorney Will Durham shared a full statement that read in part:
"While the Walker County District Attorney's Office may disagree with the jury's verdict, we respect their decision. Our office also stands by the decision to prosecute this case after it was indicted by a Walker County Grand Jury. When minor children are involved in a domestic welfare check arising from a 911 call, officers must be allowed to investigate the situation to confirm the health, safety and welfare of children. The body worn cameras of both officers were recording and operating during the entire incident. Additional cell phone footage produced by the defendant for the first time during trial did not contradict the officers' statements and the State moved forward with trial. Our office cannot provide specific facts while additional charges for Resisting Arrest and Failure to Identify are still pending."