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GREENSBORO — Former Moore County deputy Randall Butler took the stand in federal court Thursday to tell his side of a shooting in which he killed a Special Forces trainee and injured another during the Army's Robin Sage training exercise.

The soldier who survived is suing Butler and the Moore County Sheriff's Office for use of excessive force during a February 2002 traffic stop. The estate of the deceased soldier settled out of court last week.

Butler had time Thursday afternoon to tell the jury about the first moments of the fatal traffic stop, but the court day ended less than an hour into his testimony — before he got to details about the shooting itself. He is expected to resume testifying this morning.

Former Army sergeant Stephen Phelps was the surviving soldier in the shooting. He has said he and the other soldier, Lt. Tallas Tomeny, and civilian Robin Sage volunteer Charles Leiber thought the traffic stop with Butler was part of the Robin Sage program. They thought the soldiers were being tested on how they would handle an encounter with police while on a secret mission in a foreign country.

The soldiers wore civilian clothing that day and were on a reconnaissance mission to find and measure a railroad bridge near Robbins. Their cover story, should they encounter anyone, was that they were migrant workers going fishing on their day off.

Butler testified that he initiated the traffic stop because the thought Leiber and the soldiers were behaving suspiciously in an area where there had been burglaries.

Butler said he first noticed the three men in a small pickup truck while on patrol in northern Moore County. He said they were parked around 11 a.m. at Spies and Talc Mine Roads near Robbins. He noticed the truck in part because he had to drive around it while turning around, and because it had wooden sideboards extending above the truck bed.

He gave it no other thought, he said.

But that afternoon, Butler said, he saw the truck again.

He was parked in a driveway on N.C. 705 across from Howard Mill Road and was surveying traffic when he saw the pickup approach from the right, toward Robbins, and then turn onto Howard Mill Road.

Several things bothered Butler.

The passenger in the cab, after making eye contact with Butler, appeared to duck behind the dashboard. The truck also had a man in the bed. It was a cool day, in the 40s, Butler said.

Also, Butler, said, the truck appeared to turn abruptly.

There had been home break-ins in the area, Butler said, and some burglars had been known to drop someone off from a vehicle to break into a home and then come back to pick him up.

So he followed the truck.

"You don't know what people are up to," he said. "Sometimes it's nothing. Sometimes they are up to no good."

The truck went a short distance and then suddenly turned right onto Acorn Ridge Road. It again was an abrupt turn, Butler said, perhaps as though the driver was hoping the deputy would drive on by.

The turn was also odd, Butler said, because Acorn Ridge Road leads back to N.C. 705 in the direction from which the truck had come.

Considering all the factors, Butler said, he turned on his blue lights to stop the truck and check it out. The driver pulled off to the left in the parking lot of Acorn Ridge Baptist Church.

Butler spoke to the driver next to the truck, he said, and noticed that the man in the bed had his eyes closed. He also saw two fishing rods, which he said were toys — the type his children played with at home.

He said he asked the driver what they were up to, and said the answer was that he was taking migrant workers fishing.

Butler had the driver, Leiber, sit with him in the patrol car because it was cold outside and because he wanted to talk to Leiber out of earshot of the other men.

Leiber behaved strangely, Butler said, answering questions in quick bursts of a few words instead of a smoothly flowing conversation.

Leiber, according to Butler, said he and the other men were from Pineland, which Butler said he had never heard of, and Leiber also told him he was trying to find work for the men in the truck.

That made no sense, Butler said, because it was a Saturday in February. Most businesses would be closed, he said. Having grown up on a farm, he knew there was no farm work for migrants that time of year.

Also, Leiber's driver's license and license plate, which were valid, both said he was from nearby Seagrove.

Leiber suddenly turned and looked at Butler and said, "We're on recon," Butler testified. "He turns back real quick, stares straight ahead and just grins a weird grin," Butler said.

Butler thought Leiber might have been crazy.

He left Butler in the car to talk to the other men to see if they would tell him what was going on, he said.

As he went to the passenger side of the pickup, Butler said, he noticed that the man in the bed — Phelps — still had his eyes closed. He thought it suspicious that the man could still be asleep despite the noise of the car doors and earlier conversation during the traffic stop.

Phelps previously testified he was pretending to sleep.

Butler's testimony ended there Thursday.

In prior testimony, Phelps and Leiber said Butler and Tomeny struggled over a knapsack that had a military rifle inside.

According to their testimony, Butler tossed the pack to the ground and pepper sprayed Tomeny. Phelps then jumped up, grabbed the pack and tried to run away, when Butler turned and shot him.

Butler's lawyer has said Butler shot Phelps first as Phelps appeared to be trying to bring the rifle out on him, and then turned and shot Tomeny because Tomeny appeared to be reaching behind his back for a weapon.

In Robin Sage, soldiers training to join the Special Forces pretend to infiltrate a foreign country, connect with rebel forces there and help the rebels overthrow their government. The foreign nation in the exercise is called Pineland and it is set in 15 central North Carolina counties. Civilian volunteers such as Leiber pose as Pineland nationals.

Much of the war game, which lasts a few weeks and is conducted several times a year, is conducted in public areas.