Six years after her arrest for disorderly conduct, Sherrie Sandau can still remember the coldness of the police car seat against her skin as she sat handcuffed and half-naked in the back of the car.

She was wearing only a long tank top and a short undershirt -- the clothes she wore to bed the previous night, she told jurors in a quavering voice Wednesday. She was disoriented after having fallen from a ladder the previous day and she was confused why Portland police officers had pulled her out of her home and arrested her.

But she recalled asking the police officer for clothing to cover her lower half. The officer said no, she testified. "So I asked him again with 'please.'" The answer did not change and she was taken to the jail without any pants or underwear.

Although Sandau said she could not recall several aspects of the July 2005 encounter with police, she related the humiliation she felt. The incident was so painful she has difficulty leaving her home, she said.

Sandau is pressing a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $750,000 in damages against the two men, current Portland Officer Christopher Cass and former Portland officer John A. Wood, who resigned in 2006 after two official misconduct convictions. She also is suing the city over Wood's entering her home without a warrant.

Sandau, who is now 53, trembled throughout her testimony. Her hand shook violently as she raised it to be sworn in and she sniffled repeatedly during her testimony.

Dr. Saskia Hostetler Lippy, Sandau's psychiatrist, testified earlier that Sandau has post-traumatic stress disorder. She listed the criteria, noting how Sandau exhibits many symptoms -- uncontrollable shaking, nightmares and fear of leaving the house.

Even a car door slamming causes her to run to a window, fearing that the police are coming for her again, Hostetler Lippy said.

Sandau also said she won't sleep in her own bed, opting instead for the living room couch where she can "guard" the front door.

Attorneys for the two men and the city contend that the officers did not immediately realize she was not wearing underwear and that their actions were reasonable. They were responding to a neighbor's complaint over noise and Sandau was belligerent, they said.

They also noted that Sandau had been diagnosed and treated for panic attacks and depression four years before the arrest. She also suffered an aneurysm about 20 years ago and continues to deal with related issues that a psychiatrist said under cross-examination might cause some behavior changes.