Posted on 11/22/2007 7:37:13 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Was a Utah Highway Patrol trooper acting within policy when he used a Taser on a driver who refused to sign a traffic ticket?
That is the question UHP internal investigators hope to answer after Trooper John Gardner - a 14-year UHP veteran - zapped Vernal resident Jared Massey with the device for refusing to sign a speeding ticket or submit to being arrested during a traffic stop about 10 a.m. on Sept. 14.
The incident placed UHP on the defensive when the officer's dashboard video of the emotional confrontation found its way onto Internet site YouTube.
"We are doing an internal investigation to see if the trooper's actions were warranted," said Trooper Cameron Roden, a UHP spokesman. That investigation is expected to be completed this week or sometime next week.
The 10-minute video begins as the officer passes a sign clearly showing a speed limit of 40 mph on U.S. 40 in Uintah County.
Gardner - who remained on active duty as of Wednesday - then proceeds to pull over Massey's Dodge SUV.
The trooper approaches the driver's side window and twice asks for Massey's driver's license and registration. The second time, the trooper is audibly frustrated, saying, "Driver's license and registration, like now."
"How fast did you think you were going?" the officer asks.
"I was going 68," Massey could be heard saying.
"OK, there's a sign right there that says 40 miles per hour," the officer says, shortly before returning to his squad car.
When Gardner returns to the SUV with the traffic ticket, Massey refuses to sign the citation, insisting that Gardner show him the 40 mph sign.
"Well, you are going to sign this first," Gardner said.
After refusing, Gardner asks Massey to exit the SUV, which at 2:23 minutes into the video, he does.
The pair walk to the front of the officer's car, where Gardner points his Taser at Massey, ordering him to place his hands behind his back.
''What the hell's wrong with you?'' Massey asks, while turning and beginning to walk back to the SUV. Gardner tells the driver to turn around, but he refuses and continues walking away.
The officer aims the Taser, and at 2:37 minutes into the video, fires it into Massey, who falls backward onto the pavement and can be heard screaming. Massey's wife then comes out of the SUV screaming and is ordered back inside the vehicle by Gardner.
''Ma'am, do exactly as I say or you're going to jail, too,'' the officer says.
After the incident, off camera Massey can be heard repeatedly asking to be read his Miranda rights, but it remains unclear from the video, which cuts in and out, whether the officer complied with that demand.
Roden said he was unaware whether the man was given his Miranda rights, but noted Massey could have been read them when booked into the Uintah County jail.
In the video, Gardner repeatedly states he tasered Massey because the man failed to comply with his instructions and demands.
A short time later, an unidentified officer strolls up on scene and Gardner tells him that Massey "took a ride with the Taser."
Gardner then states that Massey was "jumping around, making me nervous as hell. I was like, nah, we ain't playing this game."
"Good. Good for you," the unidentified officer says.
Massey, who was not available for comment on Wednesday, is scheduled to stand trial for the speeding ticket Jan. 14 in Uintah County Justice Court.
When drivers sign traffic tickets, they are not necessarily admitting guilt but merely acknowledging they will show up at court or to pay the ticket, Roden said.
In the event that a motorist refuses to sign, a trooper can simply write "refuses to sign" on the citation, which is then given to the driver, or they can chose to arrest the motorist, Roden said.
"I can't speculate to this incident what was going through officer's mind," Roden said. "The officer has to weigh a lot of different things."
Troopers that carry Tasers must take a four-hour certification course outlining how and when to use the devices, according to UHP's nine-page policy. They are taught to use them in three circumstances:
* When a person is a threat to themselves, an officer or another person.
* In cases where the physical use of force would endanger the person or someone else.
* When other means of lesser or equal force by the officer has been ineffective and a threat still exists.
"There's a lot that goes into it," Roden said.
UHP requires an officer file a report any time a Taser is used, noting, among other things, how many warnings the subject was given and where the electric probes hit on a person's body.
Officials are then required to get the person arrested checked by medics. Massey was later taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt, Roden said.
ngonzalez@sltrib.com
The incident's over two months old. The timing's about right for a release persuant to a public records request. Could be the lawyer, could be the media.
Utah Code 77-7-6. Manner of making arrest. (1) The person making the arrest shall inform the person being arrested of his intention, cause, and authority to arrest him. Such notice shall not be required when:
(a) there is reason to believe the notice will endanger the life or safety of the officer or another person or will likely enable the party being arrested to escape;
(2) (a) If a hearing-impaired person, as defined in Subsection 78-24a-1(2), is arrested for an alleged violation of a criminal law, including a local ordinance, the arresting officer shall assess the communicative abilities of the hearing-impaired person and conduct this notification, and any further notifications of rights, warnings, interrogations, or taking of statements, in a manner that accurately and effectively communicates with the hearing-impaired person including qualified interpreters, lip reading, pen and paper, typewriters, computers with print-out capability, and telecommunications devices for the deaf.
(b) the person being arrested is actually engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, an offense; or
(c) the person being arrested is pursued immediately after the commission of an offense or an escape.
(b) Compliance with this subsection is a factor to be considered by any court when evaluating whether statements of a hearing-impaired person were made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently.
Found another AP story that says the driver posted it. Then, after posting it, he announced he was going to sue. Busily working to taint the jury pool, I suppose. He has a trial on the speeding ticket in January, maybe he's hoping to make a trade.
Well, well, well.
Now we might be actually getting to the bottom of this little story.
As I stated earlier, (IMHO) this is the kind of guy that would run over and kill a construction worker, or a child, and leave the scene of the crime if he thought no one saw it.
The camera is normally activated when you turn on the code lights. So he most likely was already in a 40 zone, and saw him coming up fast from behind. If he'd taken the action you're assuming, the camera wouldn't have gone on until he pulled the kid over.
Please explain which word you need explained.
AND who will try to RUIN the career of the police officer who was trying to protect the lives of construction workers.
AND LOOK AT ALL THE HELP HE IS GETTING HERE ON F.R.
Many of the posters on the threads about this incident make ME WANT TO PUKE.
Hopefully, this will all be exposed, the case will be tried properly, the young man will learn his lesson and pay his fine, and the officer will continue on his job.
And hopefully, some posters on FR will take a little more time to find out the facts instead of RUSHING TO JUDGMENT and being manipulated by YOUTUBE.
THANK YOU, ArmstedFragg, for doing your own thinking and investigating and providing it for all to see.
Spent my career editing tape. I can do amazing things with a piece of video if I want to.
Is it your belief that a cop has to tell you “You are under arrest” before he handcuffs you?
Do you know what “under arrest” means????
Please explain your interest?
See my post #102. As I read Utah Code, the officer is required to inform the detainee of his imminent arrest.
See Utah Code 77-7-6, posted at #102. It says the officer must announce the arrest first does it not?
“The cop set up a speed trap.”
So, is it your contention that the cop got the city, or state, to move in construction equipment, set up construction signs saying “40mph” just so he could catch people doing 68mph???
“He failed to treat the driver with respect and failed to handle the situation properly when the driver got upset.”
The driver failed to show his license and registration when asked. Then he refused to sign a SIMPLE SPEEDING TICKET.
Then, when asked to get out of the vehicle, wanted to ARGUE with the officer about the SPEED LIMIT SIGN, which was seen VERY CLEARLY IN THE VIDEO. (BTW, there were two 40mph signs, and CONSTRUCTION signs).
I think the officer was just patient for as long as humanly possible. When the driver kept heading towards the police cruiser (which, BTW, usually contains LOADED WEAPONS) and put his hand in his pockets, and the female kept getting in and out of the vehicle, the officer had to do something to keep the situation under control.
HINDSIGHT is 20/20. NOW, we all see that the young man was likely harmless.
What happens to that officer next time if the ‘driver’ has a gun in his pocket???
There was a post asking a word to be explained without indicating what the word was, I was just seeking clarification.
“The citizen may not have known that, though, and thought he was in the right, legally.”
Ever heard this phrase : “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”?
“He was not dealing with a robber or someone wanted or on drugs etc.”
How would you know? He was speeding through a construction zone, and Passed a POLICE CAR.
He didn’t want to give his license or registration to the cop.
He didn’t want to sign the citation.
He got out of the car, and would not listen to the officer’s requests.
He kept walking back and forth, and around.
SOUNDS JUST LIKE A METH HEAD.
SO, how can you claim he wasn’t on drugs? I am asking.
LEO - Law Enforcement Officer.
It’s be interesting to see the case law construing that section. The way I read it, it says the announcement must be made in the course of arresting him, not PRIOR to arresting him. It also has several exceptions, including one that could be argued to apply here.
Or even better, simply protecting a video that was mysteriously going to disappear...you know, damaging evidence that could show how malicious the LEO was in his actions.
“I would include at least some sort of military service.”
Agreed!! How shallow of me. Military service would definitely be a plus. Mature and disciplined right at the beginning of an individual’s law enforcement career. Perfect!
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