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
Thank you.
The officer ordered the man to put his arms behind his back and the man failed to comply. Failure to comply with a "lawful order" allows the officer to use the force necessary to compel compliance.
Perhaps Utah law holds that such an order implicitly includes a "warning".
No, we think that he was unprofessional because of the his obviously poor attitude toward the motorist as evidenced at the start of the video. Even when Massey mouthed off at him, he should have just calmly explained the situation to the guy rather than getting angry and resorting to the taser. He didn't act like a professional, but a petty despot on a power trip, especially with his later comment to his back up about Massey " taking a ride on the taser."
Wow! Those are very rare critters these days. Almost all of the ones I know about are first class jerks. One of them gave my brother-in-law a ticket for doing 53 in a 50 mph zone (which he later got thrown out in court).
In another instance, just this past spring, one of my colleagues was sitting in a traffic jam on I-270 S near Gaithersburg, when an motorist plowed into his rear, pushing him forward and into the rear end of the guy in front of him, who then hit the guy in front of him. A woman trooper soon arrived, and instead of doing a proper investigation and citing the motorist who had hit my friend and caused the chain reaction, she simply gave them all tickets and told them to let the judge sort it out. The ticket was dropped two weeks later, but only after my friend had to invest time and money into getting a lawyer.
Now, ask me again why I don't generally like LEOs, especially troopers?
The cop set up a speed trap. He failed to treat the driver with respect and failed to handle the situation properly when the driver got upset. This is not quite a police state yet. Police should not be able to stop their boots on our face whenever they want.
This cop is incompetent and looking for an excuse to taze someone. His ‘order’ was not lawful. These kinda guys live for the take down of us little peons.
Dr. Zian Tseng, an assistant professor of cardiology at the University of California whose research has focused on the effects of Taser use, said the 30-hour gap between when Hyde was shocked and his death doesn't necessarily mean the two aren't related. "Other than causing an immediate cardiac arrest, the intense pain and adrenaline increase with a Taser application, you could certainly surmise that it could trigger a heart attack or kidney failure, or anything else that is going on would certainly worsen it," Tseng said in an interview from San Francisco. He said while Taser International insists the weapons have never been directly linked to a death, he believes the devices could harm people who are shocked. "They may claim there's no direct link, but whether it's a contributor or even an immediate cause of death ... certainly in my opinion the physiological effects of a Taser could worsen or trigger or exacerbate any conditions that would lead to death," he said.
“Now, ask me again why I don’t generally like LEOs, especially troopers?”
Because cops will back up their own no matter what they do?
I would include at least some sort of military service.
BINGO!
Cite?
Technically, when the subject was pulled over he was under arrest-a traffic stop is considered a non-custodial arrest by the courts. Once he refused to sign the citation, he was technically telling the cop that he wanted to see a judge right now.
Once the cop started giving commands, he was taking the subjects liberty, leading to a formal custodial arrest. Custodial arrest involves contact and physically taking custody, hence the “Put your hands behind the back” As the cuffs are applied, the suspect is told they are under arrest under most states laws and procedures.
I will admit the officer could have handled the situation better, with some better verbage when the subject refused to sign. (If you refuse to sign I am required by law to take you into custody, etc.) He could have used better tactics, but I will not do a MMQB on what he did-I was not there.
The subject was completely out of line trying to run a trial on the side of the road. If he had problems, he needed to tell the judge, not the cop.
Depending on his department policies and state laws procedurally, he appears to be doing what was authorized.
“He could have used better tactics, but I will not do a MMQB on what he did-I was not there.”
Yep cops backing cops up no matter what they do.
Not for me to say. It is up to his department.
Based on what I know of the law and general procedure, his actions appear to comply. What I would have done in a similar situation may or may not have been different.
I don’t back other cops no matter what they do, when they are wrong, I deal with it.
I notice you do a pretty good job of bashing them no matter what they do.
“I don’t back other cops no matter what they do, when they are wrong, I deal with it”
Deal with it how? How many fellow cops have you let off for speeding? For DUI? Wife abuse? I know a bunch.
“I notice you do a pretty good job of bashing them no matter what they do.”
I have an aversion to a police state which is where we are headed. Currently we have police encouraging people to allow warrant less searches, we have police tazing 82 year old women, we have police with the exact same tactics and weapons as the military.
Police should be held to a higher standard but are instead given a pass. Entire departments have been proven to be corrupt and/or incompetent. Departments confiscating innocent peoples property on trumped up drug charges.
Tazers have their place but this wasn’t one of them. A little respect (from both people) goes a long way. He risked this guys life for his ego and then joked about it.
Thank you for your input.
I answered specific items concerning this situation and you drag out your patented little “all cops are jack booted thugs that hide and protect each other behind the blue wall to infringe my perceived rights.” cliches.
No profession is perfect. The police are subject to more scrutiny than most, and rightfully so. But your little delusions do not merit a reply.
Good bye
I truly hope you enjoy your little world
Technically, he might be able to say he as “following procedure”... but, this incident NEVER needed to happen the way it did. First of all... there’s a money-grabbing speed trap. EVERYONE knows that when they see it, and can relate.
Second... this is a fine example of a PUNK with a badge on a serious power trip. Most people have encountered that a time or two as well.
As the final blow for this schmuck, the whole country has been getting a steady diet of “tasers kill” stories.. So, we ALL know, they can be dangerous.
In NO WAY, was this smart-ass driver ever a serious threat to this cop. All that was needed, was some explanation of what the signature was for. This cop was just lazy, angry and/or nervous. All are bad in a cop.
I bet the UHP is on the Defensive... they’d better get ready for a LOT more scrutiny. This is going to make people angry. This guy might be a good person, and normally a nice guy... but he doesn't need to be a Highway Patrolman.
And, here’s another question I have:
Just HOW did this video get posted on YouTube? Is that normal for Highway Patrol video to be posted?
Does someone IN the UHP not like this guy too much?
Just wondering.....
And what justification did the officer have for that order. The officer was totally out of line. Oh, I'm sure he will say he had suspicion, of what? Stupid improper use of authority. I'm afraid that we are creating a officer mentality that we get from the TV. Real life is different than the slap around cop mentality. Instead of internal investigators of the police department, we need a totally civilian over seeing of the police.
I will admit the officer could have handled the situation better, with some better verbage when the subject refused to sign. (If you refuse to sign I am required by law to take you into custody, etc.)
Yes. Seeing as many of us at FR had assumed that an officer had a legal requirement to announce an arrest prior to issuing an order to comply, perhaps this mistaken notion was also held by the arrestee.
He may have thought he was standing up to a "rogue cop".
On the other hand, a more mature citizen might have asked the officer "Am I under arrest?", helping the officer stay within the law, should the citizen have feared the officer had strayed, as humans will do.
The citizen was under arrest, according to 5Madman2, post #71:
Technically, when the subject was pulled over he was under arrest-a traffic stop is considered a non-custodial arrest by the courts. Once he refused to sign the citation, he was technically telling the cop that he wanted to see a judge right now.
Once the cop started giving commands, he was taking the subjects liberty, leading to a formal custodial arrest. Custodial arrest involves contact and physically taking custody, hence the “Put your hands behind the back” As the cuffs are applied, the suspect is told they are under arrest under most states laws and procedures.
I too would have preferred that the officer announce the arrest, since the citizen may not have known that he was already under arrest.
You remarked:
The officer was totally out of line. Oh, I'm sure he will say he had suspicion, of what?
Not a suspicion, but the citizen's clear refusal to sign the ticket. The officer had the authority to then proceed to "custodial arrest", it sounds like.
The citizen may not have known that, though, and thought he was in the right, legally.
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