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
B.S. ALERT!!! The officer never informed the driver that he was under arrest prior to using the taser on him. Get your facts straight before you comment.
It’s sad that some, not all, police score quite high on the fascist scale. The power attracts them to the position.
The cop should be found guilty of assault and battery, and jailed.
Badge returned to the department.
I saw the FULL Video, before it was TRIMMED to fit YOUTUBE’s 10 minute limitation (which is not a real limitation, as they have videos that are and hour and a half long. It seems it depends on the SUBJECT MATTER, and whether they can generate more interest (HITS) by leaving it whole, or TRIMMING out certain PARTS. (just like the Clintons had the MSM do for them)
We are dealing some posters who BELIEVE that the laws should be different for a young WHITE GUY with a PREGNANT WIFE in UTAH, versus TWO BLACK GUYS in a CADILLAC in ARIZONA.
Who believe that the officer had no RIGHT to ensure the safety of his own life when confronted with suspicious actions of someone UNDER ARREST. Who believe that when a cop pulls them over, that they are not UNDER ARREST at that point. (I am sorry, but you are, and may be handcuffed, even if you never get a ticket, or are charged with anything).
PEOPLE seem to want to live in a fairy tale world, where they can WHINE and BEG their way out of tickets,
or leave the scene of a crime after running over CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BECAUSE THEY WERE DOING 68MPH in a 40MPH CONSTRUCTION ZONE (and then have daddy buy their way out), but , SHOULD a couple of vandals in a stolen car run a light, and hit one of these ‘people’, you can bet they would demand the cops CATCH these vandals, and if caught would be standing behind the cops yelling “HIT EM WITH THE TASER AGAIN”.
Not a one of them is truly interested in the facts of this case, as 99% have only seen the EDITED version, which has been EDITED to stir controversy.
Remember, the original came from the POLICE CAM, not some bystanders cam. WHO RELEASED THIS FOOTAGE to YOUTUBE (it wasn’t the police) AND WHY?
Maybe the kid’s LAWYER? Or his DAD (trying to get him out of the ticket)?
CAN ANYONE ANSWER THIS QUESTION?
Thank you.
I wish I could give out points to those who seem to be
MATURE
EDUCATED
KNOW THE LAW
HAVE SOME DAMN COMMON SENSE
You would have quite a few points already.
“He risked this guys life for his ego and then joked about it.”
That officer risked his life pulling over someone doing 68MPH in a 40mph CONSTRUCTION ZONE.
Do you understand the meaning of the words CONSTRUCTION ZONE?
I am serious, because you are acting like you don’t.
That ‘young man and his maybe pregnant wife’ could have RUN OVER A CONSTRUCTION WORKER AND KILLED HIM.
IS THAT OK WITH YOU?????????????????
I have been asking this question since the video first appeared (and I saw the FULL LENGTH VIDEO, not this EDITED VERSION).
WHO and what was their MOTIVE?????
No one seems to care about that issue.
No they won’t. Do you know what it takes to fire a cop? They’ll send him to “further training” and a month from now, it’ll be like it never happened.
Whatever. The whole time the cop tried to explain what was going on, he didn’t listen to any of it. Not only did Massey try to play roadside-lawyer, it’s obvious he didn’t have a clue. Dude was acting like he was under the influence. I don’t know why everybody is so enamored over him, he’s a total douchebag.
Ditto , non event ...........
Jamming your hands in your pockets and walking toward the car after being told to put hands behind back is plenty reason to taze him.
And if's it's at night turn your dome light on. Years ago I had two different former police officers tell me these same things. It's been a long time since I've been stopped for speeding but the two times I was, these are the things I did, and I only got a warning both times.
I think police officers probably regard these actions as a courtesy, especially when it's night.
Cordially,
Not if the officer acted within his legal authority, which he did, according to some on this thread.
Do you claim that the officer violated Utah law?
Referencing again 5Madman2 in 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.
If 5Madman2 (himself an officer) has it it right, the subject was under arrest as soon as he was pulled over.
Ohio: Cop Who Forged Motorist Signatures May Get Job Back
Nov 21, 2007
Cincinnati, Ohio police may reinstate an officer who forged the signature of motorists nearly leading to their arrest.
Admitting to a forgery that nearly sent two innocent motorists to jail may not be sufficient reason to keep a former Cincinnati, Ohio police officer off the job. In February, rookie Officer Elizabeth Phillips, 26, investigated a pair of collisions that took place in icy conditions involving Leah Borgmann and Nicolaus Scheper. Phillips wrote reports and let the drivers involved go without a ticket.
Later, Sergeant Michael Bepler was upset that no traffic citations were generated. He told Phillips to write them up. So Phillips cited Scheper for improper lights and Borgmann for failing to keep a proper distance. She forged the motorists' signatures to make it appear as if they had been ticketed at the scene.
When they failed to appear in court on charges they did not know were ever filed, arrest warrants were issued for Borgmann and Scheper. Both were forced to pay $104 in fines, but Phillips was arrested on May 3 only to be let off by a grand jury.
On October 5, the department fired Phillips fired for lying twice about the forgery and for insubordination.
Police officials waited just long enough to do so that her probationary period expired and she fell under the protection of the union which believes it can secure her job.
Even so the officer personal dislike for the driver is no reason to zap him!
The officer let his anger get in the way of him doing his business and the wife had every right to see what the officer was doing to her husband!
The officer also had no right to speak to Pregnant wife like he did she did nothing wrong, it is the officer who upset the wife.
I did not like the use of the words “would you like to take possession of the car now!”
I think civil servants are given too much authority in certain situations.
He was not dealing with a robber or someone wanted or on drugs etc.
I have seen this word often LEOs please explain?
Thanks!
So someone filling out a questionaire which asks about prior arrests - and who has been pulled over sometime in the past - should answer "yes"?
The suspect was clearly clocked before entering the 40mph limit zone.
***
If you watch the beginning of the video you see the officer slowed down and move over to right which hindered the motorist from seeing the speed sign 40 mile as the driver when by.
Every thing this officer did was premeditated!
BTW if the driver was clocked why didn’t the officer tell the driver how fast he was going?
That was precious I am the only one LOL
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