Is it legal to tazor someone with handcuffs on?

Fred C

He was carrying a pistol? He was drinking? He was acting erratic? Serves him damn well right. In the old days, he would have been tossed into a wall, down the stairs, then into a cell. Being drunk, he probably thinks he asked nicely for a phone call, and hasn't told you he tried to headbutt officers, kicked over furniture, tried to put a hole in the wall, etc. He obviously wasn't locked in a cell at the time, or the handcuffs would have been off.
Your friend is an idiot who is lucky to be alive. His first order of business is to go to an AA meeting.

Kackalack

If people can be patient and cooperate with police **** wont happen to them. That's why he was tazored. He will have weapons charges, underage drinking charges, and will probably be hit with something for no cooperating.

Mark W

if you are a cop yes! cops can do anything they want to.
(they have a badge and a gun)
oh and you have no rights when you get arrested.
I bet he won't be doing that again.

Good Luck!

g_insane

This is a good lesson for anyone who ever gets arrested to JUST BE COOL while in custody. The more problems you try to create the more problems will be created for you. I had a friend in a similar situation who was cuffed in a holding cell and threw himself on the floor and began banging his head on the floor. They tazed him to get him to stop. If a suspect is overly combative, the officer can use this type of force to put an end to the problem. While I don't agree that use of a tazer is reasonable force unless a suspect is resisting with violence, nevertheless the officer will state that the situation was beyond control at that point and they had no other choice.
Your friend may get an additional charge of disorderly conduct.

mann

It could have been worse -- looking from both sides.

Tmess2

There is not a right to an immediate phone call (contrary to what years of television shows has led people to believe) except in the case of driving while intoxicated in some states.

Generally speaking, the Constitution guarantees a defendant the right to refuse to answer questions without an attorney present. That right does not mean that the police have to allow the defendant to call an attorney. It merely means that they have to stop questioning the defendant. The Constitution does not guarantee that the defendant must be immediately informed of the charges, merely that he not be unreasonably held without due process. That right has generally been interpreted to mean that he be informed of the charges within a reasonable time, but no longer than 48 hours after arrest.

Carrying a pistol while drunk is a serious offense in many states and he could have to serve real time. At 17, I doubt that he will have to serve real time, and probation is the most likely outcome, but some jurisdictions take certain offenses more seriously than other jurisdictions do, so no one but an attorney who practices in your friend's jurisdiction can accurately guess at the actual outcome.

Assuming you have a full and accurate description of what happened at the jail (and most of the time, defendants do not tell their friends and family everything), it sounds excessive to me. Excessive use of force by police can be a crime, but like all crimes it must be proved. What makes the force excessive is not that your friend was handcuffed, but that he was already confined in the cell. People in handcuffs can still do a lot of things that would pose a threat to others, thereby justifiy the use of force to subdue them. However, an inmate merely being noisy is not a grounds for police to use force. If he was destroying property in the cell or fighting with someone else in the cell or refusing to leave the cell, then the police might have had grounds to use a tazer.

PÉ™nny Proud

Well, i've heard of cops shooting people with cuffs on, so i guess they figure a tazor's not so bad...

raichasays

What we have here is a failure to communicate...

You don't have a right to a phone call. You have the right to be presented before a judge in a timely manner to be arraigned on the charges. If you have not been allowed a phone call, because you are a drunk, belligerant teenager with a gun and a bad attitude, you will be asked at arraignment if you need time to get a lawyer or if you need to have a lawyer appointed.

That's about it. You can scream all night, they don't have to hand you a phone.

As for "fussing"--cops need to keep order in jail and they don't need one guys' fussing to become a jail riot. It always amazes me when people who have been combative with police officers for more than an hour are surprised when they finally learn the true meaning of the word "custody".

Yes, he could serve time. He needs to get that lawyer.

snwrist84

Yeah probably, even with handcuffs on somebody can be out of control. They could headbutt, spit, yell, etc.

Lance W

It isn't necessarily illegal to taser someone who is in handcuffs.

The cops have a pretty fluid standard. The question is whether it was an unreasonable use of force. I think that it probably was unreasonable to taser him just because he was being loud. The PD should have a written policy defining when the use of a taser is appropriate - if that policy was violated it would help to prove that the use of force was unreasonable. Not that it is worth any real money, but your friend needs to seek out an attorney who has experience with civil cases involving excessive force. Maybe that will help him get out from underneath any criminal charges for carrying a concealed weapon or whatever they finally charge him with. Of course he will need a criminal defense lawyer as well, but I would suggest seeking civil counsel immediately in order to help alleviate the pressure from any criminal charges.

Only attorneys licensed in your state are competent to answer these questions thoroughly and accurately. In my experience civil suits against the police department aren't worth a damn unless the plaintiff is seriously injured. They fight like hell on even the smallest of claims. Good luck & tell him that there probably isn't even a law that allows him a phone call (there isn't a law like that in Missouri where I live) - it is likely that all he's entitled to after he's been arrested is to get a reasonable bond. His best bet is to STFU and focus on getting out of jail - yelling at the cops won't help accomplish that goal.

sophieb

If he had a firearm on his person he would have also had to have the ID card that says he could carry. Did he have that? If he was intoxicated then that's the reason he was pulled into jail, to sleep it off. And to remove the firearm from him while he was drunk so he wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else. If they had to taser him then he was probably unmanageable becaue he was drunk. What did you expect them to do, hit him with their billy club? no, police are allowed to taser for control purposes. He didn't get a phone call because he was drunk, but once he slept it off I assure you he would have been allowed one call. Since you don't know what really transpired (probably films prove what did occur) if your bf has any problems or feels he has been charged and he didn't deserve it then he can certainly talk it over with an attorney.
Seems to me that the police hauled him in for protective measures (his, your bf's and society) and anything else that went on went on because your bf was drunk. I don't think it would be a big deal unless he makes a big deal about it.

tonalc1

It depends on the state. There are different ideas as to what defines a "non-compliant" person and the remedies available.

Bottom line, though, tasers should be used for officer safety, not just because the person annoys them.

Lunatic

It is situation dependant. However, the law states that once you have put a person in handcuffs, you are legaly responsable for that persons well being as long as they are in your custody (they are no longer in your custody when A) you uncuff them and release them, or B)another lawfully permitted authority takes custody of the individual). Keep in mind that your friend may not be telling the entire truth. I say this only because I know of no law enforcement agency that keeps prisoners handcuffed once they are in a cell, unless that person is extremely violent, and so forth. (Even then, I havent heard of one, but I could see it happening.) As far as the tazing, the officer is only in the right if your friend was either attacking the officer, trying forcefully to escape, or was resisting being restrained by the officer (handcuffs, ect.)

As to the phone call, you are entitled to it, however I do not beleive that it is required to be given to you right away. (I'm sure there's a minimum peroid, but if they were still processing his information or what ever, they likely had legitimate reason to wait.)

As to serving 'real' time, two things. First, it is a high likelyhood if he can be charged with assaulting the officer who tazered him. (Or for any of his other offences) As to the situation in general, tell the moron to stop getting drunk in public, especially underage, and to leave the gun at home untill he has a permit to carry it. (which I do not believe he can get in any state now because his getting caught with it is technically viewed as a gun crime.)

Bwana

Your words: your friend was carrying a pistol (a hand gun). I'm assuming your friend is not licensed to carry. The situation: drunk? and packing! It could result in a felony charge! on the packing charge.

Obviously, your friend is not too smart and, evidently, from your description regarding his conduct while in custody, not very mature either. No even for a 17 year old.

There are options, if available, to control an unrulely punk, other than using a tazor on him, and I'm assuming you have only his word on this? no police confession to doing the deed? Am I still batting 1000? I thought so.

What entitlements a detainee will be granted depends on the situation, including, but not limited to, his current condition and conduct. If he is drunk or unrulely, or both, or he has given cause for concern that he may be a danager to himself or others, no; he isn't going to be alowed to leave the holding cell to make a phone call until his condition and conduct improves.

Let's not blame others for this young man's conduct; he has only himself to blame...I'm just going on what you stated as being the situation.

Arrested him? OK, now he has a problem, and needs an attorney.

I'm just wondering: if he wasn't allowed to make any phone calls, how did you find out about it? Did he call you? or was it someone else who heard about it from yet someone else and you heard it from them? Was it on the Early Morning News, picturtes following at Noon? He must have called someone at sometime.

Serving time? Well, you said he is 17; I'm assuming he is a minor? If so, this case will be probably be sealed, regardless of the outcome. However, if he's tried, and tried as an adult for a felony and found guilty of the felony by a jury, he may serve time; depends on his record, and on the judge.

Mike

Like others have said he may have been out of control and could have been a danger to himself or others. So it would make since why they would taser him. There should be a tape of the incident so that will help determine how much how much of his story was made up.

Matt A

Dont taze me bro, yeah its a big joke. The police are out of control and the courts let them get away with it.

Angie

If your a cop in the US anything you say is legal is , unless you really mess up and kill someone or come close to it

I don't know if it is legal or not but it's definatly wrong.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: