LAWYER TAZERED

I wasn't there, so don't know both sides of the truth, but this attorney admitted to resisting what he called an unlawful arrest claiming that it was his right to do so. This shows that he was combative, and thus a potential danger to the persons entrusted with his custody. Since these people deal with criminals on a daily basis, it is no surprise that they responded to this perceived danger in a manner they felt necessary for their own protection. I'm not saying if they were right or wrong, only that they reacted according to their feelings and experiences.

In my local jail, telephone access is not available inside of the holding cells. It is in the booking area where the detainee has access to the officer(s) on duty. If the detainee is combative, they are not allowed access to the officer or the telephone. It is not that they are specifically being denied the right to use the phone, but that they are being kept in the cell for the protection of all parties.

Different jails have different setups and different policies, and I know that LE everywhere can be biased. This may have been the case here, but I also understand that a combative detainee will be treated accordingly.

This guy is an attorney, so he should know that a person doesn't resist arrest whether they agree with it or not. Nobody wants to go to jail, but fighting an officer will only gain additional charges against you. You cooperate with the officers, post bond or whatever, then fight it out in court. It is an inconvenience, sometimes very costly, but in this instance I think would have been much less so if he had cooperated instead of fighting.

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Possibly. Most states have laws that you have the right to resist an illegal arrest or detention with any force necessary (including deadly). At the Police Academy the LEO instructor paused and added: "notice it does not have an exception for police officers.."

However, (and this supports your position) most states also have laws that a citizen "shall submit peacefully to a lawful arrest" and that any injuries you sustain from the reasonable force necessary to effect your arrest are a result of your own misbehaviour.

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William Baldwin,BS,MD-S
MBA HCM program
Ground below Zero
New Orleans, La.

That is just the point, he did not submit peacefully according to reports which is why he got what he asked for. You are correct about submitting peacefully to a lawful arrest and as an attorney he should have submitted peacefully whether or not he thought it was lawful and fought it out in court. He spent many years in school and should have used the skills he learned to fight where he was trained to fight and that is in a court room.

There is a difference between Combative subject and Assaultive subject that’s where the use of force differs in its implement, if the subject is combative there are methods of control and restraint that may be used that don’t include fist or tasers like I stated the Taser is the new toy on the block and there is no real thought as to how it is used. Police and Correctional work is a contact profession and if you are afraid to get your hands dirty maybe its time to look for another profession. On the other hand I applaud any tool that protects officers safety, be it police correctional, bea or fra. I believe that it come to training and judicious use of such weapons.

The public will judge our use of force in how is it applied. Did they use all possible verbal communication with the subject? Officers have to know what response is justified depending on where on the ladder of force they are at with a subject. This dose not only go for police and corrections but for Bea and FRA as well if you want to keep your self out of a law suit and be able to clearly justify your actions to a jury because the typical jury member has never been in a violent confrontation in his or her life and these are the people that will judge your fait.

I don’t want people to get the wrong idea I like the taser it’s a use full less lethal weapon. I just think that it is being used as the end all be all and the over use of a tool like this will only spark out rage and mistrust in the public and then pressure from out side influents to curb the use of it or worse get rid of it.

Professionally yours,
Christopher Meyerson
Delmarva Consulting Group
11620 Reisterstown Road # 420
Reisterstown Maryland 21136
443-522-9398 Office
443-522-9244 Fax
443-418-1858 Cell
Email: Contact@Delmarvaconsulting.com
Web: www.DelmarvaConsulting.com