Judge Sentenced for Shock-collar Abuse

[patric]

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former Maryland judge who ordered a defendant to be physically shocked in his courtroom was sentenced Thursday to participate in anger-management classes and pay a $5,000 fine.

Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley will also have to spend a year on probation. Nalley, 72, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a civil rights violation for ordering a deputy to activate a "stun-cuff" that a defendant appearing before him was wearing around his ankle. The defendant, who was acting as his own lawyer, was before Nalley in July 2014 for jury selection and had failed to listen to Nalley's orders to stop speaking.

After he was shocked, the defendant fell to the ground screaming. A video of the exchange without sound and separate audio was played in court Thursday. Prosecutor Kristi O'Malley noted that the defendant didn't raise his voice or yell during the exchange and even called the judge "sir."

She said Nalley "very quickly grew impatient" and that his use of the stun-cuff was "highly disproportionate" for "nothing more than verbal interruptions."

"Our constitution does not allow a violation of rights based on annoyance," she said.


I was able to find only one news story about them being used at the Tulsa County Courthouse:

(KOTV) -- The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says deputies had to shock a defendant after he attacked his defense attorney during his own trial.
Ernest Padillow was about to take the stand when deputies say he punched his court-appointed attorney in the mouth and jumped on top of him.
It all happened in front of the jury.

"They were on the ground. There was some furniture damaged in the process. One of the defense counsels had some very minor injuries that he suffered in the facial area," said Major Shannon Clark, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
Clark says a deputy stationed in the courtroom shocked Padillow three times to get the situation under control, which he says took less than a minute.

Clark says deputies attach a device to every criminal defendant's calf before they go to court just for situations like this one.
Deputies hold the controls. Each tase lasts ten seconds and sends 80,000 volts through the inmate's body.

[patric]

TulsaNow Forum is on top of it...  

http://www.newson6.com/story/33990529/use-of-shock-cuffs-on-tulsa-murder-suspect-raising-questions-for-some

[heironymouspasparagus]

TulsaNow Forum is on top of it...  

http://www.newson6.com/story/33990529/use-of-shock-cuffs-on-tulsa-murder-suspect-raising-questions-for-some

Just wondering - how is this different from wearing handcuffs...??   As long as ya don't try to escape or run or attack someone, nothing happens.  Well, unless I have the button.  Then there might be an "accidental" discharge....

[patric]

Just wondering - how is this different from wearing handcuffs...??   As long as ya don't try to escape or run or attack someone, nothing happens.  Well, unless I have the button.  Then there might be an "accidental" discharge....

I have heard from sources I trust that happens, with some regularity.  Without any sort of policy for their use, its a level of force that doesnt get documented.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I have heard from sources I trust that happens, with some regularity.  Without any sort of policy for their use, its a level of force that doesnt get documented.

I would have no doubt.  The temptation is just too much.  But then there is still that whole thing about if ya don't want electro-shock therapy, don't 'touch' the bare electrical wire - meaning the court system.

[patric]

  The temptation is just too much. 

TCSO said on Tuesday they would not be commenting further on use of the cuffs, at the request of the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office.
https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/courthouse-use-of-stun-cuffs-not-a-new-development/

[patric]

A Texas judge had a defendant electrically shocked three times during trial for not following courtroom etiquette.
http://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/article203890369.html

"A stun belt is a device meant to ensure physical safety; it is not an operant conditioning collar meant to punish a defendant until he obeys a judge's whim. This Court cannot sit idly by and say nothing when a judge turns a court of law into a Skinner Box, electrocuting a defendant until he provides the judge with behavior he likes," Texas Eighth Court of Appeals Justice Yvonne T. Rodriguez wrote.

The appeals court said that 50,000 volts can have cognitive impairment effects on a defendant. Morris' condition after the three shocks was not reported in the court's opinion, however.

The defendant's conviction was later thrown out.

[TeeDub]

On the upside, it was being corrected before it made the national newspress.   That has to be a plus.

[patric]

On the upside, it was being corrected before it made the national newspress.   That has to be a plus.

"As the circumstances of this case perfectly illustrate, the potential for abuse in the absence of an explicit prohibition on non-security use of stun belts exists and must be deterred."
https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2018/03/06/electric-shock-delivered-at-trial-to-texas-defendant-results-in-reversal-of-conviction-curb-on-use-of-stun-belts/?slreturn=20180208110934


There is another similar case pending
http://www.ktre.com/story/37673076/shock-belt-use-cited-as-part-of-james-calverts-death-penalty-appeal

It might be worth discussing now that there is case law where shock-collar abuse results in a new trial.