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Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering

By Jeralyn, Section Misconduct
Posted on Sun May 01, 2005 at 05:27:22 PM EST
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Gwinnett County (Georgia) DA Danny Porter has questions to ask the runaway bride before deciding she should not face criminal charges, but he's doesn't think Georgia sheriff deputies who tasered a handcuffed and foot-bound arrestee five times in 60 seconds should be charged, even though the prisoner died at the scene.

Wizbang has a link to the police video of the Georgia deputies tasering Frederick Williams, and writes:

Frederick Williams last words as he was carried into the Gwinnett County jail were, "Don't kill me, man. Don't kill me." It turned out to be an unheeded plea - minutes later he was dead after receiving 5 direct stuns from a Taser gun in the span of 60 seconds.

A sheriff's department investigation found the deputies acted properly. A police investigation also cleared them of criminal liability. The grand jury refused to view the video and declined to recommend indictment for the deputies. The D.A. says this ends his case, although Wizbang notes the DA declined to prosecute the officers before he sent it to the grand jury.

Be sure to listen for the line, "Do you want another one?" from one of the deputies,

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more. [hat tip: Balloon Juice.]

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    Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#10)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:52:55 PM EST
    On CNN or MSNBC (I forget) they have a show on the California Prison system (not a series a show) and they are discussing tasers. They show each prison officer getting tased as each one has to be tased as part of the training exercise. They are in obvious pain, rolling and writhing on the ground, and in the background most of the other officers are cheering and laughing. Watching someone, especially a co-worker, writhe in pain under most circumstances would make people very uncomfortable if not ill. They are openly laughing and cheering at anothers pain and suffering in the trials, and we expect professionalism or restraint under different circumstances? Chalking it up to bravado or just trying to support each other by trying to keep it jovial under the circumstances, does not work for me. It is sadistic to take delight in cruelty and I am hard pressed to believe that the tape is not telling as to the forethought of using tasers all too liberally.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#11)
    by Richard Aubrey on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:53:06 PM EST
    JL. You really don't get guys, do you? BTW, your hero, Carpio, the Providence cop-killer and old-lady-stabber, crippled three more cops several days ago. (Pause to let the cheering and hooting die down) From which it might be inferred that his initial "struggle" was a bit more enthusiastic than the passivity you imply he exhibited while being beaten half to death by the Blue Meanies. Not to be a pooper but I've noticed a distinct lack of innocent until proven guilty on this case. Anyway, it may be there is more to the taser case in hand than meets the eye now. Maybe we should wait before judging...? Not to ruin a good hate or anything. Hell, I admit it. I love ruining a good hate.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#12)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:53:06 PM EST
    JL, LOL....

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#1)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:54:09 PM EST
    Less lethal after all. It would have taken only one bullet! So it is only 20% as lethal!

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    Like the St Louis case, this is an abuse of power and authority. It's hard to submit and be submissive when you are being tortured. There's a natural instinct to try to run from people who are doing you harm in this manner. So how about a manslaughter charge against the perps?

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    Another day, another black Southern man dead in custody. Another grand jury yawning and saying, "Aw, they was jus' havin' a little fun..." Another day, another nationwide manhunt for a not-really-missing white woman. Goooooooood Bllleeeeeessss Aammmmerrricccaa!!!!!

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    It's "unclear" if the taser was the cause of death? Yeah I'm sure going into a coma and dying 2 days later was a freak coincidence.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    Actually, Johnny, a bullet in the leg isn't lethal at all, unless they ask him if he wants another one and interpret his screams as 'Yes.' They went to all the trouble to cook him, why don't they hold a picnic?

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#6)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:39 PM EST
    A bullet in the leg can be lethal-it could lodge under the skin and cause a very bad infection!

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:39 PM EST
    Get used to it folks. Once the state gets a new torture device, they ain't gonna stop using it. Less lethal when used appropriately, maybe. I'd bet the guards just got too much of a sadistic kick out of watching a chained man squirm due to high voltage.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:39 PM EST
    Kdog- I know I've heard some pretty pathetic comments from other officers on several occasions when I've been at functions with friends on the force. This guy was bound and handcuffed. I can't see how anyone in that position presents a serious enough threat to warrant being murdered by repeated tasering (and if we has restrained, it's definitely murder). I can't wait to see how our resident police brutality apologists spin this one. These ignorant sadists should have their badges stripped, and be prosecuted under any applicable laws.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#9)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:39 PM EST
    Unfortunately Adept, they won't face justice. The people of Georgia, represented by the grand jury, seem just fine with their subhuman behavior. And I thought any DA worth his salt could indict a ham sandwich. Must not have tried very hard. This country is becoming an embarassment.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#13)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:40 PM EST
    Rich, then they are no different than Carpio. I understand guys, I just don't make it a point to hang out with sadistic cowards. I love boxing, and have done it for years, there is nothing like two guys suiting them up for a throw in a ring. Lots of guys take cheap shots, I look at them as cowards, no different than I look at someone that tasers someone 5 times to "control" him. Are you advocating death at the hands of officers for those that are presumed guilty? As as aside, Cops and Jailers are not even in the ten most dangerous professions, convenience store owners have much more dangerous jobs...

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#14)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:40 PM EST
    And here is what I said about Carpio, nothing about "passivity" nothing about heroic, nothing about the guilt or innocence of the cops that responded: Last night on MSNBC they said there was a "struggle" before he even got to the police station. So he may have been beaten prior to even being taken into custody. Or, falling three floors out of a window might have given him the punkin head look. Rich, I don't mind you taking issue with what I say, just make sure I said it.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:40 PM EST
    Real men don't taser chained men, I'm with you J.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#16)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:42 PM EST
    I don't think they should kill a handcuffed man with a taser either, and to my knowledge no one has shown that they have. Nor have they shown he died as a result of the taser, only that he died after it was used. does anyone here know that this man would not have died if say, and officer boxed with him?

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#17)
    by Richard Aubrey on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:42 PM EST
    Ricky. You goofed again. I didn't say that objecting to a guy dying from tasering makes you a Carpio lover. I said you are Carpio lovers because of the talk that went on on that thread. He killed a cop. He knifed an old lady. Your response: The cop? Pfft. The old lady? Who? He struggled with the cops, he went out a third-floor window and, without any evidence except that he was injured, he turns into Nelson Mandela and the cops are the evil perps. Got that? Now, he lured three cops into his cell, seriously injured all of them. Not that that's a bad thing for lefties, but it does indicate there may be more to Carpio than another incarnation of Ghandi. This, I suggest, is a lesson to apply to the tasering case. As in, wait for the evidence.

    Re: Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering (none / 0) (#18)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:42 PM EST
    patrick, try the Bloomington, Indiana case. And if the guy had died after an "officer boxed with him"; a chained, defenseless victim does not a boxing match make.

    Inmate Dead Following Repeated Tasering | 18 comments (18 topical)