Cop Punished for Abuse of Power

[Coyote]

Dear God, no! And I just unpacked the Box of Hate!

Would you like to know more? (From MSNBC).

Former police officer indicted in Taser death

Ex-Louisiana cop was accused of repeatedly shocking a handcuffed man
updated 7:27 p.m. MT, Wed., Aug. 13, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - A former police officer accused of repeatedly jolting a handcuffed man with a Taser before he died was indicted on a manslaughter charge Wednesday by a grand jury in central Louisiana.

The Winn Parish grand jury also indicted former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent on a charge of malfeasance in office stemming from the Jan. 17 death of Baron Pikes, 21.

Pikes was shocked nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser as he was arrested on a drug possession warrant in January, authorities said. Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he "unnecessarily" used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention "when it was apparent he needed it."


"In a civilized society, abuse by those who are given great authority cannot be tolerated," Nevils said in a statement.

Nugent, who is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 21, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the manslaughter charge. The malfeasance charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Nugent was fired but is appealing his dismissal. Phillip Terrell, Nugent's lawyer, has said his client followed department protocols and didn't use excessive force. Terrell didn't immediately return a call for comment Wednesday evening.

Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for Pikes' family, called the indictments "just one step toward justice."

Anger over Pikes' death has threatened to inflame racial tensions in Winnfield, where the population of roughly 5,800 is evenly divided between black and white residents. Pikes was black; Nugent is white.

The episode also has drawn comparisons to the so-called "Jena Six" case, which thrust a neighboring city in the national spotlight.

Winnfield is about 40 miles northwest of Jena, the site of a massive civil rights protest last year. Thousands of demonstrators gathered there to protest criminal cases against six black teenagers charged with beating a white student at a high school.

Officials don't want spectacle
State Sen. Gerald Long, a Winnfield native and third cousin of legendary former Gov. Huey Long, expressed confidence that community leaders won't allow the fallout from Pikes' death to divide the city along racial lines.

"We pray that it will not become a spectacle comparable to what took place in Jena," Long said. "Is it an explosive situation that can create a backlash? Sure, but that's not what I see."

Lawrence Spikes, a minister who ran unsuccessful campaigns for mayor of Winnfield in 2002 and 2006, said Pikes' death reinforces his view that abuse of power is a persistent problem in the city.

"This has been going on for a while," said Spikes, who is black. "It's not just blacks being abused. It's whites being abused, too."

On Monday, the mother of Pikes' 4-year-old son filed a wrongful-death suit in federal court against city officials, Nugent and Taser International Inc. The suit accuses city officials of civil rights violations in Pikes' death.

What is this world coming to?

[Death from the Sea]

I am surprised that this officer was able to taser the guy and then not allow him any medical attention at all.

If a taser is used here, we have to call an ambulance to check them out and give them the ok to go to jail and not the hospital.

[Keevan_Colton]

An update to this thread

[SirNitram]

Yea, nine times after being handcuffed and two after he stops even twitching is kinda the poster-boy for abuse of power.

[Raw Shark]

I am surprised that this officer was able to taser the guy and then not allow him any medical attention at all.

Jealous? Don't be:

If a taser is used here, we have to call an ambulance to check them out and give them the ok to go to jail and not the hospital.

Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he "unnecessarily" used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention "when it was apparent he needed it."

[Thanas]

Good. I hope they throw the book at him.

[Glocksman]

I am surprised that this officer was able to taser the guy and then not allow him any medical attention at all.

Jealous? Don't be:

If a taser is used here, we have to call an ambulance to check them out and give them the ok to go to jail and not the hospital.

Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he "unnecessarily" used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention "when it was apparent he needed it."

DFTS said he was surprised that the cop in question wasn't automatically 'countermanded' by procedures that required an ambulance to be called, and you're attacking him?

Fuck you and the cayuse you rode in on.

[Buddha]

This is a sign that the problem of abusive cops isn't recieving proper attention. You would think that with the media reporting it more and more, things would be done. Sadly, even more victims may not change this or make departments change hiring procedures and requirements.

[Death from the Sea]

I am surprised that this officer was able to taser the guy and then not allow him any medical attention at all.

Jealous? Don't be:

If a taser is used here, we have to call an ambulance to check them out and give them the ok to go to jail and not the hospital.

Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he "unnecessarily" used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention "when it was apparent he needed it."

since when does "surprised" = "jealous" ? your reading comprehension sucks.

and thanks for the back up Glocksman.

Buddha, you are never going to be able to fix a problem like this with one simple thing as adjusting the hiring practices, not to say that some departments might need to revamp theirs, but like Darth Wong has said, holding people accountable is also another factor and I also think better and more frequent training would also help. I don't think the number of victims excessive force these days (speaking percentage wise per capita) is near what it used to be, it is we just hear about it more because of the media enriched world we live in.

[Raw Shark]

I am surprised that this officer was able to taser the guy and then not allow him any medical attention at all.

Jealous? Don't be:

If a taser is used here, we have to call an ambulance to check them out and give them the ok to go to jail and not the hospital.

Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Nugent broke the law when he "unnecessarily" used the Taser on Pikes multiple times and failed to get him medical attention "when it was apparent he needed it."

DFTS said he was surprised that the cop in question wasn't automatically 'countermanded' by procedures that required an ambulance to be called, and you're attacking him?

The article seems to strongly imply that similar procedures were in place in the case under discussion here, but that other officers were either not present or not willing to enforce them at the time that Nugent failed to, which is why it didn't happen and got listed among his charges.

Fuck you and the cayuse you rode in on.

But my "cayuse" is literacy for Texas cops! How will they do their paperwork if we fuck that?

since when does "surprised" = "jealous" ? your reading comprehension sucks.

Since when does "Jealous?" = "Jealous!" ? The question mark is used to indicate uncertainty, such as in the question: "Would you feel safer with this guy, or Barney Fife?"

[Keevan_Colton]

The sad thing is this could have been seen coming. Out of 14 tazer use incidents for the department, 10 of them involved Nugent...when someone accounts for more than 2/3rds of your tazer usage alone that's got to be a red flag of some sort...