UHP investigating trooper's Tasering of driver who refused to sign ticket
By Nathan C. Gonzalez
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/21/2007 02:12:20 PM MST
Updated: 2:07 PM- Was a Utah Highway Patrol trooper acting within policy when he Tasered a driver for refusing to sign a traffic ticket?
That is the question UHP internal investigators hope to answer after Trooper John Gardner - a 14-year UHP veteran - zapped Vernal-area resident Jared Massey with the device after he refused to sign a speeding ticket or submit to arrest about 10 a.m. on Sept. 14.
The incident placed UHP on the defensive when the cop's dashboard video of the emotional incident found its way onto Internet site YouTube.
"We've gotten quite a bit of publicity, especially since it's been on YouTube," said Trooper Cameron Dash-Cam Taser Video
Roden, a UHP spokesman. "We are doing an internal investigation to see if the trooper's actions were warranted. We are trying to expedite it."
The 10-minute long dashboard camera video begins when the officer passes a sign clearly showing a speed limit of 40 mph on U.S. 40. Gardner - who remains on duty Wednesday - then proceeds to pull over Massey's Dodge SUV.
The trooper approaches the driver's side window and twice asks for Massey's driver's license and registration. The second time, the trooper is audibly frustrated, saying says, "Driver's license and registration, like now."
"How fast did you think you were going?" the officer asks.
"I was going 68," Massey could be heard as saying.
"OK, there's a sign right there that says 40 mph," the officer says, shortly before returning to his squad car.
When Gardner returns to the SUV with the traffic ticket, Massey refuses to sign the citation, insisting that Gardner show him the 40 mph sign.
"Well, you are going to sign this first," Gardner said.
After refusing, Gardner asks Massey to exit the SUV, which 2:23 minutes into the video; he does.
The pair walk to the front of the officer's car, where Gardner points his Taser at Massey ordering him to place his hands behind his back.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Massey says, while turning and beginning to walk back to the SUV. Gardner tells the driver to turn around, but he refuses and continues walking away.
The officer then aims the Taser, and 2:37 mines into the video, fires it at Massey, who can be heard screaming on the ground. Massey's screaming wife then comes outside the SUV and is ordered back inside the vehicle by Gardner.
Following the incident, Massey can he heard repeatedly asking to be read his Miranda Rights, but it remains unclear from the video, which cuts in and out, whether the officer complied with that demand.
Roden said he was unaware whether the man was given his Miranda Rights, but noted Massey could have been read them when booked into the Uintah County jail.
In the video, Gardner repeatedly states he Tasered Massey because he failed to comply with his instructions and demands. At one time he tells Massey that "on the side of the road is not the place to argue" the ticket.
"No, but on the side of the road is where I should have my rights read to me and tell me what I'm being charged with and why I'm being arrested," Massey retorts.
When a driver signs the traffic ticket, it' is not an admission of guilt but merely their legal acknowledgment that they promise to show up to court or to pay the ticket, Roden said.
In the event that a motorist refuses to sign a trooper has two options, Roden said. One is to write "refuses to sign" on the citation, which is then given to the driver. The second is to arrest the driver.
"I can't speculate to this incident what was going through officer's mind," Roden said. "The officer has to weigh a lot of different things."
Troopers that carry Tasers must also take a course on how and when to use the devices, Roden said. They are taught to use them in three circumstances:
The first is when a person is a threat to themselves, an officer or another person; second is in cases where the physical use of force would endanger the person or someone else; and third is when other means of lesser or equal force by the officer has been ineffective.
"There's a lot that goes into it," Roden said.
