FL Deputy Shows Up At Wrong Address, Uses Taser Gun On Marine

[Vernal45]

FL Deputy Shows Up At Wrong Address, Uses Taser Gun On Marine

Reservist Says He Told Deputy He Was At Wrong Apartment

April 4, 2005

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Marine reservist who just returned from overseas was shocked with a Taser gun by a deputy who went to the wrong address in response to a domestic disturbance call.

On March 7, Leon County deputies went to Demar Jackson's apartment instead of the correct one next door.

Jackson says he tried to tell Deputy John Daly he was at the wrong apartment, but Daly told him three times to turn around. When he did not turn around, Jackson said Daly shocked him in his bare chest and abdomen with 50,000 watts of electricity as Jackson's wife and 3-year-old son watched.

Friday, Jackson, who had returned four days before from an assignment in Africa, filed a complaint about the incident.

Police said Jackson is charged with resisting arrest without violence. He pleaded not guilty.

"At first, I couldn't believe what was happening. I thought I was staring down the barrel of a .45 or something," said Jackson. "I was thinking to myself, 'I just got back from overseas and now I have to deal with this?' "

Jackson acknowledges that he questioned Daly's orders to turn around. But he says he never moved toward the deputy and had his hands above his head during most of the encounter.

Daly's incident report does not mention any signs of physical resistance or aggressive behavior.

The Leon County's Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident, spokesman Sgt. Chris Chase said. He would not comment on whether the charges would be dropped.




I wonder, if an LEO is at the wrong address, is he considered a tresspasser? And if so, he pulls a taser, gun or baton, (in my opinion) the home owner has the right to defend himself. Sorry, but the LEO in this story was in the wrong. Now watch the thin blue line circle the wagons.....

 

[MikeIsaj]

What a lot of people don't realize is that in most states, even though you KNOW the police are wrong or mistaken, you still must cooperate with them. Failure to do so is resisting arrest.

I'd like to know what the Marine was doing just prior to being Tazed. It sounds like an excessive use of force to me to taze a guy because he's talking to you.

 

[Domino]

Typical LEO BS, officers like that are lucky not to get themselves killed in those kind of situations. On the other hand he probably thought he was just doing his job. Bad situation on both sides.

 

[Parallax]

Raise your hand if you were there when it happened.

If you didn't just raise your hand, you're not qualified to armchair commando this one.

 

[Vernal45]

UMMM, the police were at the wrong house. Someone got tazed. Police did not have a legal reason to be there. Police are not special, they dont have a magic mushroom that grants them immunity from tresspassing...........

 

[mbs357]

Parallax wins.
The cop screwed up by going to the wrong house, the marine screwed up by resisting.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

What a lot of people don't realize is that in most states, even though you KNOW the police are wrong or mistaken, you still must cooperate with them. Failure to do so is resisting arrest.

I'd like to know what the Marine was doing just prior to being Tazed. It sounds like an excessive use of force to me to taze a guy because he's talking to you.

I am not one to support the notion of police running around with excessive authority to detain and arrest and generally hassle, but I do see the need for people to accede to their (legal) orders.

As a citizen, you DO have the legal obligation to obey the lawful orders of a police officer in the execution of his duty. In this case, part of the officer's duty was to locate the site of the disturbance. If a person heard an argument through the wall of an apartment building, they may be mistaken about what number apartment it is when they call 911 to report the incident. Then the cop arrives and has to figure out where the situation is actually transpiring. That may mean knocking on the wrong door. If you are the guy in the wrong apartment, and you've just finished cleaning your Sig, and you answer the door holding your pistol only to find the cop there, expect to be treated as a threat and ordered (quite emphatically) to drop the weapon! Likewise, if the cop reasonably believes that he is at the right apartment he is going to think that the first person to answer the door is likely involved in the altercation the call was made about. He may reasonably expect that it may be a very hot-headed, agitated person. He will act to protect himself, still under the assumption that this is the perp of the domestic assault/battery. Standing there defying him, asserting, "I'm not the dude, you have the wrong apartment"... well, how convincing do you think that will be to the cop? You would be the first suspect he ever encountered who said, "Wudn't me"?!

So the law does expect you to comply with the cop's orders, which will obviously be intended to straighten the situation out and ascertain everyone's identities. You can calm down and expect that when you cooperate eventually the cop will come to understand he's at the wrong apartment. Resisting him is just a good way to have him continue to think he IS in the right apartment, and has his man.

Just because YOU know you were doing nothing worth having the cops come does not mean that HE knows you were innocent. HE needs to do some investigating to find that out. Remember, he wasn't hanging out at your apartment before the call came in -- he is fresh on an unfamiliar scene.

I don't often side with police when it comes to the bull???? ways they do searches now (and the incredibly overreaching powers they now possess to search without warrant or cause). But in this case I do see their point.

-Jeffrey

 

[pax]

Parallax wins.
The cop screwed up by going to the wrong house, the marine screwed up by resisting.

+1

pax

 

[Vernal45]

The cop screwed up by going to the wrong house, the marine screwed up by resisting.

Sorry, The cop screwed the pooch. Guess what, if the cop does not have a legal reason to be there, THEN its not resisting. He, the cop, can get told to get bent. I do not agree that the LEO is always right, even when he is in the wrong. Sorry folks, Police states start like that.

 

[Blackburn]

Police are not special, they dont have a magic mushroom that grants them immunity from tresspassing

Bwahahah! Very true!

Police states start like that

I like cops a lot. But that's because cops around here are smart and not jerks. I agree again that treating peace officers as 'almighty' is a sure step in the direction of a police state.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

Given that WE, who actually ARE innocent, will protest our innocence to a cop who comes to our door by mistake,

AND

Given that a CRIMINAL, who actually IS GUILTY of a criminal act, will ALSO protest his innocence when a cop RIGHTLY shows up at his door...


What do you all propose cops do? Take the word of every person who says, "You got the wrong apartment"? What's wrong with expecting a person to sit tight and look and act non-threatening, and cooperate in unraveling the mystery, while the cop checks out what's what?

-Jeffrey

 

[goalie]

Daly's incident report does not mention any signs of physical resistance or aggressive behavior.

If the cop who tasered him doesn't even remember physical resistance or even some aggressive behavior, then I think I AM rather well-qualified to form an opinion based upon the officer's own report.

Anyone supporting an officer who tasers a person who is not physically resisting them or being aggressive towards them when the officer is at the wrong house is supporting a tenuous position at best.

 

[goalie]

What do you all propose cops do? Take the word of every person who says, "You got the wrong apartment"? What's wrong with expecting a person to sit tight and look and act non-threatening, and cooperate in unraveling the mystery, while the cop checks out what's what?

Um, according to the officer's own report,he did sit tight, and he was not threatening.

I guess I am a fanatic for feeling that it is reasonable to expect the officer to check the freaking address before restraining me with handcuffs.

 

[one45auto]

Sorry, The cop screwed the pooch. Guess what, if the cop does not have a legal reason to be there, THEN its not resisting. He, the cop, can get told to get bent. I do not agree that the LEO is always right, even when he is in the wrong. Sorry folks, Police states start like that.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

 

[Vernal45]

What's wrong with expecting a person to sit tight and look and act non-threatening, and cooperate in unraveling the mystery, while the cop checks out what's what?

Whats wrong?? I am sitting at my house, minding my own business, an LEO gets the wrong address, so I should obey the LEO (mind you, he is at the wrong house, I am not the perp he is looking for). NO, I have to disagree with you.

I have a lot of friends who are LEO's, Hell I used to be one. But LEO's are not always right. What pisses me off, is that people are conditioned to OBEY LEO's, as if they are GODS. Yes, it most circumstances, you have a duty to obey a LEO, but being in your home, LEO has the wrong address, Is not one of those cricumstances. It is a violation of my rights, unlawful dentention if you detain me, restrict my movement, taze me all because you screwed up for being at the WRONG HOUSE.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

I'm not for giving LEOs all kinds of power! Chill!

I just don't see how you suggest to resolve the following situation:

Cop gets sent on a call, ADDRESS UNKNOWN, let's say, "Domestic disturbance, second floor apartment, Criminy Heights." Someone calling 911 said, "I think it's coming from around the south end of the hall." Nothing more specific is available to the officer. He goes down to where the caller said she thought she heard a fight, knocks on a likely door. Occupant comes to door with, say, baseball bat in hand (there have been some home invasion robberies of late). Mind you, WE know this is the wrong apartment. So cop says he's investigating a D.D., would you mind putting the bat down because I need to talk with you about what happened here tonight... The cop does not necessarily have cause to KNOW yet that he's got the wrong guy. But this "wrong guy" gets INDIGNANT because obviously, WE know and HE knows that he didn't do anything wrong. So you say he should have the prerogative to just say no to any reasonable request by the responding officer to put the bat in the corner and sit with his hands in plain sight while the cop figures out just who he's supposed to be looking for?

I mean really, please suggest an alternative to, "Citizens comply with lawful order for the duration of the brief investigation until the situation becomes clear."

That seems like about the least rights-intrusive solution. If everyone who thought he couldn't possibly be the guy the cops want was free to ignore the cops and not make way for them to seek a suspect, we'd pretty much have chaos. I am NOT saying that the cops should be free to run rough-shod all over the place. But that's not what's necessarily being described here.

-Jeffrey

 

[Vernal45]

I am NOT saying that the cops should be free to run rough-shod all over the place. But that's not what's necessarily being described here.

Yes, that is what happened. The marine was at home, with his wife and child. Enter the LEO, wrong address, Marines evening interrupted, LEO did not have a right to be there, Marine got tazed. Sounds like rough-shod to me.

 

[DontBurnMyFlag]

i know alot of you guys are hard on LEO's, especially in cases like this. well im in school to be a cop and I just want to say, i would not do something so stupid. just reading a day of THR posts, im a better and more responsible person/shooter I know we see alot of stupid stuff done buy cops. but we have to realize they are out there everyday in stressful situations, each one different from the other. if we werent there, we cant really know what was going on. im justing posting my $.02 Alot of the cops i know are street smart enough and experienced enough to handle situations calmly and collectivley. but we all have our flaws.

 

[Sindawe]

...and cops wonder sometimes why folks don't trust/like the cops...

 

[publius]

What is a cop supposed to do with a suspect in a disturbance case who will not obey him? From some of the replies, I'm guessing he was supposed to read the suspect's mind, determine his innocence, and leave.

 

[TarpleyG]

Marine should have made the cop eat that G-damned Tazer.

You know what? I am really sick and tired of all these stories of cops using Tazers when it really isn't warranted. What ever happened to the doctrine of de-escalation that used to be taught at the academies? Tazing someone is easy and there usually aren't any repercussions. Cops are getting lazy I guess.

Oh, and before anyone gets their panties in a wad--I have several friends that are cops, in fact one is a very, very close friend. He wouldn't Taze someone for something like this. No one ever said police work was easy.

What is a cop supposed to do with a suspect in a disturbance case who will not obey him? From some of the replies, I'm guessing he was supposed to read the suspect's mind, determine his innocence, and leave.

What would the cop have done before the days of Tazers and OC spray? Maybe he could have used his brain? Me? I would have called dispatch to confirm. Where's the guy going to go while your on the radio verifying? Granted, dispatch could have also had the wrong address but if I am a cop standing in front of three people that all agree that there are no domestic issue problems occurring in their home, I am leaving.

Greg

 

[ravinraven]

What Watts?!

"--50,000 watts--"

And this guy is still walking around??

Try 50,000 volts.

Sorry. Just had to pull somone's chain for that one.

rr

 

[316SS]

publius wrote:

What is a cop supposed to do with a suspect in a disturbance case who will not obey him? From some of the replies, I'm guessing he was supposed to read the suspect's mind, determine his innocence, and leave.

Everybody is a suspect? How about "What is a cop supposed to do with a citizen minding his own business in his own home in the vicinity of a disturbance case who will not obey him?" The answer: Treat him with a little respect.

peacefuljeffrey wrote:

Cop gets sent on a call, ADDRESS UNKNOWN, let's say, "Domestic disturbance, second floor apartment, Criminy Heights." Someone calling 911 said, "I think it's coming from around the south end of the hall." Nothing more specific is available to the officer.

So the address is unknown, and the first door he comes to must contain the perp? I think the cop has the responsibility to use his eyes, ears, and, God forbid, his brain before jumping to conclusions.

The goal of Law Enforcement is to arrest, prosecute, and convict. These goals are often at odds with the best interests of even law-abiding citizens.

316

 

[geekWithA.45]

Role of the taser: Defensive weapon, or pain compliance?

In just about every questionable use of a taser I'd heard of, the context was one of applying voltage to obtain obedience, rather than as a less lethal defensive option.

Kinda says something, doesn't it?


This cop was over the top here. Here's a good counter example from my own life, many years ago.

I was walking down the stairwell in my apartment with a bag of laundry, and was surprised to see a small group of policemen coming up the stairs.

Lead Cop: "Halt! Who are you? Where do you live?"

Me: "Uh....my name is Geek, and I live at blah bla blah". (Pointing)

Lead Cop: "OK, we don't want you, we want your neighbor. You either have to go on your way, or go back to your apartment."

Me: "Uh, OK....I'm going home."


What's the point of this illustration?

-The cop could see that I did not present an immediate threat
-The cop was dedicated to the notion of finding out what the score was, before acting
-As my description was roughly the same as my neighbors, the cop was NOT dedicated to the notion of arresting the first person who vaguely matched the description he was given.

Good cop: +3

Bad cop: -3

Unfortunate marine: -1

 

[tailgunner]

Sounds like a good reason to use a peephole and a door chain until the officers explains who he is and why he is there.