Discussion for article #238043
Just gets better and better, doesn’t it? It should come as no surprise that these kinds of problems are rarely of the “one off” variety. A little poking around usually reveals that the latest abuse is simply the most recent in a long line.
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“The former Tulsa County reserve, Robert Bates, is accused in the complaint of using his stun gun in February on restrained suspect Terry Byrum after a traffic stop. Byrum, who was convicted later that month on drug charges, is serving an eight-year sentence at Lawton Community Correctional Center.”
He was convicted later in the month? And sent to prison for 8 years?
And it was in February, which only has 28 days…
How could that have possibly been a fair trial?
What was the drug charge? Being in possession of drugs while Black?
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Send him to a county lock-up until his wrongful death trial. He’s a menace to society.
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Perhaps it was a plea agreement with a habitual offender.
In case you hadn’t noticed, marijuana is legal in just two states. However, 8 years, again, suggests a repeat offender and being caught with something other than pot.
Why is it that many of these … end of looking like Dick Cheney
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“[I]f Bates used his stun gun on a suspect, it would have been for good reason.”
He’s actually correct.
I looked it up, and it turns out that sadistic gratification aggravated by gross incompetence is legally defensible as “good reason” in several jurisdictions.
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“Hello, I am a sadist. If I give you a bunch of money will you let me hurt people?”
“Sure, just don’t get too carried away.”
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That was the extent of his intensive training.
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It did not take a genius to predict that once these gadgets were issued to cops they would be used as torture devices.
I’m one of those non-geniuses .
In my lifetime, I recall cops equipped with an “iron claw,” aka, “come-along”. it was for a combative prisoner, but used, like the taser, for hurting guys the cop just didn’t like.
Don’t know if they’re still in use.
Don’t know how many here are familiar with the Stanford Prison Experience.
Humans are nasty creatures.
Check it out. It will be a revelation if you’ve never seen it.
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My guess is that the drug conviction and the traffic stop have nothing to do with each other.
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Just as a guess, I’d expect that the drug case was already in process when he was stopped and arrested for the license violation.
If not, it certainly would seem weird, to say the least.
Meh, technically its illegal. Nobody who isn’t dirt poor or the wrong color gets any jail time for drugs.
Trey Radel Congressman from Florida got probation for 3.5 grams of cocaine, an amount that plenty of people are prosecuted for sales. Look at Rush Limbaugh and how law enforcement turned a blind eye to his opiate addiction.
So its illegal, kinda. Much seems to depend on who you are.
I agree with both comments, I looked on-line, based on his mug shot, he certainly looks white.
There must be more going on here than meets the eye.
Pretend-Deputy Bates was hardly an “Ex-Deputy” when this tazing occured. And certainly was a Still-Pretend Deputy when the fatal shooting happened 2 months later.
In Tulsa it appears you just saddle-up and keep pretending till you get it right.
“I wouldn’t think for a moment that Mr. Bates would use unnecessary force,” Brewster said.
Of COURSE he wouldn’t .
“I wouldn’t think for a moment that Mr. Bates would use unnecessary force,” Brewster said.
Hmmm. Did you happen to notice that dead guy lying on the ground, that your client shot and killed while others held him down? I’m thinking that pretty much defines the idea of “use of unnecessary force.”
I realize you must defend your client, but you don’t have to be Stupid too!
“Bates has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the Harris case, saying he confused his handgun and stun gun.”
This is all well and good but no one is asking the more important question: Even if you mixed up your gun and taser, WHY WERE YOU TRYING TO TASE A RESTRAINED SUSPECT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!