NEW ORLEANS, July 29, 2008
Ex-Cop May Face Taser Death Charges
Coroner Ruled Death A Homicide; Man Was Handcuffed And Jolted Nine Times, Prosecutor Says
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(AP / CBS)
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Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said the grand jury was scheduled to convene Aug. 12 to begin hearing evidence in the death of Baron Pikes, 21.
Pikes was repeatedly shocked with a 50,000-volt Taser as he was arrested on a drug posession warrant on Jan. 17. A coroner ruled the death was a homicide. Former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent has acknowledged using the device on Pikes, Nevils said.
Nugent's lawyer, Phillip Terrell, said he isn't surprised that Nevils wants a grand jury sort through the facts.
"Under the circumstances, it was not an unnecessary use of force, and he followed the protocols of the Winnfield Police Department," Terrell said of his client.
Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for Pikes' relatives, said the family welcomes the grand jury's probe. "That's a step in the right direction," she said.
Nevils office received a copy of a state police report Friday on Pikes' death, but he said information that his office gathered "independently" also factored into his decision to take the case to a grand jury.
Powell Lexing has accused police of trying to cover up what she called a racially motivated case of police brutality. Pikes was black; Nugent is white. Pikes fled when Nugent and another officer approached, but he didn't try to resist arrest after the officers caught up to him, according to Powell Lexing.
Winn Parish coroner Randolph Williams said all nine of the Taser shocks came after Pikes was handcuffed. He didn't have any "pain or neuromuscular response" to the last two shocks, Williams added.
"It's an indication he was physiologically unable to respond to the electroshocks," the coroner said. "I don't know that he was unconscious."
Police initially said Pikes told officers that he had asthma and had taken crack cocaine and PCP, according to Powell Lexing. However, Williams said he only found a small quantity of marijuana in Pikes' system and didn't see any evidence that he suffered from asthma.
"All of that stuff was fabricated," Powell Lexing said.
Nugent was fired in May, but is appealing.
Winnfield is about 40 miles northwest of Jena, the site of a massive civil rights protest last year. Thousands demonstrators gathered in Jena to protest the cases against six black teenagers charged with beating a white student at a high school.
Tasers are manufactured by Scottsdale-based Taser International.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 48 CommentsThis officer is trained for all types of apprehensions,
This officer is trained to deal with all types of criminals,
This officer is trained in proper escalation of force,
This officer is trained to use a Taser,
This officer put his life on the line every time he put that badge on, and he made decisions according to his training and experience, with the goal of serving and protecting the people of New Orleans!
Any one who believes the above *** deserves the government and police departments they get. Every day I read about another cop gone bad; another person killed by cops who think they are all mighty. Go to USAtoday and read about the Minniapolis MN SWAT team that busted into the wrong house, shot it up, and they tried to charge the man who lived there when the man tried to defend his family from what he thought was a robbery. No charges against the cops; they got awards for professionalism. Can you believe that, the chief of police gave them an award. The cops in this country have gotten out of hand. They think they are above the law and can do what ever they want by defending themselves by saying "I feared for my life". I say bull SXXX!!!
This officer is trained for all types of apprehensions,
This officer is trained to deal with all types of criminals,
This officer is trained in proper escalation of force,
This officer is trained to use a Taser,
This officer put his life on the line every time he put that badge on, and he made decisions according to his training and experience, with the goal of serving and protecting the people of New Orleans!
PEER EH UHD ! ! !
Posted by DaVicar2 at 10:22 AM : Jul 29, 2008
Sorry, but ''the officer'' was obviously a ''bad apple''; according to his own department (TV news) he violated ''every procedudure'' for operating a Taser.
People like you who are all too happy to accept a ''bad apple''s'' way of seeing things scare me. Will you have that attitude if the gov''t attempts to pull an unconstitutional deal of martial law against us?
In reality, this country is becoming like Russia and China. They have nice laws and Constitutions that supposedly elaborate and protect citizen''s rights, but the government just ignores it. Welcome to the REAL America- land of the privileged and home of the underclass.
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Posted by concorde5 at 11:13 AM
How about the death penalty?
(AP) Police stripped a New York City officer of his badge and gun Monday after a video posted on YouTube showed him body-checking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration.
The video was recorded Friday at the Critical Mass ride, a monthly protest of urban reliance on motor vehicles.
The video, posted anonymously, shows the officer standing in the street as bikes whiz past. He moves toward a cyclist and violently knocks him to the ground in front of crowds of people.
The officer in the video was placed on desk duty pending the outcome of a police department investigation, chief police spokesman Paul Browne said. The officer''s name wasn''t released.
Fry the jerk.
This officer is trained for all types of apprehensions,
This officer is trained to deal with all types of criminals,
This officer is trained in proper escalation of force,
This officer is trained to use a Taser,
Posted by DaVicar2
If you are saying that no Cop could ever commit a crime, be neglegent or mis-handle a SUSPECT (someone NOT convicted of anything yet), yo uare living in lala land. There IS such a thing, and this sure is IT. So why are there charges in this case if this racist cop is so innocent and just doing his job???
Posted by NAVYVET77 at 08:23 AM : Jul 29, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NAVYVET77;
Your name-calling insults speak more about your own intelligence, character, and integrity (or lack of), than to others.
But more to the point; While it is certainly true that not all cops abuse their authority like this, police departments, prosecutors, et al, who consistently refuse to hold the abusers responsible, are just as guilty as the abusers themselves.
This also includes AnY AND ALL cops, or regular citizens, who do not speak out against it.
You may now set your clocks back 100 years.
[Posted by patriot12436 at 01:43 AM : Jul 29, 2008]
how do you know he was a criminal? what type of criminal was he? was the possession charge for pounds or for marginal amounts ... how many repeat offenses did he have ... or was it only one discretion? was he guilty of the charge for which the warrant was issued? were there any extenuating circumstances that might qualify his status? is there any presumption of innocence for a potential suspect ... in the minds of a cop who is in the process of apprehending what he views as ''a criminal''? shouldn''t there be?
[Now the other side of the story. If he was in handcuffs and not resisting what was the purpose of tazing him ?]
because they could ... because they were all p!ssed off about him running, and this was a little payback for making them run after him.
I hope his sorry *** goes to Jail for a long time. You dont need to TAZE somebody 9 times with hand cuffs on. Send the Cop to jail and let him get gang raped he deserves it.
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Posted by GOP_forever at 08:46 AM : Jul 29, 2008
That is such a snobbish pig remark. Hope you have the same issue someday. Being poor doesn''t make you any less a person. Those types of remarks and that attitude is what is making our once great country fall to its knees. You have no sense of responsibility when it comes to your own people. This is why we have homeless and starving right here in our own country. This is so wrong and an abuse of power.
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See all 48 Comments