Ex-Cop May Face Taser Death Charges

Coroner Ruled Death A Homicide; Man Was Handcuffed And Jolted Nine Times, Prosecutor Says

(AP)  A grand jury in central Louisiana will consider criminal charges against a former police officer who is accused of jolting a handcuffed man nine times with a Taser before the suspect died, a prosecutor said Monday.

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.

[spredbury]

This officer was there, you were not...
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!


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!!!

[honestabe8]

I hear cops do well in prison. Good luck, cop.

[barbaram99]

toldyouso..thank ye..ye is right. It is the elders/seniors,us handicapped,anyone that can''t fit in their sick world.. Let not forget the asre in Germary got his ideas from America..Bush''s grandpa supported the nazi party. Yep. As a Mainer in Seattle I know he has a house up there and ye put THEM in office.This was a graet nation years ago.

[ofbyfor1]

This officer was there, you were not...
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?

[allurfears]

It''s a police state "my friends." The police protect the government and the government protects the police. Try to exercise your constitutional rights as a citizen and you''ll find that they exist in print only.

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.

[rudy654-2009]

This cop should serve some serious time. He has absolutely no respect for human life!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by concorde5 at 11:13 AM

How about the death penalty?

[rudy654-2009]

There is a psychological problem of power that police officers have to be careful of. That sense of power over another person can lead to all kinds of abuse when unchecked. This officer was obviously getting turned on by giving these tazer shots. It is the same kind of feeling the rapist has over his defenseless victims.

[u2canb1]

Here ya go - THIS police officer was trained...to...uuuhhhh, commit battery apparently..


(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.

[u2canb1]

This officer was there, you were not...
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???

[u2canb1]

Don''t charge him Bro!! Don''t charge him Bro!!!