Jury decides if tasing violated man’s rights

A Jacksonville police officer used a Taser on a man who raised his fist near another officer’s head, but a jury will decide if the officer violated the man’s rights in tasing him a second time when he was on the ground, a federal appeals court panel said Thursday.

The panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said a videotape of the July 23, 2013, incident outside a business, Vaughan Tire, indicated the man, Charles Jackson, didn’t have time to comply with the officers’ orders before the second tasing.

The panel affirmed most of U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright’s March 12, 2018, order dismissing Jackson’s civil- rights lawsuit against Officer Billy D. Stair and the city after she determined Stair’s conduct “as a whole” was reasonable.

But the panel said a jury could find the second shot with the Taser amounts to a constitutional violation on its own. It reversed Wright and remanded the case with instructions to reinstate the lawsuit on that point alone.

“In light of the video footage depicting the quick succession of the tasings and dispute as to whether Jackson was resisting the officers or posing a threat at the time of the second tasing, we find that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the second tasing amounted to excessive force,” according to the opinion written by U.S. Circuit Judge Ralph Erickson of Fargo, N.D.

The panel also included Senior U. S. Circuit Judge Roger Wollman of Sioux Falls, S.D. and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz of Omaha, Neb.

According to the opinion, Stair was the first to respond to a call at the business about a dispute arising because Jackson believed the business damaged a wheel lug while repairing his dump truck.

It said video evidence showed an “obviously quite agitated” Jackson yelled and pointed to a group of men after Stair asked, “What’s going on, guys?” It said the officer then directed Jackson to go stand by a patrol car and keep his hands out of his pockets, but Jackson got louder and didn’t fully comply.

Even after the officer pulled out his Taser and threatened to use it, Jackson shouted, “You tase me and see what happens,” according to the narrative. It said Jackson refused to turn around until Stair issued the order several times.

According to the narrative, another officer then approached and tried to handcuff Jackson, who raised his fist at the second officer, prompting Stair to use the Taser. Jackson then fell to the ground, kicking his legs, and was tased a second time “without warning.” After he refused to turn onto his stomach, he was tased a third time. He eventually lay on his stomach, was handcuffed and arrested on a disorderly conduct charge.