I didn't see four shots with a taser, just two. The one clear shot when all the officers back off the victim for a few seconds and another when a deputy trying to subdue the victim is thrown and falls backwards. As much as I dislike the taser, which was not warranted in this case by any standards, the victim was struggling violently with the deputies before being tased.

Or, perhaps I missed them. Show me screenshots with time coding of when the victim received the first taser hit. Lacking audio, what demand did the county officers make that caused him to have to fight up to 14 officers?

I'm open, as always.

Allegedly, the doctors who examined him said he'd been Tased at least four times. If that's not true, since it is second-hand from the family lawyer, that's one thing. However, if they actually did find that, I'd take that as more credible than anything I could tell from a tape of a chaotic, violent rampage by cops outnumbering the victim 14-1. I honestly can't tell exactly what's going on at all times.

But the forensics would tell the truth.

Feathered Bastard
Marty Atencio Dead, Blood Tests Show Him Free of Illicit Drugs, Lawyer Says
By Stephen Lemons Wed., Dec. 21 2011 at 10:42 AM

...

Regarding rumors that Atencio may have been on illicit drugs and that this may have helped cause a cardiac arrest after he was Tased, St. Joe's did three blood tests for drugs and alcohol that came back negative, according to Manning.

Manning also said that autopsies will be performed both by the county Medical Examiner and by a coroner working for the family.

Sources have stated that doctors at St. Joe's believe Atencio may have been Tased as many as six times while in MCSO custody.

Take away seven officers, you'd still have one each to restrain each limb, one for his head, and two to sit on his torso - which arguably might be considered excessive anyway.

A Taser? I thought officers had to be in danger before they could use weapons.

Police are generally allowed to use "reasonable force" to carry out their duties. For instance, repeatedly Tasering a pregnant woman for refusing to sign a traffic ticket appears to be acceptable in the Ninth Circuit. Brooks v. City of Seattle, 623 F.3d 911 (9th Cir. 2010).

Okay then. I have a new slogan for the MCSO:
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN DEAD.

It's free, Joe. I hereby state to holding no claim and offer it for anyone's free use with no licensing required.

I'm in the spirit of giving during this Christmas Season.

I've seen people put up a hell of a struggle against cops more than a few times. That's not a video of a guy putting up a hell of a struggle. That's a picture of way too many cops all jumping on the same guy. When that happens, the prisoner can wind up getting beaten way too much, even though each one of the cops involved thinks they're only doing the bare minimum that's needed. Officer A hits or pushes the prisoner. This causes the prisoner to move away from Officer A. If Officers B and C are in the crowd on the other side of the prisoner, they may not see that the prisoner was pushed toward them, think he's moving toward them intentionally, and respond to what they perceive as an attack. Their hits and pushes, in turn, send the prisoner toward other cops.

When there are 2 or 3 cops trying to restrain the prisoner, this is not usually as much as a problem. It's not as crowded, and it's easier to see what's going on. Once you have 4, 5, 6, or more officers all trying to restrain one prisoner, it's a mess. Nobody can see well, and confusion becomes much more of a problem. Throwing the taser into the mix makes things even worse, because it causes major involuntary bodily motions.

Pissing me off even more are the reactions of the other people in the room. Nobody is concerned about what's going on. The level of force being used to restrain the prisoner is clearly routine.

What is horribly absent from all the reports is the status of those officers. Are they all still on duty? Administrative leave?

In jail where they belong?

I haven't been following the story closely enough.

Did those cops not know this would be on video, or did they assume it would not become public?

I assume they're just so used to maiming and killing with impunity that they assumed it just didn't matter. Arpaio encourages and rewards such behavior, no matter how many millions it costs the taxpayers of Maricopa County in wrongful death and brutality lawsuits, of which there have been many. You can go through the archives of the Phoenix New Times since the beginning of Arpario's reign of terror and find similar stories of beatings and deaths, as well as many unfavorable verdicts and settlements.

The only thing different in this case is this most recent homicide was particularly poorly timed.

From TPM

“Along with the footage, the sheriff’s office also released a statement and partial timeline of the altercation.”

“Atencio was apparently subdued by the electric shock, but the sheriff’s office said he was still conscious and making comments about killing himself after that.

Because of the comments, the sheriff’s office said Atencio was searched, stripped and put into a “safe cell” at 2:41 a.m. The agency said he continued to talk as officers and medical staff left the cell.”

The video, however, shows that Atencio remained on the floor in the same position they left him for the next 11 minutes.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.c ... fpnewsfeed

Most places without witnesses are a "safe" place to leave a murdered dead body. I guess we'll see what the video and forensics say. They're a lot more likely to tell the truth than Joe Arpaio or his goons.

There was an en banc decision in Brooks....

Thanks. After looking at it, I like Kozinski's concurrence/dissent the best. I'd also withdraw my statement based on the original opinion. The new opinion makes something "clearly established." I'm not exactly sure what it is. It's difficult to discern. But some poor law enforcement officer will find out that he or she has violated something "clearly established" somewhere in the many states of the Ninth Circuit, some time in the next decade or so. Until then, I'm sure they'll Tase away.

I'd love a Kozinski birfer opinion.

Joe will never resign, but...

From the Tucson Citizen.com

Arpaio resignation demanded by Latino leaders



more at the link

Speaking of Shurif Joe, did anyone ever hear any more about what became of the Ernest Atencio story? I surfed the tubes but don’t see anything else about it after December.

Since this isn't part of the CCCP nonsense, this may be an indication of how deep-rooted the Arpaio syndicate might be.



Joe would love to conflate the two issues, but I doubt that the Feds are going to be so helpful. After Thomas and Aubuchon got their comeuppance today, I think that the wall of "protection" around Joe is going to fall like so many Moai.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/ ... omery.html

A follow up from previous post about Montgomery.

From TPM

Ex-U.S. Attorney To DOJ: Charge Arpaio Now Or Forget It



more at the link

.

Is there any valid reason why the DoJ hasn't hammered this idiot and his cronies?

The DOJ has been trying to work something out, but last week, they had enough.



The letter is stunning. The DOJ has been working this for some time. I think that their intention was to demonstrate that they tried, in good faith, to find a way to settle this and get control of Arpaio. Arpaio, in his classic style, did exactly what the DOJ knew he would do; he went into tantrum mode. Now the DOJ has very clear evidence to present to a Judge. Arpaio walked right into the trap.

I have no doubt that the charges are being worked on right now. No doubt at all. And now the DOJ has all the material from the Thomas investigation, which directly linked Arpaio to illegal activities.

This will not go well for Arpaio. IMO, Arpiao should be placed on admin leave until the case is settled.

That refers only to a civil suit.

Hopefully they will file criminal charges as well.

Sue? Really? The county has proven it'll spend whatever it takes to defend this hairball.

Make a farkin' arrest already. Put the fat fark in his pink underwear and tent city and if it survives, give it a trial and ship it off to Super Max where it belongs.

Egads, end it already.