Another hearing has been ordered in the stun gun use on a man who became enraged at a Jacksonville tire business over a damaged lug nut.
Charles Jackson filed a civil complaint in July 2016 against the Jacksonville Police Department saying that it had violated his constitutional rights when officer Billy Stair III used "excessive force" by deploying his Taser three times, according to court documents.
Stair, along with the city of Jacksonville and the Police Department, was named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the defendants, and Jackson filed an appeal. On Tuesday, a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered another hearing in the case and stated that the lower court "erred" when it did not analyze one of the Taser deployments, the most questionable one, as a separate use of force, according to the ruling.
The courts ruled that police were justified the first time the stun gun was used because Jackson was an obvious threat. Reports show that Jackson raised his fist near the head of one of the police officers. The courts also excused the third deployment, which occurred after Jackson got up on one knee and refused commands to remain on the ground, according to court documents.
[DOCUMENT: 8th District Court of Appeals order » arkansasonline.com/124order/]
The second stun gun deployment occurred while Jackson was on the ground, and that is the one the appeals court questioned. The federal appeals court had remanded part of the case earlier this year, but clarified its position with Tuesday's ruling.
"Before Jackson could respond, and without warning, Officer Stair again deployed his Taser," 8th Circuit Judge Ralph Erickson of Fargo, N.D., stated. He went on to write that Jackson had not appeared to "pose a threat" to police during this point of the confrontation.
He "was on his back, writhing on the ground," Erickson wrote.
Stair had argued that Jackson kicked out his legs and turned his body as if to confront him and his backup officer again, but the video footage disputed that claim, according to the court.
Erickson wrote that in light of the video footage "depicting the quick succession" of the stun gun deployments and the dispute as to whether Jackson was resisting arrest or posing a threat to the officers at the time of the second deployment, "we find that there is genuine issue of material fact as to whether the second tasing amounted to excessive force."
Jacksonville police were sent July 23, 2013, to Vaughan Tire at 700 S. First St., after receiving a call about a business dispute. After police showed up, an irate Jackson, who accused the business of damaging a lug nut on his dump truck, called one of the employees at the store a racist, and repeatedly screamed at Stair and others at the scene, according to court filings.
Stair deployed the stun gun after Jackson refused several commands to calm down, police said. At one point, Jackson yelled to Stair, "You tase me and see what happens," records show.
Joining Erickson on the panel were Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Roger Wollman of Sioux Falls, S.D., and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz of Omaha, Neb.
In his dissenting opinion, Wollman stated that he didn't think Stair's use of the Taser was "objectively unreasonable in the circumstances" considering Jackson's "arm-waving (and) rant-filled anger" leading up to the incident.
In her original ruling, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright dismissed Jackson's lawsuit based on her determination that Stair's conduct "as a whole" was reasonable.
After an internal investigation, Stair received a written reprimand and additional use-of-force training, according to court documents.
The new hearing in U.S. District Court has not been scheduled.
Metro on 12/04/2019