In case anyone hasn't seen this yet.

[JohnW]

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/40000-for-man-tasered-on-youtube/

my .02 this whole situation was fucked up.

first, i can see where the guy was mad, the officer refused to explain what he was being cited for, his instructions were not clear. it also needs to be explained more often that signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt, but a promise to either appear in court or pay the fine. the officer should have answered his questions, explained to him why he was required to sign the ticket, and informed him of the consequences of not doing so.

here is the part that I hate, before ordering the man to exit his vehicle, the officer needed to inform him that he was under arrest. I heard him order the man to exit the vehicle at which point the officer lost control of the situation and allowed the man to walk freely up to him, with his hand in his pocket, still not under arrest. I understand why the officer tazed the man, he was walking around with his hand in his pocket and going back to the vehicle. Officers get killed In just that way.

After that, it all went downhill, he still was not told he was under arrest, and as far as I can tell, the officer refused to state his miranda rights.

I personally have had an officer ask me to exit my vehicle, and the first thing you do is ask if you are being arrested or detained if it has not been explained to you already. If you fail to ask that question, you are exiting the vehicle of your own volition and may not get the opportunity to say whether or not you consent to a search. there are rules for this kind of shit, neither person followed them, bad situation, cop needs retraining, man needs to get a clue.

[amicheze]

Good.

[capitlj]

I agree with you John, that cop let things get out of hand, but failed to handle the situation properly once they did. Glad the guy was compensated.