In article , 
grizzlieantagonist{at}earthlink.net says...
> On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 22:23:27 -0800, Mark Borgerson
>  wrote:
> 
> >In article , 
> >grizzlieantagonist{at}earthlink.net says...
> >> On 11 Mar 2005 15:39:25 -0800, "Ian"
 wrote:
> >> 
> >> >her partner, and the stenographer. Still I'm sure she can
> >> >parallel park a car. What we need are women like this on
> >> >the front line in Iraq.
> >> >
> >> >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1521629,00.html
> >> >
> >> >"Desk sergeant. Take this man, Clarence Boddicker
into custody."
> >> >"What's the charge?"
> >> >"He's a copkiller."
> >> >
> >> >He's fucked now, hopefully. My daughter's got to walk the
same streets.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Well, she didn't LET him have it.  He took it away from her.
> >> 
> >> And a deputy isn't the same as a policewoman - the police are usually
> >> responsible for addressing crime on the street, while sheriff's
> >> department employees are responsible for people in custody or with
> >> warrants out on them.
> >
> >Here in rural Benton County,  if you call 911, a Sheriff's deputy
> >responds.  They are the 'police' outside the  limits of 
> >incorporated cities.  In large cities, I guess they act as
> >you describe.  
> 
> 
> Yes, and this was Atlanta.
But there is still the possibility that the deputy, who was a sergeant, 
had had some experience outside the courthouse and jails.
> 
> 
> 
> >I just heard on the news that the LA county
> >sheriff runs the largest jail system in the US.
> >> 
> >> But that's a minor point.
> >> 
> >> It's very remarkable but when the news that a prisoner had overpowered
> >> a deputy and grabbed the gun that he later used to shoot the judge,
> >> the details concerning the culpable deputy had been withheld, and I
> >> mentioned earlier today to someone in my office that I had a feeling
> >> that it was a female deputy.  I really did say that earlier today.
> >> 
> >> Your average male deputy is fairly unlikely to be overpowered by a
> >> prisoner encumbered by chains and ankle bracelets.
> >> 
> >> 
> >Apparently,  he was not cuffed and shackled:
> 
> 
> >"But Dreher said Hall was alone in taking Nichols to court.
State law requires that 
> >defendants not be handcuffed as they enter the courtroom to make sure 
> >the sight of cuffs doesn't unfairly influence the jury."
> 
> 
> This is true in California, too.
> 
> But the attack took place in a CORRIDOR, not in the courtroom itself.
> 
> What I would EXPECT to happen is that he would be in handcuffs and
> ankle bracelets while being escorted down the corridor.  Hell, even
> women and small men are in chains and ankle bracelets when escorted to
> court.
> 
> Usually, the deputy will not remove the handcuffs until the defendant
> is brought into the courtroom and seated next to his attorney and
> after the handcuffs are removed, the jury is then brought in.
> 

You'll not that the paragraph above says that Georgia state law
says that the cuffs have to be removed before the defendant enters
the courtroom.   Perhaps their procedures are different than in
California, and the jury might already be seated.
> However, the ankle bracelets are NEVER removed, in my experience.
> 

It would seem that they were in this case---the guy managed to
run down 8 flights of stairs pretty quickly.


> SOME measure of security is needed for a prisoner in custody, and the
> jury never gets to see the ankle bracelets, since the defendant is
> always seated at the counsel table.
> 
> Also, the attorney will have his client dressed in street clothes
> beforehand for the same reasons.  Was this defendant in street clothes
> or in prison fatigues, I wonder.
According to one article,  he had just changed into street clothes.
> 
> Anyway, if this particular prisoner wasn't still in handcuffs and
> ankle bracelets while being escorted down the corridor, I am amazed -

Even worse would have been to have him going down the corridor with
a single deputy, who had to then remove the cuffs and ankle chains
before he entered the courtroom.   At the point where the deputy is
busy with the cuffs and ankle chains, the prisoner has way too much
opportunity to assault the deputy.
> 
> ...and if he wasn't, that was all the more reason why it was utter
> folly to have him only escorted by one deputy - and a female deputy,
> at that.
> 
I agree.  There should have been two deputies at least.  At no
time should the second have been within reach of the first deputy
and prisoner.   A drawn taser might be appropriate when the 
cuffs and chains are being removed.
> 
> >http://www.freep.com/news/nw/court12e_20050312.htm
> >
> >And this was after he was supposed to have extra security because they
> >had found shanks (improvised knives, not arch supports) in his shoes
> >earlier.
> >
> >
> >Sounds like a prescription for problems---the wrong escort and
> >insufficient security for this particular  prisoner.
> >
> >I did a google search on "deputy overpowered in
courthouse" and found
> >about 3 out of 4 hits were for male deputies that got overpowered--
> >so I guess it happens to deputies of both genders.  However, it's
> >a small sample, and I suspect that women are less than 25% of deputies
> >and they are likely to get attacked in greater numbers than their
> >representation would indicate. 
> 
> 
> 
> Likely so.
> 
They certainly screwed up in this case---I think procedures at that
courthouse are in for a review.


Mark Borgerson



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