A man representing himself in a Maryland court was shocked with 50,000 volts of electricity by the judge because he continued to speak when the judge ordered him to stop.
Judge Robert Nalley pleaded guilty on Monday to depriving the defendant of his civil rights.
The charge stems from an encounter between the judge and victim Delvon King in July of 2014, when King was appearing before Judge Nalley to face gun charges. King had a shocker anklet attached to him, which was supposed to be used in case of an emergency situation, or if King were to attempt to escape or hurt anyone.
In the court, King attempted to make his case but was constantly interrupted by the judge who repeatedly told him to be quiet.
When King continued to make his case to the court, Judge Nalley told the court deputy "Mr Sheriff, do it... use it," at which point 50,000 volts of electricity were sent through King's body, causing him to scream in pain. The court transcript read, "DEFENDANT SCREAMS."
King later described the situation to reporters, saying that he experienced "Excruciating pain then, and a burning sensation."
"It burned the rest of the day. Messed me up mentally. I don't really remember that part. Just next think I know, I'm on the ground,"
King added.The U.S attorney said that Judge Nalley acted as if he was above the law, and that this conviction should be a message to other state employees that they should treat the people that they encounter as equals.
"It's not about race. It's about power. It's about a judge who abused the power vested in him to order a defendant to be punished essentially before he was convicted of any crime," the attorney said.
However, Judge Nalley may end up getting off easy, with his defense asking for just one year of probation, a sentence that is lighter than most marijuana offenders receive in some states. The charge against Nalley was also weak, as he did not simply deprive a man of his civil rights, but he tortured him. Under any other circumstances, Nalley's actions would have been considered torture, but since he did it under the sanction of his place in government, he was given a pass.
Nalley is still awaiting sentencing from a federal magistrate, who will decide if the judge will receive probation as requested, or if he will actually see jail time.
Witnesses at the recent trial noted that the judge did not show any signs of remorse.
A criminal conviction for an offense establishes certain evidentiary facts that may be used in further proceedings of a civil nature. This is of crucial significance for any litigant who wishes to proceed in civil court for violation of his or her civil rights, and is the evidentiary 'holy grail' for civil justice practitioners, who usually are required to painstakingly prove each and every element of their cases, which, when suing government officials, can be very hard to do for various reasons. Any civil justice attorney who sues a cop or sheriff, or for that matter, a judge(!), would give some of his or her teeth for a previous criminal conviction that establishes the critical elements of the case they are handling. It simply never happens.
In this case, I wonder whether a civil case is being handled on behalf of Mr Delvon King, and if so, what causes of action are being pursued. If such a case is being litigated, I can assure you that the attorney on Mr King's behalf is one very happy camper, as going against a judge for civil rights violations under color of law (and various other tort actions), is basically unheard of, and to prevail in such a case would be a rare event indeed, for any civil justice attorney (and cause for bragging rights among his lawyer friends when they get together at the local pub for a few beers after grueling days in court fighting for justice in an unjust world.)
I looked up the matter via Google, but found nothing on any subsequent civil matter filed by Mr King, but I did find at "Legal Cheek" a story dated September 11, 2014 by Judge John Hack which provided the following description of what allegedly transpired that day between Mr King and Judge Nalley:
"According to a report of the hearing in the Washington Post, King’s defence veered towards the vexatious — he made submissions to the effect that he was a “sovereign citizen”, for whom US laws did not apply — and he challenged Nalley’s legitimacy as a judge and his eligibility to sit on the Charles County bench.
"When King persisted with increasingly verbose submissions, Judge Nalley ordered silence. When King continued, the judge ordered him to be zapped.
“Do it — use it,” he barked at Deputy Sheriff Charles Deehan, who pressed the stun-chuff zap button. The device failed at the first two attempts but sent 50,000 volts into King’s ankle tendon on the third go."
Guess the third time was a charm, wasn't it? But King was ultimately proven right in his assertion that Nalley lacked 'legitimacy' as a judge (which was less a correct assertion and more an inadvertent prognostication.)
Nalley was quickly suspended and sacked by the Maryland authorities, who, to their credit, disposed of this guy 'posthaste'.