Sex offender gets new trial after judge used shock belt on him in court

[de officiis]

Sex offender gets new trial after judge used shock belt on him in court

An appeals court has ordered a new trial for a convicted sex offender after a judge in Texas ordered a bailiff to shock him three times with a 50,000-volt belt for being uncooperative in court.

The Texas Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso ordered the new trial for Terry Lee Morris in a ruling issued late last month, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

“While the trial court’s frustration with an obstreperous defendant is understandable, the judge’s disproportionate response is not,” Justice Yvonne Rodriguez wrote. “We do not believe that trial judges can use stun belts to enforce decorum.”

Rodriguez said a stun belt — typically used to deliver thousands of volts of electric current to violent defendants or those who try to escape a courtroom — is “meant to ensure physical safety” rather than to serve as a “conditioning collar” to punish defendants who disobey a judge’s request.

“This Court cannot sit idly by and say nothing when a judge turns a court of law into a Skinner Box, electrocuting a defendant until he provides the judge with behavior he likes,” Rodriguez’s opinion continued.

The court ruled that State District Judge George Gallagher of Tarrant County violated the constitutional rights of Morris — a 54-year-old man convicted of soliciting a sexual performance from an underage girl in 2014 — by ordering a bailiff to shock him three times after Morris failed to answer the judge’s questions properly.

Gallagher ordered the bailiff to shock Morris — who was also convicted in 1992 of causing bodily injury to a child and received 12 years in prison — on the first day of his trial after he refused to answer when Gallagher asked for his plea.

“Sir, before I say that, I have a right to make a defense,” Morris replied, adding that he had a pending lawsuit against his defense attorney, according to the appeals court.

“Mr. Morris, I am giving you one warning,” Gallagher said. “You will not make any additional outburst like that, because two things will happen: No. 1, I will either remove you from the courtroom or I will use the shock belt on you.”

After saying, “All right, sir,” Morris continued to talk, prompting Gallagher to tell a bailiff to activate a stun belt around Morris’ legs. Gallager then asked Morris if he intended to follow his instructions, and Morris refused to answer.

“Hit him,” Gallagher then instructed a bailiff, according to the appeal court ruling.

The judge then asked Morris if he planned to comply with his orders and Morris cited his history of mental illness.

“Hit him again,” Gallagher told the bailiff again.

Morris then claimed he was being “tortured” for asking the judge for a recusal, prompting Gallagher to order the bailiff to shock him a third time.

“Would you hit him again?” Gallagher said.

In its ruling, the appeals court said a shock of 50,000 volts can leave defendants with cognitive impairments. Gallagher and a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment, according to the Star-Telegram.

Fifers, we need to adapt this to our cross-examinations!

[SuburbanFarmer]

We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out into the Weird, now.. This is the first I've heard of an actual torture device used in an American courtroom. And I'm not even that surprised, tbh.

[Fife]

Fifers, we need to adapt this to our cross-examinations!

One never knows what you'll come across in some judge's little kingdom. All some lunatic has to do is get a few hundred votes, and next thing you know he's telling some Rosco P. Coltrane to "hit him again."

As for lawyers, at trial in cross-exam, sometimes reaching for a deposition transcript once a witness knows how the drill works can have a similar effect to a shock collar.

In a deposition, reaching for a folder mixed among your stuff marked "surveillance" in big, bright, lettering (containing scrap paper or an old sports page) can be positively galvanizing.

(I knew a guy who actually did that last one, smh.)

[Speaker to Animals]

We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out into the Weird, now.. This is the first I've heard of an actual torture device used in an American courtroom. And I'm not even that surprised, tbh.

Wait till you see the inside of family court. It'll be great.

[SuburbanFarmer]

We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out into the Weird, now.. This is the first I've heard of an actual torture device used in an American courtroom. And I'm not even that surprised, tbh.

Wait till you see the inside of family court. It'll be great.

Not happening. I took the yoke, over the whip.

I have the option to leave for $1200/month, but I’d rather be around my kids.

[Speaker to Animals]

We are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out into the Weird, now.. This is the first I've heard of an actual torture device used in an American courtroom. And I'm not even that surprised, tbh.

Wait till you see the inside of family court. It'll be great.

Not happening. I took the yoke, over the whip.

I have the option to leave for $1200/month, but I’d rather be around my kids.

Marriage is not the precondition to getting enslaved. It's actually having children with the woman.

The safest route for a man to take these days is to buy eggs on the market from a reputable company, have it inseminated with your sperm, and then implanted in a surrogate mother. Then you have your child and nobody can steal your child from you, enslave you, etc.

The problem actually is just women in general. They are too legally and psychologically dangerous in our current society.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Wait till you see the inside of family court. It'll be great.

Not happening. I took the yoke, over the whip.

I have the option to leave for $1200/month, but I’d rather be around my kids.

Marriage is not the precondition to getting enslaved. It's actually having children with the woman.

The safest route for a man to take these days is to buy eggs on the market from a reputable company, have it inseminated with your sperm, and then implanted in a surrogate mother. Then you have your child and nobody can steal your child from you, enslave you, etc.

The problem actually is just women in general. They are too legally and psychologically dangerous in our current society.

No argument here.

I don't think a lot of guys would jump at the opportunity for single-parenthood, though.