Winnfield, Louisiana. It sounds like a nice enough place, though the Anglo name doesn’t jive quite right with the French tradition. But according to this story in the Chicago Trib, it’s probably not where you want to hang out if you’re in the mood for a quiet gulf coast vacation.
It was the birthplace of Huey and Earl Long, a couple of vivacious Louisiana politicians. The police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election amid allegations of scandal. The district attorney killed himself four months later, after skimming $200,000 from his office and selling dispositions to defendants. The new police chief got a pardon from former Governor Edwin Edwards, himself in prison for corruption, for a drug offense. And the son of the old police chief, and protégé of the new one, Scott Nugent, is a police officer himself. A police officer with a Taser.
Nugent likes his Taser. He used it a lot. On a 21 year old fellow named Baron “Scooter” Pikes. Now Pikes is dead.
It was the birthplace of Huey and Earl Long, a couple of vivacious Louisiana politicians. The police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election amid allegations of scandal. The district attorney killed himself four months later, after skimming $200,000 from his office and selling dispositions to defendants. The new police chief got a pardon from former Governor Edwin Edwards, himself in prison for corruption, for a drug offense. And the son of the old police chief, and protégé of the new one, Scott Nugent, is a police officer himself. A police officer with a Taser.
Nugent likes his Taser. He used it a lot. On a 21 year old fellow named Baron “Scooter” Pikes. Now Pikes is dead.
At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron “Scooter” Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between–during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy–is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Naturally, Nugent made up a story about Pike’s resisting, about Pike’s telling him he had asthma and was high on PCP and crack. In Winnfield, Louisiana, that should have been all it took to clean up a little mess. In the scheme of life in Winfield, one dead black kid at the hands of a white police officer was no big deal. Even if Winnfield is just down the road from Jena, Louisiana, and Pike was first cousin to the lead defendant in the Jena 6, Mycah Bell.
But somebody screwed up in Winnfield. It turns out that they have a medical examiner who wasn’t on the take, or part of the club, or one of the boys.
But somebody screwed up in Winnfield. It turns out that they have a medical examiner who wasn’t on the take, or part of the club, or one of the boys.
An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes’ system and that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner.
After consulting about the case with Dr. Michael Baden, a nationally prominent forensic pathologist, Williams ruled last month that Pikes’ death was a homicide. On the death certificate, he listed the cause of death as “cardiac arrest following nine 50,000-volt electroshock applications from a conductive electrical weapon.”
It can’t be easy to be an honest man in Winfield.
Williams is no stranger to controversy in Winnfield. Back in 2004, his garage was firebombed–he suspects the attack was ordered by the former district attorney–and he says he’s been shot at 19 times by people upset with the independence of his investigations. He wears a gun holstered at his waist even while sitting safely at his desk.
But it hasn’t stopped Williams from doing his job.
“This case may be the most unnecessary death I have ever had to investigate,” Williams said. “[Pikes] put up no fuss, no fighting, no physical aggression. The Taser was not used to take him into custody. He just didn’t respond quickly enough to the officer’s commands.”
It’s almost impossible to believe that there remain backwaters of corruption like Winnfield in a flat world, where we are aware of wrongs half way around the world in a flash. How is it possible for little hellholes of flagrant corruption and harm exist unnoticed by state government, not to mention our federal friends, who have these civil rights laws designed to make sure that no place where the rights of citizens of these United States are so systematically undermined by everyone from local government officials to tough guys like Nugent with tasers?
And of course, our old friend, the Taser, is the Winnfield weapon of choice, raising yet another question. How many times should an officer, whether scum like Nugent or a “well-intended” Taser jockey, zap someone before less than lethal becomes a definite killing tool?
I know, Tasers don’t kill people. Whatever. Still, when you put it into the hands of a cop like Nugent, in a place like Winnfield, Louisiana, any safeguard will help.
H/T Injustice News
And of course, our old friend, the Taser, is the Winnfield weapon of choice, raising yet another question. How many times should an officer, whether scum like Nugent or a “well-intended” Taser jockey, zap someone before less than lethal becomes a definite killing tool?
What’s more, safety guidelines issued by Taser International Inc., the manufacturer of the device that is now used by more than 12,700 law enforcement and military agencies worldwide, warn officers to “minimize repeated, continuous, and/or simultaneous exposures.”Hey, I’ve got an idea, Taser guys. While the risk of repeated or continuous infliction of 50,000 volts are “unknown”, suggesting that it’s a study you really don’t want to conduct, how about making sure that your fine weapon can only discharge, say, twice before the battery discharges or the weapon shuts down? Is it necessary that it be capable of firing 9 times? If there is a legitimate reason to fire it 9 times, do we not have a problem that’s bigger than a Taser?
Company officials, citing dozens of medical studies, insist Tasers are safe when used properly. But few of those studies examined the effect of multiple Taser applications over a short period of time. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a study released in June, concluded that “the medical risks of repeated or continuous [Taser] exposure are unknown.”
I know, Tasers don’t kill people. Whatever. Still, when you put it into the hands of a cop like Nugent, in a place like Winnfield, Louisiana, any safeguard will help.
H/T Injustice News
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this is not as unknown as we think. in our small town, 70 miles from wash.,d.c., we have the same problem. my son convicted although the police admitted that my son was innocent after his work on the case. the commonwealth says he think he got the wrong man but yet they had to go trial because they had a ct date. 4 lawyers all afraid to cross the good old boy system. the paper says its unreal,case had too many holes,poor defense(ct.appointed) lawyer.
we were refused the discovery until after trial.their ci brought the case of my son’s innonence and they all paid
the ci to go back to find the named person who set my son up,even after the trial.yet my son is in prison 24 years and the jury speaking after the trial says that his family was messed up because his crack addicted snitch aunt needed to beat 7 felonies of her own lied.within 24hrs they had id 2 supects and victim id them and a store manager. the ci brought information about the leader of this crime.my son haS solid evidence he was with family and girlfriend 70 miles away.evidence that he received a check from his grandmother was even accepted into evidence.as soon as we were allowed in ,a situation the lawyer did,he kept us all out of ct.so we didn’t know that he was throwing the case.by the way ,my husband retired from pentagon,top secret clearence,prison minister and works for walmart for almost 9 years as support manager.i have no record either.
the good old boy system is so alive that they control our town by the way most cops in our town don’t believe my son is guilty.the judge’s own baliff said after the trial,he thought my son would be free,because he believe that my son was not guilty. the judge said ,he has an appeal.by the way the ct. appointed lawyer told the jury we were a messed up family.we have been in ministry for over 29 years and we have more proof than enough to free my son who will be 39 soon. the victim says she never seen my son before and she said her attacker was in his 20s, with beautiful eyes like a mixed child.we are black parents.
since conviction,the lead oficer has told the ci his job was on the line,so he was hoping my son would get off thru trial.if eric holder,our attorney general ,wants to clean the commonwealth and associates work up drive to culpeper,va and he will be shocked at the injustice here as well as the judge who calls our children before him animals,dogs and anything else he feels like but the worst is when he helps the commonwealth with their case while threating any lawyer who objects to his way in ct.all of this is a shame on this small town that allows this and the system that created this good old boy system.by the way they tell good lawyers don’t fight so hard for these clients ,they aren’t worth it, they belong in jaiL even if they are not guilty.
FIGHTING FOR JUST JUSTICE,70 MILES FROM THE NATION’S CAPITAL,WHERE OUR PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS MAKE LAWS.finally my son health files that the ct.appointed didn’t get.JUSTICE ONLY!!