The Supreme Court has decided that it will not review the appropriateness of stun guns used by police on suspects in cases involving a Maui woman and a woman from Washington state.
The court on Tuesday refused to hear appeals from police in Hawaii and Washington, or people on whom the weapons were used.
A federal appeals court said the officers couldn’t be sued because, at the time, it wasn’t "clearly established" under law that their actions violated the women’s rights. Still, the court opened the door for lawsuits in future incidents by saying the officers’ actions, if proved true, would be unlawful.
"The ACLU is pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that clear guidelines exist to prevent law enforcement officers from using a Taser — a potentially deadly weapon — unless someone is in danger," said Daniel Gluck, senior staff attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.
THE Hawaii case involved Jayzel Mattos, who in 2006 was hit with a stun gun in her house by Maui police who said she interfered with the arrest of her husband, Troy.
The officers appealed to the Supreme Court because the decision could be used to justify future lawsuits against police over alleged violations of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.
Last year a 10-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Mattos’ constitutional rights may have been violated, but Maui police were immune from her claims because the law on the use of Tasers was unclear at the time.
When the decision was handed down in November 2011, Mattos’ lawyer Eric Seitz and Gluck said the decision made clear that police can use Tasers only under certain circumstances, including the safety of officers or others.
Although the appeals court held that the officers were immune from excessive-force claims, the case will now return to Hawaii for a trial on negligence claims against Maui County and the police, Seitz said.
Moana Lutey, Maui deputy corporation counsel, said although her office won at the 9th Circuit level, it asked the Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling to clarify when in the future might the use of Tasers be either appropriate or inappropriate. Lutey said she was disappointed the high court didn’t accept the case.
In the Seattle case, Malaika Brooks was stopped for speeding in 2004. She refused an order to get out of her car, and after officer Donald Jones showed her a Taser, she told the police she was seven months pregnant. She continued to refuse to leave the car, and Jones applied the Taser three times within a minute before pulling her from the car and arresting her.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Ken Kobayashi, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
