and manufacturers. "The department remains committed to ensuring that police officers who violate their sworn oaths by using excessive force are held accountable," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. Timothy Runnels, 32, previously pleaded guilty. His mom and dad held his hand. Both Matt and Stacy immediately wondered what it would show. He was wrong. The new officer referred to Bryce, lying there stationary. Meanwhile, Independence police officials were intent on controlling the story. Close. He would get terrible headaches, he had trouble sleeping problems that persist. Aside from dealing with a traumatic brain injury, Bryce has battled the perception that he is somehow responsible for the crime committed against him. A measure of justice for Bryce. I havent done anything officer, Bryce yelled. It was unacceptable the way hed talked to her. Contact your United States senatorandcontact your representative in the United States Congress. It doesnt actlike that., Another officer arrived on scene and Runnels explained that there was a warrant on Bryces plate ostensibly the reason for the stop. According to a press release from the FBI, Runnels had deprived the minor of his civil rights by deliberately dropping the minor face first onto the ground while the minor was restrained and not posing a threat to Runnels or others. A court date was set for September 11, almost a year after Runnels tased Bryce. The federal government isn't actually measuring how inflation is hurting rural America, Kansas City singer Ida McBeth, 'unmatched in melody and soul,' dies at 70, Jessie Montgomery, composing from a place of self-honor, After 18 hours, Kansas City police standoff ends with 1 man found dead inside house, Court Gets Unusually Specific On Police Taser Gun Use, Case Of Autistic Missouri Teen Who Was Tased After Stopping To Tie His Shoe Moves Forward, Jury Sides With Police In Tasing Case Of Maryville, Missouri, Teen With Autism, Juror: Jury In Tased Teen Case Wasnt Told Why They Couldnt Hold City Of Maryville Liable. Matt called the FBI again. He was dead, said Matt. He even argued that using the Taser for 20 seconds was reasonable because Runnels didnt have control of Bryce until it was over. Join Facebook to connect with Timothy Runnels and others you may know. Roughly every 30minutes that night, Bryce would forget what happened to him. 4. Bryce Masters, 17, suffered a cardiac arrest after being Tasered in 2014. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. (A member of Runnelss defense team, asked for comment, said he had no information about his clients departurefrom the Kansas City Police Department. It goes back to the way he was trained. Federal prison records show he was released on Dec. 27, 2019. In today's KC Star. Judge Dean Whipple had not yet watched the governments key piece of evidence a dashboard video because he wanted to do so with attorneys present to make arguments. That faith had allowed him to rationalize Runnelss actions, but there was no rationalizing what was on that recording. Matt was irate, screaming, You bunch of fucking cowboys! at the officers assembled to gather evidence. Runnels faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for his conviction for violating the minor's civil rights. Warning: This video contains graphic scenes of police violence. As the boy went into cardiac arrest and technically died before paramedics resuscitated him, the aggressive cop was captured on video manhandling and stepping on the dying teens motionless body. Riveting article. 71. . See, I was somewhere around 8 or 9 years old when I saw my brother abusing one of our dogs. A snapping thud filled the room the sound of Bryces 175-pound frame hitting the pavement as his teeth crashed together and his jaw dislocated. He was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading in 2015 to one count of deprivation of rights. The Runnels case is unusual not just because it represents the rare instance of a policeman successfully sued for damages. Later, when they got home and Bryce described what had happened, something about the arrest didnt seem right. I felt like he would have cared for an injured animal better.. Five years later on September 14, 2014 it would be difficult to argue that Runnels was unable to avoid shooting Bryce in the chest. While the majority of law enforcement safeguards our communities with fidelity, the department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute officers who violate their oath by using excessive force., This former police officer was trained and entrusted to enforce the law impartially, said U.S. Attorney Dickinson. report. His mom, Stacy, folded her arms, clutching a tissue. Miami Trace High School recently released the second nine weeks honor roll and honorable mention. The Taser did this. Judge Whipple issued the sentence, which will be followed by two years of supervised release. The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 111N00000X with license number 9478 (TX). Dan Margolies has been a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, The Kansas City Star, and KCUR Public Radio. I get a lot of sympathy from my black cop friends, like, this is what weve been saying about cops for a long, long time.'. Hes got his hand up on his car, his shades on, and hes looking pleased with himself, Stacy said. He wanted the judge to know he was a good person, a strong person, and despite all hed been through, determined to make the most out of his life. Police officers are not above the law and will be held accountable when they violate the civil rights of the citizens they are sworn to protect and serve.. Does one have to be trained to know that you do not hurt a living breathing animal or person unless your life is in imminent danger? The audio was initially silent. The Supreme Court has said that the doctrine is necessary to give officers breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments. Without it, according to the court, the possible threat of personal liability would make them overly timid and discourage people from entering public service. Bryce Masters in a coma at Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence, Missouri, Sept. 16, 2014. About an hour later, a colleague called Matt; two FBI agents assigned to investigate police misconduct were already looking for him. BARRY H. RUNNELS, age 72, of Washington CH, passed away on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at his home. Since then, he has trained at the Moody Health Center, become . Dont give me that bullshit, he now thought. When Matt went back to work, he was eager to discuss the Taser with his colleagues. They wanted to spend the day down by the ballpark as a family. Facebook gives people the power. Get your ass out of the car, andattempts to pull him out by force. They had him on a stretcher, ready to go to the hospital. He told the Masters that his staff had Bryce prepped for a procedure known as Code ICE a therapeutic hypothermia that slows the blood flow of a coma patient and keeps the brain from swelling, protecting it from further damage. I get a lot of sympathy from my black cop friends, like, this is what weve been saying about cops for a long, long time.'. He would feel his mouth and turn to his parents. Matt asked what Stacy knew was an inevitable question, a question they needed to address. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the policeman, Timothy Runnels, had violated the teen victims right to be free from an excessive, prolonged use of a Taser. It was the Taser that almost killed Bryce. Bryces brain was deprived of oxygen for six to eight minutes while he was in cardiac arrest. Mrs. Runnels was born October 28, 1937 in Bland County, Virginia to the late Cornelia (Burkhead) and Walker Pauley, and died Friday, December 6, 2019 at her residence. Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. Even those who had heard it was theoretically possible thought it was a fluke, like getting struck by lightning. Bryce was given simple tasks, things kindergartners could do, as he put it. "We hope that today's sentence will allow Bryce to begin to focus on his future. Although sentencing guidelines called for a term of eight to 10 years, prosecutors recommended a sentence of no more than four years as part of the plea agreement. While most of the 15-minute session was spent on updated legal information, and situations in which Taser use was not advised, there was no mention of potential cardiac risks. Matt found it hard to believe the federal government, given the vague guidelines established for proper Taser use, and the broad authority officers had to use force, could make a charge stick. Matt had been there before, a guy laughing in the room at the helpless contortions of Taser victims. The memories he had formedover 17 years, many of the things he thought made him who he was, no longer applied. For the next 24 hours, he would be in limbo as his brain tried to heal itself. After Bryce was tased, Matt discovered something hed never heard in any Taser training hed gone through, something he resisted believing, because it violated an article of faith among police officers: Tasers can kill. Another officer put his head inside Bryces car and said, It stinks bad in there like marijuana. He was especially concerned about officers trained before 2009, who may have never been re-trained on updated information. Do you feel sorry for him? Stacy once asked, referring to Runnels. Sentencing was not in place, but Runnels had agreed to plead guilty to one of the four charges, violating the constitutional rights of a minor. In the medical world, Tasers causing cardiac arrest was apparently a well-established phenomenon. By Monday morning, September 15, Bryces core temperature had reached 92.6 degrees 6degrees below normal. 1. Since smell is subjective, and difficult to prove, officers can use marijuana odor broadly to justify probable cause, Matt said. Dr. Augustin was firm. He wasnt just alive he was demonstrating awareness. In a final sentencing hearing on June 1, Runnels was sentenced to four years in federal prison. But after his interaction with Runnels, his friendships faded as his classmates realized how emotionally unpredictable hed become. Bryces only mistake in this situation was following his parents advice to ask questions, particularly to ask why if stopped by law enforcement. He acknowledges that the number of Taser deaths is small compared with the total number of Taser deployments, but he worries about the people like Bryce who are unnecessarily put at risk. This is a screengrab of the Summary and Title of the Ballot Initiative sent to us bythe California Department of Justice: We await word from the Secretary of State who will be sending us a schedule with the maximum filing deadline and the certification deadline. I have to admit that I teared up at the part about minority victims, that never see the inside of a courtroom. Eric Garner was killed right in front of our eyes and yet no one was held responsible. That is so whether the tasing comes in the form of multiple, separate deployments or, as in this case, a single, continuous deployment that lasts for an extended period of time., Kirk Presley, Masters attorney, hailed the courts ruling, saying it relied on established precedent that excessive force is always unconstitutional., In fact, the jury found that defendant Runnels continued Taser trigger pull was intentional and malicious, Presley said in an email. Lack of human empathy does. "The department remains committed to ensuring that police officers who violate their sworn oaths by using excessive force are held accountable," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. We hope that todays sentence will allow Bryce to begin to focus on his future. Later, a different spokesperson would tell KCTV that the use of the Taser was in policy. Runnelss name wasnt initially released. 19-2242 (8th Cir. It was clear that officials were determined to place blame on Bryce and paint a picture of a lawful stop that escalated into a justified use of force. But Matt was grappling not only with his perspective as father and husband, but the fact that Runnels was a fellow police officer. A man said, Oh, my god. A police officer with the Kansas City Police Department quickly brought his fist to his mouth, turned to the man next to him, and whispered, Jesus. Even those sitting behind the defendant a few friends, his wife, his family gasped, as if the recordingrevealed a truth about Runnels they had never considered. That Friday, Matt, Stacy, and Bryce walked into a courtroom at the Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse in downtown Kansas City. He knows there are manydeserving cases, especially involving minority victims, that never see the inside of a courtroom. Timothy Runnels was sentenced to four years behind bars for the 2014 tas The agents would confirm only that there was a dashcam video of the incident. This case was filed in U.S. Courts Of Appeals, U.S. Court Of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Taser International did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Runnels says, Youre under arrest. Matt had heard that people sometimes died after a Taser shock, but chalked it up to a syndrome called excited delirium, which hed learned about in his Taser training. Ending qualified immunity a doctrine established by the Supreme Court nearly 40 years ago has become a central goal of proponents of police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd a year ago by a Minneapolis police officer. Matt wondered: If Dr. Augustin was right, and the Taser caused Bryces cardiac arrest, why hadnt he known about the risks? Lack of training? Bryce Masters at his home on June 2, 2016. Runnels had resigned from the Kansas City department under threat of termination in 2010. Now, he thought about his son. He had done exactly what his parents told him to do. And, when they do, theres someone on the receiving end of that., In his sons case, an officer is paying for his bad decision. But there was no charge for the initial Taser deployment. They couldnt hear the siren when Runnels turned it on, but they soon saw the Pontiac slowing down, pulling to the side of the road, stopping. The only thing the public knew waswhat had been reported, and what had been reported was that he resisted a lawful arrest, and his car smelled like marijuana. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS It was so unnatural.Bryce was unconscious, and no one was telling Stacy he was going to be OK. Shecalled Matt. Minutes later, Curtis called Matt again. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images. For 30minutes, he had to take deep, long breaths, with his tongue depressed and a tube jammed down his throat, before the doctors felt he was out of the woods. 2. Timothy Runnels, 32, previously pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of 17-year-old Bryce Masters. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $6.5 million jury verdict against former officer Timothy Runnels over the confrontation with Bryce Masters during a traffic stop in 2014, KCUR . A federal judge ordered that the. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Our Law Enforcement Documentation Act of 2016. They stared at Bryce as the reality that he might die washed over them. Former Officer Timothy Runnels was sentenced last week to four years in prison over the September 2014 incident. Theyre all crushed or something, he told her. What happened to my teeth? he asked repeatedly. Bryce has vague memories of that Wednesday night. Over the next several weeks, he went down a rabbit hole of news stories about Taser-related deaths and studies examining the weapons potential lethality. I thought he shot him. Be careful shooting fleeing suspects. Timothy Runnels now . Timothy Runnels, et al Case Summary On 06/17/2019 Bryce Masters filed a Civil Right - Other Civil Right lawsuit against Timothy Runnels ,. _____________________________________________________________. We are rapidly approaching the signature collection phase of our campaign to get the Over-Policed Rights Act on the California ballot. In the video you see Runnels opening the driver's door telling Masters to get out. The week of September 7, 2015, the Masters got a phone call from Ketchmark. The 8th U.S. Why dont cops know all this? Certainly some did, but for all the years Matt had carried a Taser, he didnt know. The Masters could see Bryces heart heaving up and down on the screen, an indication that he was going through cardiac arrest. Case Details Parties Documents Dockets Case Details Case Number: 19-2242 He began pressing his tongue, which was raw and swollen, against his teeth. He didnt remember the fight. Matt wasnt sure what this was supposed to mean and wasnt present when the incident happened, but word spread quickly about the foul-mouthed cop who was written up on the spot for nonchalantly using a racial slur during a gathering of officers. You could see blood coming out of his mouth. But Bryce wasnt moving. As Stacy walked into Centerpoints trauma center, nurses ushered her to where Bryce was hooked up to a ventilator, still unconscious. Then and only then well see an end to this crap. Cops do make bad decisions. He told them a plea agreement had been finalized. When you cross that line, there are going to be consequences and they are going to be severe, he told the judge last week. Its really bad, she said. A former Independence police officer who injured a teen driver during a 2014 traffic stop was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison. Matt told him that if an officer ever stopped him, he had every right to know why he was being stopped, and whether he was under arrest. A scuffle ensued and Morgan was surrounded by four officers, who began firing when they spotted his service weapon. Wednesday afternoon, Bryces eyes began to scan his room inside the intensive care unit. ""He lives not only with memory deficiencies and other cognitive impairments, he has post-traumatic stress, extreme anxiety, and severe insomnia that makes interpersonal relationships challenging and difficult to an extent that they were not before his anoxic brain injury," the suit states." Our project forces those governors to out themselves, clapping them in a Catch 22. Government officials enjoy broad protection against federal lawsuits, but a federal appeals court last week refused to extend it to an Independence police officer who was tagged with a $6.5 million jury verdict in a police brutality case. Then he pulled him out of the car, handcuffed him, and drug him around the car. He ran a license plate check on Masters's car, which revealed an outstanding warrant apparently associated with the plate.3 Runnels then initiated a traffic stop. As part of his guilty plea, Runnels admitted that while he was employed as an officer of the Independence Police Department, he deprived the minor of his civil rights by deliberately dropping the minor face first onto the ground while the minor was restrained and not posing a threat to Runnels or others. He was athletic and made good grades. The video, from the September 2014 incident, shows former police officer Timothy Runnels approaching the vehicle. theintercept.com Tased in the Chest for 23 Seconds, Dead for 8 Minutes, Now Facing a Lifetime of Recovery The clicking sound of the Taser shock began, followed by pulsating ticks of electricity shooting through copper wires and into Bryce. ), Watching the video, Stacy was astounded. Miami Trace High School recently released the third nine weeks honor roll and honorable mention. In my heart of hearts, I felt like he was slipping away, she said. Frustrated, Runnels marched around the rear of the car to the drivers side and opened the door, telling Bryce to get out. Matt, Stacy, and Bryce sat around an oval conference table with their attorney Daniel Haus, a few FBI agents, an attorney from the Department of Justice, and Ketchmark. Stacy and Matt cried as Bryce fought. A twenty-three second jolt of 50,000 watts ended his life for a short time resulting in irreparable brain damage. When Masters refused to get out of his car, Runnels tried to drag him out, then drew his Taser and shot him. His use of excessive force violated both the publics trust and his oath to uphold the law, Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said in a written statement. We dont have ads, so we depend on our members 35,000 and counting to help us hold the powerful to account. The lesson, Matt, is that it shouldnt have to take the near killing of your loved onefor you to acknowledge the pain and suffering of your fellow man. Aside from dealing with a traumatic brain injury, Bryce has battled the perception that he is somehow responsible for the crime committed against him. He thought again about his own training, and how Taser International, by holding a virtual monopoly on the weapons, heavily influenced the information officers received. Members of the Daily Kos group Support the Dream Defenders launchedfour ongoing projects: 1. Hethen tases Bryce for 23 seconds, handcuffs him, drags the boys body behind the car, and deliberately drops him face first onto the asphalt road. Timothy Runnels pleaded guilty in September to violating the civil rights of then 17-year-old Bryce Masters during a 2014 traffic stop. He believes that when Runnels said, All right, fine, fuck it, he was making a conscious decision to punish Bryce. Drawing shapes, holding objects firmly in his hand, walking without a limp, hearing a story and trying to synopsize it back to the storyteller things that used to be second nature were now exhausting chores. He and Stacy sat Bryce down. Bryce was carrying a small amount of marijuana in a baggie. One pull on the trigger sent electricity shooting out for five seconds; Runnels had held it down the equivalent of four pulls. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. Our law has been submitted as a Resolution to the NAACP. After going for so long without oxygen, at least some brain damage was inevitable. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. All right, fine, fuck it, he said, aiming the Taser at Bryce and pulling the trigger. The first news reports about the incident included comments from a spokesperson who said Bryce was stopped for an outstanding warrant, and that he refused to follow the officers commands. We didnt think death, Matt remembered. Top 3 Results for Timothy Runnels. This case was filed in U.S. Courts Of Appeals, U.S. Court Of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Talk to a staff member. The dashcam video, which has been sealed by the court, is definitive and ugly, and Runnelss actions are impossible to justify. Officer Timothy Runnels was waiting to learn his fate after pleading guilty to a federal crime he committed almost two years ago, on September 14, 2014. Theyre working it backwards. Matts experience as a cop taught him that officers can sometimes write themselves out of trouble through exaggerated and self-serving reports. Its the only thing we need, Matt remembered an agent telling him. Its a miracle hes alive.. He suffered brain damage and the road ahead will not be easy for him. Matt Masters and Stacy Masters at their home on June 2, 2016. He was intimately familiar with the grand jury process and how it skewed heavily toward exonerating officers in use of force situations. As part of his guilty plea, Runnels admitted that, while he . He was a 1965 Toward the end of Runnels sentencing hearing on May 26, Bryce stepped to the front of the courtroom to give his victim impact statement. The Taser did this. Just shoot them with the Taser, and its over and done with, Mattsaid. Stacy recalled pointing to one of the officers on the scene and asking Curtis, Is that the one who did it?. Timothy Runnels, a 32-year-old former Independence, Missouri, police officer, sat at a large, rectangular defense table inside Courtroom 8B at the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse in. The Independence Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. He was recording the interaction with his cellphone. One robbery happens every 15 minutes. finds relevant news, identifies important training information, I read Zipes study, and it just blew me away, Matt remembered. Tears began to form in both his parents eyes, anticipating what everyone else in the room was about to see. The Independence Police Department was hardest on him. His bike was stolen, and Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up the thief. Was he drunk, on drugs, what could do this? No, thats not it at all, the nurse responded. KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and powerful storytelling. They had seen the dashboard video and had a clear picture of what happened. Why dont you just leave me the fuck alone?. He was incredulous. Finally, the Masters thought, they were going to get some closure and understand exactly what went wrong. (Sept. 14, 2014) 716. He said Runnels was a sworn law enforcement officer whose actions were not only wrong, but criminal. View the profiles of people named Timothy Runnels. During a sentencing hearing before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Dean Whipple of the Western District of Missouri, the government provided evidence that Runnels deployed his taser into the minors chest during a traffic stop and then caused the electric current to run for approximately 20 seconds, four times longer than officers are trained to deploy a taser. It just may be too late. Two years ago, for example, it upheld the denial of qualified immunity to an officer who slammed a nonthreatening, nonviolent woman to the ground, breaking her collarbone and knocking her unconscious. 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