Viva Portlandia: a common sense taser ruling

A federal jury today ruled unanimously that a Portland police officer used excessive force when he fired a Taser five times into the back of a man he suspected of spray-painting graffiti on a commercial building.

The jury deliberated about three hours and ruled that Portland Police Officer Benjamin J. Davidson violated Daniel Halsted's constitutional rights, and awarded him $125,000 in punitive damages, $75,000 in non-economic damages and $6,372.70 for medical costs.

Halsted, a 36-year-old Portland resident with no criminal record, called the June 17, 2008, encounter at Northeast Wasco Street and 26th Avenue "the most traumatic experience" in his life.

His attorney Joseph Grube argued that Davidson failed to identify himself as an officer on a dark street at 1 a.m., wrongly assumed his client was involved in the vandalism and used force disproportional to the alleged crime of "petty vandalism."

Once Tased, Halsted said he fell, had his face pushed into the ground and suffered facial fractures and abrasions to his head and hands. Police cited him for resisting arrest and criminal mischief, but prosecutors didn't file charges.

He said he looked back, saw a dark figure and began to run east on Wasco because he was frightened. He heard "Tase him," and then felt a shock to his back and fell. While yelling out for citizens and neighbors to call police, he was Tased four more times before other officers helped Davidson get Halsted into custody in a maximum hobble restraint. He was then taken to a local hospital.

"It's the most traumatic experience I've had," Halsted testified. "It's changed my view of the police. It's extremely non-sensical. I can't believe it happened. It's disgusting." Halsted, then technical director at Portland's Hollywood Theatre, is now the theatre's head film programmer.

Davidson testified he was responding to a report that four men were seen on the roof of a building at 2506 N.E. Multnomah St., tagging it with spray paint. Dispatch alerted Davidson that a suspect was seen heading east on Wasco. When Davidson approached Northeast 26th Avenue and Wasco, he said he looked west and saw three men running toward him on Wasco. Davidson said he got out of his patrol car and shined his flashlight on the men, yelling "Police, stop!" He said two of the three men ran in between houses while the third, Halsted, darted onto the south sidewalk of Wasco Street, heading toward Davidson and skirted past him. When he refused to stop, Davidson said he fired his Taser.

Rice tried to discredit Halsted, asking him about his collection of Kung Fu movies, and suggested during his closing argument that Halsted kept resisting because he was likely intoxicated. Halsted's attorney countered that there was no evidence of Halsted's intoxication, and asked Halsted if he'd ever been trained in martial arts, to which the answer was no.

"It's scary because it wasn't just the incident but their report of what happened, which didn't align with the facts," Halsted said after the verdict. "I was just a guy walking home. It could've been anybody."