The criminal case was delayed again Friday against a 36-year-old man whom cops tased repeatedly in a controversial incident caught on police body-camera video inside a Whalley Avenue bodega — so that the judge can view the footage.
The Superior Court Judge, Philip Scarpellino, continued the case against the tased man, Rashae King, until Feb. 2. Police charged King with disorderly and conduct and interfering with a police investigation in the Dec. 3 incident; top cops subsequently sent the officers involved back for retraining in de-escalating, rather than escalating, confrontations based on what the video showed.
King’s case had already been continued once. He showed up in the Elm Street courthouse Friday morning, to hear Scarpellino say he plans to view the video before ruling on a motion by King’s public defender, Margaret Moreau, to dismiss both charges against her client. (The video appears at the top of this story.)
Judge Scarpellino expressed reservations about dismissing the disorderly conduct charge, though he said that it might be appropriate to dismiss the interfering charge.
“What the police did once they encountered King has no bearing on what King did before the police arrived,” Scarpellino said.
King expressed hope the judge will accept the motion to dismiss after viewing the video, which shows three officers shouting at and then tasering King while he was buying a lottery ticket. Police had responded to a report that he had been disturbing the peace and believed he was high on PCP, which King denies.
On Jan. 12, the state’s attorney offered King the option of accepting a nolle, which means the charges would be erased from his record if he avoids arrest for 13 months. King said at the time that he was inclined to press for a dismissal instead. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Could this dude, as they asked, have just laid on the ground and ate his Doritoes or whatever?
If one cop was present and asked me the first time, I would.
Easier?