Opinion ID: 2601972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Suppression: Excessive Use of Force

Text: [¶ 10] Appellant also asks this Court to find that the district court should have granted his motion to suppress evidence because the officers used excessive force in obtaining that evidence. In Roose v. State, 759 P.2d 478 (Wyo.1988), we discussed the application of the exclusionary rule [3] in the context of excessive use of force. In Roose, based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the arrest, we found that officers did not use excessive force when they shot a suspect who was not complying with police orders and whose actions would have caused a reasonable police officer to believe he might be reaching for a weapon. Id. at 484. In the present case, we find that the district court acted appropriately because the evidence presented would not have allowed the court to reach the conclusion that officers used excessive force under the circumstances. [¶ 11] A review of the record indicates that the district court had almost no evidence before it that would have allowed it to conclude that the force used by officers in this case was excessive under the circumstances. The suppression hearing transcript shows that Officer Baedke was the only witness. Officer Baedke testified that he was trained in the use of the TASER and that he had been trained to aim for central body mass when deploying the weapon. However, there was no testimony about the reason for such a rule, or whether using a TASER on Appellant's neck increased the risk of harm to Appellant. Officer Baedke was also unable to give competent testimony with respect to the use of force continuum. Defense counsel attempted to elicit testimony from Officer Baedke about the possible danger of deploying a TASER in the neck area, but Officer Baedke did not have the personal knowledge or expertise to answer such complex medical questions. There was no medical testimony. Officer Baedke testified that he did not attempt to pry Appellant's fingers open because he did not know what was in Appellant's hand and because there was potential for injury either to the officers or to Appellant from such an attempt. There was no testimony by any expert on law enforcement procedures. There was no testimony from any expert on risks associated with TASER deployment. There was no testimony that the use of the TASER was not appropriate in these circumstances, or that such use would have unacceptably increased the risk to someone in this situation. There was no competent evidence that would have allowed the district court to find that the use of the TASER to open Appellant's hand in this situation, constituted excessive use of force.