Judge weighs stun gun decision
LOCKPORT — Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza on Friday gave herself two weeks to decide whether to allow prosecutors to use a DNA sample taken from a Niagara Falls man after he was zapped with a Taser electronic stun gun.
The results of the DNA test tied Ryan S. Smith to two 2006 Niagara Falls crime scenes — a shooting and an armed robbery. Smith, 21, is awaiting trial on a 24-count indictment.
“I’m not certain until I do all the research which way the decision is going to go,” Sperrazza said from the bench.
But the prosecution may not be taking any chances. It filed a request asking for another DNA sample from Smith, which defense attorney Patrick M. Balkin said was probably a fail-safe in case he wins his motion to throw out the sample taken after the Sept. 29 Taser incident at Niagara Falls Police Headquarters.
Assistant District Attorney Susan B. Bjornholm would not confirm that was the reason for the request. Balkin said he would argue against it.
Friday, wrapping up a hearing on the Taser case, Balkin repeatedly called the use of the stun gun “torture.”
He said testimony from four of the five police officers at the scene established that Smith was handcuffed and sitting on the floor when the Taser was used.
Police said they did it instead of fighting with Smith, who was refusing to open his mouth for a DNA swab Sperrazza had ordered at the prosecution’s request.
Smith was unhappy because he had given a DNA sample the previous month. Balkin said Smith was not informed that the first sample had been sent to the wrong laboratory by the Police Department and was compromised when it was opened there, making it useless.
After the Taser was used, Smith was arrested on a misdemeanor contempt of court charge.
“No defendant has ever been brought before a court for contempt in the United States where a judge ordered them Tasered to comply,” Balkin said. “We have 100 years of [collective] police experience with these officers and this is the best they can do, to Taser a handcuffed client?”
“The people believe the evidence in this case was legally obtained,” Bjornholm said. “[Smith’s] DNA was found at the scene of a horrific crime where a person was shot and children were duct-taped.”
She and Balkin disagreed over whether a 39-second video, taken automatically when the Taser was turned on, shows Smith resisting or not.
Detective Angela Munn of the Niagara Falls police testified that the Taser video doesn’t start recording until 1.5 seconds after the Taser is fired, and thus it was fired for four seconds, not the two seconds police estimated during the hearing.
“It was only fired once that day. It was turned on three times,” Munn said.
Balkin quoted Detective James Galie as saying, “Ryan, we’re going to do this again and again until you comply.”
“That’s torture. There’s no other word for it,” Balkin said.
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