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Show Wednesday, January 23, 2008 A3 Tribal chief will stand trial for alleged acts toward teen Vernal Express ) i , " W-S. ,-iX j-r . . ' : y - : : : By Gedf Lism Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jon Gardner points his Taser at Jared Massey during a Sept. 14 traffic stop near Vernal. Gardner ultimately fired the weapon twice. Massey has sued the trooper claiming he used excessive force. assey sues over Taser's use M By Ben Wiiuslqw and Geoff Lesik Uintah Basin News Service The man who was Tasered and posted it on YouTube has now filed a federal lawsuit against the Utah Highway Patrol trooper who shocked him. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon against UHP Trooper Jon Gardner, who pulled Jared Massey over for speeding on Sept. 14 on U.S. 40 near Vernal. It accuses the trooper of using excessive force and seeks an unnamed un-named amount in damages. "There was no need for Gardner Gard-ner to Taser Massey because Massey was non-violent, not threatening in any way, not fleeing flee-ing and not resisting arrest," the lawsuit states. Massey declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by the Uintah Basin Standard on Friday. In past interviews, he has said he didn't want to sue but wanted the trooper's superiors to decide if the conduct was appropriate. ap-propriate. ' ' ' In a Nov. 27 letter filed with the lawsuit, Massey called for Gardner to be "justly punished" by the UHP. ,, . . ' "I also request thai those who have participated in the cover-up of this misconduct to be disciplined," he wrote, "and that other actions be taken to assure the public that this type of abuse by a highway patrol officer will not be allowed to occur and will not be covered up if it does occur in the future." Frustrated that authorities were taking too long to investigate investi-gate his complaint, Massey had the dash-cam recording of the traffic stop posted on YouTube in November. It became an international in-ternational hit - being viewed more than 1 million times. In a version of the infamous traffic stop described in court papers, Massey disagreed that he was speeding, but wound up with a citation anyway. He refused to sign it because he wanted to see the speed limit sign. "Signing a citation is not required under Utah law," Massey's lawyer Robert Sykes wrote in the lawsuit. "Gardner could have left the citation with Massey with the exact same effect as having Massey sign it." Instead, Massey was ordered to exit to the vehicle, "as if to allow Massey to show him what he meant," the lawsuit said. Gardner walked to his cruiser as Massey left his SUV "Gardner never advised Massey, prior to Massey's exiting the vehicle, that he was under arrest, or that Gardner intended to put Massey under arrest after he exited the vehicle," Sykes wrote. "After Massey exited the vehicle, he walked calmly toward the officer's cruiser, pointing to the sign down the road with his left hand, and stating that he did not think he had been speeding prior to the 40 mph sign. "While Massey was pointing forward with his left hand, his right hand was at his side, with the thumb hooked inside of his right pant pocket, but the right hand outside the pocket." The lawsuit accuses Gardner of "belligerently" demanding that Massey turn around and put his hands behind his back. On the dash-cam tape, Massey is heard asking, "What's wrong with you?" As he walked back toward his SUV Massey was Tasered. He shrieks and then falls back onto the roadway. "This stunned Massey, who fell hard on to the highway, screaming in pain, while Trooper Troop-er Gardner tauntingly said 'hurts doesn't it?'" Sykes wrote. "Massey struck his head very hard on the pavement, which was due to the fact that the Taser causes a complete loss of the ability to maintain muscle control, causing an individual to drop like a free weight." The lawsuit accuses Gardner of chiding him, then threatening threaten-ing Massey's wife if she didn't get back in the SUV After he was handcuffed and arrested, Sykes accuses Gardner of lying to another officer who arrived on scene. "Trooper Gardner falsely told this officer that he warned Massey that he was going to be arrested and Tasered if he did not comply with his requests," he wrote. The lawsuit does not specifically specifi-cally name the UHP as a defendant, defen-dant, but said that Gardner was acting in his job capacity as an employee for the Utah Department Depart-ment of Public Safety. The UHP has repeatedly refused to make Gardner available for interviews. inter-views. UHP spokesman Jeff Nigbur said the agency is not directly commenting on the lawsuit. "We need to let it take its course through the system," he said. "We'll just wait and see what happens." An initial DPS investigation ruled that Gardner was justified in using the Taser on Massey. "We still stand by our initial decision after we investigated the case," Nigbur said. "And that is, he was reasonable and justified." Gardner recently returned to duty after undergoing a verbal communications course. An internal investigation into the affair is wrapping up and the Utah Attorney General's Office is conducting its own investigation. Uintah Basin News Service A Vernal man who claims to be the leader of an American Indian tribe testified at his preliminary pre-liminary hearing Thursday that the 12-year-old girl he's accused of victimizing was promised to him by her mother in exchange for half a cooler of energy bars. Dale N. Stevens said the agreement agree-ment was reached while the girl and her family were staying in one of his trailers on land owned by his "tribe" in Uintah County in early 2007. "That's the way Indians do things...if they're living under their old ways," the 69-year-old said of the trade. "I became her guardian, put it that way, I became be-came her guardian." Stevens, who was bound over for trial on charges of burglary and attempted lewdness involving involv-ing a child following Thursday's hearing, said he is the chief of the Wampanoag Nation. While the federal government does recognize the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts, it does not recognize Stevens' group, which according federal court records was founded in 2003 in an Arby 's restaurant in Provo. YOU'LL LOVE GRAND JUNCTION IN FEBRUARY February is the month of love and we're celebrating with a month-long extravaganza showcasing our fine cuisine, confectionery delights, art exhibits, theatre productions, music and more. For romance and excitement, the restaurants, shopping, cultural activities and vineyards of Colorado's Wine Country are truly top-shelf. For a complete list of sweet deals and events log on to visitgrandjunction.com The alleged victim, who is now 13, testified that Stevens entered the trailer where her family was staying at least four times during dur-ing the night of May 19 without knocking. The girl had been left alone with her 2-year-old sister while her mother and fourother siblings attended a relative's birthday party. "I'd have to scream at him to leave every time he came over," the girl said of Stevens, noting that he'd always made her uncomfortable. un-comfortable. "He kept saying it was time for me to give myself to him." During one of his visits, the girl said she told Stevens she was old enough to care for herself and didn't need him checking in on her or tending the fire in the trailer. She said he responded by telling her to take off her pants so he could see if she was old enough, a comment Stevens denied making. The girl said she eventually drifted off to sleep, but awoke to find Stevens standing over her in his underwear and a T-shirt. Stevens admitted to entering the trailer at one point during the night in his underwear. He testified that the reason for his repeated visits was to ensure that the fire in the enclosed wood-burning stove was not out of control. He said he could he could see the glow from the stove from his bedroom window. "I was just terrified they were going to set the trailer on fire and burn 'em up," Stevens said, adding that he was undressed on the one occasion because, "If I stopped to get dressed I wouldn't have had any chance of saving anyone." The girl's mother testified that when she returned home around 5 a.m. her daughter told her about Stevens' alleged behavior. The pair barricaded the door with a couch and later fled the property on an ATV After nearly three hours of testimony, 8th District Court Judge A. Lynn Payne ruled that probable cause existed for Stevens Ste-vens to stand trial on the burglary and attempted lewdness charges. He dismissed a voyeurism charge that had been filed shortly before the preliminary hearing, ruling that the state hadn't presented enough evidence for the charge to be presented to a jury. A status hearing for the case is scheduled for April 15. Stevens is free on bond. County housing study A cooperative agreement was approved by county commissioners com-missioners on Monday, Jan 14 at their regular meeting. The county agrees to participate in an affordable housing plan to be developed along with Naples and Vernal cities. Vernal City has already retained a consultant to study housing needs countywide. A total cost of $36,554 is projected for the consultant venture with the county paying 65 percent of the cost based on per capita population. V ft- $ Q i$ 4 ft (C i - i Jin TRUSTED SECURE RESPECTED Since 1907. Specialists in Oil and Gas field and Construction Insurance and Risk Management. Proud Representatives of the Travelers Insurance and Bituminous Insurance Companies. Dale Van Pelt 800.838.1983 A t . i Agency, inc. 604 25 Road PO Box 1509 Grand Junction, CO 81502-1509 b3 GRAND JUNCTION VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU Kick-Off Party Superbowl Style! January 24 th, 2008 6:30 p - 8:30 pm Golden Age Center 155 South 100 West, Vernal We are "kickin' off' the 2008 Relay season in style... SUPERBOWL style! We will have such a great time, providing you with lots of 1st quarter information to get your teams registered. We will also help you and your teams get well into the 2nd half with top fundraising ideas... and TOUCHDOWN, success for Relay For Life 2008! We want YOU! We want you to bring your team captains, team members, and all those wonderful people out on the sidelines waiting to be invited to participate. RELAY FOR LIFE IS FOR EVERYONE, and we want all the team players we can get! We want all our veteran players to come back. We welcome all Rookies to join, and we REALLY want our (Survivors) VIP's as our Guests Of Honor! So come one, come all and don't hesitate Its finally time for... RELAY 2008! For additional information, please call Jessica at 790-6609 or Heather at 781-1584 If RELAY I i FOR LIFE 1 |