Rick Halperin
Tue Aug 16 12:14:07 2005
June 13 TEXAS: New weapon touted to TDCJ It's only 6 1/2 inches long, made of aluminum and weighs less than your average cell phone. Yet, despite its diminutive size, it could take a 360-pound, 6-foot-5-inch man to his knees in 3 seconds without electrical shocks or injury. The Centurion Control Stick is the weapon of the future, according to its creator, Ron Teeters. Teeters is trying to get his non-lethal weapon used by law enforcement and penal agencies across the state of Texas, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Currently, TDCJ correctional officers carry pepper spray and nothing more. With the recent injuries of 2 correctional officers at the TDCJ Eastham Unit in Lovelady during an escape attempt, Teeters believes his weapon would have been useful. "I've yet to find a person that could stand there and say, 'Yes give me more,' he said, talking about the use of the device. "Unlike pepper spray, you can't develop an immunity to this. The pain is there and you can't deny it." Unlike a baton, the device focuses pressure into one of several thousand points on the body, which momentarily disables the person. "It puts 500 pounds of pressure per square inch on the body, but it does no permanent damage," Teeters said. "As soon as the pressure stops, the pain stops. "And let's face it - when a guy is choking you, he's not trying to buy tickets to the policeman's ball," he said. "He's trying to hurt you, and this will stop him." "If I'm an officer and I have an inmate on me, I can take out my pepper spray and hit him, but it could bounce back and hit me in the face," Teeters said. "You need to get the person away from you first, and this weapon does that." What happens when an inmate or criminal takes the weapon away from an officer? Teeters said that is virtually impossible because of the unique design. "You get the biggest guy around and he couldn't get it from me," he said. "There's no leverage point because it's coned on both ends. "You'd almost have to give it to the inmate for them to get it, and an inmate doesn't want this. They want a shank," he said. "This is virtually impossible to use as an impact weapon." After working 25 years in law enforcement in Los Angeles County, Teeters realized the need for a weapon that incapacitates but doesn't seriously injure a person. After the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, Teeters began seriously considering making the weapon, and 7 years later, he still believes it is the best choice for law enforcement. "The news media does not want to see people being shocked or beaten with sticks," he said. "And you don't have to be a media person to not like seeing these things. "Nobody can watch that and think that the officers who beat King did a good job," he said. "Most people think they got carried away." The control stick is a non-impact, non-lethal weapon that looks like a small stick. Teeters designed it to be small enough to fit into the palm of a person's hand or in a pocket. Both ends of the control stick are cone shaped with sharp points, and when pushed into most any place on the body, the ends of the control stick elicit a painful response which can effectively stop any person in their tracks, Teeters said. "Everybody always says that they can't believe something this small could work, but once I show them, they're amazed," he said. "We were at a show in Oklahoma a couple of years ago, when a sheriff came up to our booth. "He was 360 pounds and over 6 feet tall. I took him down and had him in a handcuff position in three seconds," Teeters said. "When he got up, I thought he was going to be angry, but he said, 'I have to have these for my officers.'" Law enforcement officials or citizens working in an official capacity can be trained in the use of the control stick over a 2-day training session. However, a citizen version of the weapon is also available. Made of the same size and shape, the citizen version comes equipped with pepper spray inside, and a person can be trained on a couple of evasive tactics in only a few minutes. Teeters said at nearly every department where he's demonstrated the weapon, the response has been the same. From the FBI SWAT team to guards with Buckingham Palace, Teeters has used the pint-size powerhouse to prove that you can bring a person to their knees and gain control of a situation without causing any permanent injuries. The ability to control a suspect without harming them is important to law enforcement agencies as well as prison systems, hotel security, air marshals or anyone who is employed in a line of work where they could be harmed in a fight. The threat of lawsuits by victims is gone because there are no victims - and no injuries. (source: Tori Brock) ********************** Lawyers seek deposition of death-row inmate -- Murder Confession Could Free Convicted Man In Charleston, West Virginia, lawyers for a man serving a life sentence for a double murder in Kanawha County are seeking a court's permission to take statements from a Texas death-row inmate who has confessed to the crime. Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker will hear the request on July 7. Public Defender Wendy Campbell and Williamson lawyer Tim Koontz asked Walker to allow them to take depositions from Texas inmate Tommy Lynn Sells and two Texas Rangers who first investigated Sells' confession. If Walker grants the request, prosecutors will be able to cross-examine Sells and the Rangers. Dana December Smith was convicted of killing Margaret McClain, 63, and her daughter, Pamela Castoneda, 36, in Campbells Creek in September 1991. The women were found stabbed to death. DNA evidence linked Smith to the crime scene. Smith has always proclaimed his innocence. The state Supreme Court denied his appeal, and he is serving a life sentence without mercy. In addition to West Virginia, authorities have said they think Sells is responsible for murders in Kentucky, Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Sells, a former carnival worker and drifter, is to be put to death in Texas for killing a 13-year-old girl. No execution date has been set. Sgts. John Allen and Coy L. Smith conducted the investigation in 2000 when Sells first spoke of a double murder in West Virginia. At that time, Sells described the murders and how he hitchhiked out of the area. Campbell said none of the men would be able to come to West Virginia to testify so a recorded statement is necessary. A circuit judge must approve such a hearing. Campbell met with Sells in May. During one discussion, Sells detailed how and where he killed McClain and Castoneda. He told Campbell he argued with McClain over him being in the house and then stabbed them both with a kitchen knife. Koontz, who was hired by Smith's family, called Sells' claims "blockbuster" evidence. "We absolutely believe this man has to have this evidence re-presented to a jury," Koontz said. Texas authorities contacted Kanawha County detectives and told them about the statements. They also said Sells and Smith could have been in prison together. But an investigation by Campbell's office revealed that Sells' confession included details about the murder scene as well as details about McClain's glasses. Sells served 5 years at Huttonsville Correctional Center for cutting the throat of a 19-year-old Charleston woman and leaving her for dead. He was sentenced to 2 to 10 years in prison for malicious wounding but was released in May 1997 after serving 5 years. (source: Associated Press) ****************** Valdez escapes death penalty, gets life term -- Judge deems man who shot police officer retarded Death row inmate Alberto Valdez, 48, was deemed mentally retarded by Judge Sandra Watts Friday, and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Valdez was convicted in 1988 of the shooting death of Corpus Christi police Sgt. Dan Bock on Sept. 9, 1987. At issue in Friday's hearing in the 117th District Court was Valdez's mental capacity. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2002 ended the death penalty for the mentally retarded. <>P> Friday's testimony of witnesses ended with a surprising change of opinion by the state's witness Gary Mears, a neuro-psychologist and college instructor, who evaluated Valdez on death row and knew his childhood mental history. "The judge let us have all the data to review and after hearing all of the experts, the evidence made me change my mind," Mears said. "A consensus of expert opinions is rare. This was a unique case." Mears testified "something is wrong with Valdez's brain" and he suffers from "pre-frontal lobe deficits." Assistant District Attorney Douglas Norman was obligated by the state to follow and disclose Mears' new opinion of Valdez's mental status. "It doesn't change the fact that Valdez remains convicted under a capital murder sentence, though," Norman said. "There is possibility of parole, but it doesn't mean the parole board will grant it." Mears also testified that Valdez has a personality disorder and remains a future danger, a factor the parole board likely would consider if Valdez were to become eligible. Defense attorneys, who took the case for free, tearfully congratulated Valdez, patting him on the back. Friends and Valdez's sister hugged him. "We took this case 14 years ago," said Bill Underwood, a defense attorney and law professor. "There has been a serious problem with death row inmates receiving proper representation." Bock's family was not at the hearing, but former Kingsville Police Chief and friend Sam Granato said the judge's decision was unjust. "I don't see how anybody who is retarded would be capable of the actions he took before he killed Danny and when he killed Danny," Granato said. "There is no limit for the guilty in a defense where the victim got nothing in compensation. All he got was a pine box." Jeffrey Levinger, another defense attorney, said he expects the Court of Criminal Appeals to concur with Watts' recommendation. "We have all the confidence the Court of Criminal Appeals will accept the opinion," Levinger said. "And he will be moved from death row to the jail's general population." (source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times)