Maryland Judge Sentenced after Ordering Defendant be Tasered with 50,000 Volts for Reading Slowly

Nalley’s conduct was so blatantly egregious that Maryland authorities were forced to reprimand the judge. In addition to ordering him to take anger management classes, Nalley has been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and put on probation for a year. Lucky for him that the judge presiding over his case didn’t decide to give him a taste of his own medicine:

A former Maryland judge Thursday was sentenced to a year’s probation for ordering a Charles County sheriff’s deputy to administer an electrical shock to a defendant in his courtroom.

Robert C. Nalley, a former Circuit Court judge in Charles County, had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the civil rights of the defendant, Delvon L. King, as King was about to be tried on a gun charge in 2014.

“To say that I’m chagrined to be standing here is an understatement,” Nalley said in brief remarks in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Nalley said he felt “deep regret” over his “error in judgment,” which he said reflected not just on himself but also on his family and the Charles County justice system. Nalley did not apologize to King, who was in the spectators’ gallery a few feet away, or make any reference to him.

King, 27, said in court that Nalley “tortured” him and deprived him of a fair trial. Nalley had a deputy shock King, who was representing himself, as he made what he believed was a legal argument during jury selection on July 23, 2014. King dropped to the ground when a 50,000-volt shock was administered through a Stun-Cuff attached to an ankle.

After paramedics determined that King was not seriously injured, Nalley continued jury selection. On Thursday, King told U.S. Magistrate Judge William G. Connelly that he was disoriented and fearful after being shocked and was not able to defend himself to the best of his ability.

Source: Washington Post