A dashboard camera photo of the confrontation between Harmon and Andrews
SYRACUSE -- After Audra Harmon was awarded $75,000 in an out of court settlement, people disagree over whether she, or Onondaga County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Andrews, was wrong during a Tasering incident on January 31st. Harmon was Tasered during a traffic stop that received national attention after the incident was recorded by the deputy's dashboard camera.
Had Harmon's lawsuit gone to trial her attorney, Terrance Hoffmann, was prepared to show how, in his opinion, what happened on Hopkins Road violated the departments own policies on the use of Tasers.
Hoffmann contends Deputy Andrews should have let Harmon go when he realized she could prove she was not on her cell phone as he originally claimed. Hoffmann says Andrews then claimed she was speeding. When asked what was the deputy to do when Harmon did not obey his order to get back in the car, Hoffmann replied, "The fact that she didn't immediately comply with his order to get back in the car is in and of itself not a justification to arrest her."
When Andrews used his Taser on Harmon, Hoffman says the deputy was wrong on two counts. Hoffmann obtained a copy of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department's Taser Procedure which states the devices "shall not be used in a punitive or coercive manner." Hoffmann also says the deputy also did not follow the so-called "use of force continuum..." in which a Taser would be justified only if a subject is showing "active aggression" toward an officer.
"This wasn't a situation where the police officer knew he was dealing with a dangerous felon or anything of that matter. There wasn't an immediate need for immediate physical force. This was a discussion, a conversation he could have let play out."
Sheriff Kevin Walsh says he can not talk about the incident because of disciplinary proceedings against Deputy Andrews, but he says the department makes sure Tasers are used properly. "There are sight and sound cameras as the Tasers (which) go on automatically when the Taser safety is disengaged. So we have the incident covered. We have everything covered that can be humanly done."
