Smile, When You Say That

Charles Oliver | September 1, 2006

Michael Montgomery was visiting a friend when they looked out the door of the friend's apartment and saw Escambia County, Florida, sheriff's deputies arresting several suspects. Montgomery said to his friend that he thought the deputies were using too much force. According to a lawsuit he filed, deputies apparently overheard the remark. One asked him to repeat the remark. He did. Then another asked for his name, which he provided. That same deputy noticed Montgomery holding a beer. Montgomery says he was doing nothing wrong by drinking a beer in an apartment. That deputy then pulled him through the door and handcuffed him. A third deputy then shot him twice with a Taser. Deputies said he shouted obscenities at them, pulled away when they tried to quiet him and ignored several warning before he was Tased. But Montgomery was acquitted of resisting an officer without violence. And now the department has paid him $62,500 to settle his lawsuit. That was the third time in 14 months the Sheriff's Office settled a lawsuit alleging excessive force using a Taser. The total of the settlements is $460,000.