They say there are two sides to every story. Do you agree? One problem with stories is when you mix your memory of events with excessive consumption of alcohol. A perfect example happened outside the Coyote Bar & Grill in Carlsbad, California.
Right now the story is that a 26-year-old Carlsbad resident is suing the city for excessive force. Of course the story of the actual incident completely differs between the arresting officers and William Cody Carter, the plaintiff.
Cody and his fiancée who was with him at the time admit that he was really drunk and very angry at the time of the incident. You see, bouncers at the Coyote Bar & Grill refused him entry (reason unknown) after allowing a group of women into the establishment.
The Story
He and his fiancée agree that she was helping the Marine Corps veteran home on foot after being shut out of the restaurant. They agree with police that he may have been very loud in shouting out his displeasure on the way home.
It was this displeasure which attracted local police officers who confronted the verbally belligerent Cody. Here the stories of Cody and his fiancée differ entirely from those of the arresting officers.
According to Cody, he complied with officers’ requests that he sit on a curb. Officers claim not only did he not comply, but he threw something out of his pocket into the grass nearby. Officers claim his verbal abuse continued and that he may have been so inebriated he did not know if he was speaking with police officers or other bystanders on the street.
The Long Story Short
It all comes down to Cody, whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.15% at the time of the arrest, was tasered by officers on this Halloween night back in 2009. The result of the taser was his falling to the ground and being knocked unconscious. He woke up 2 days later in a local hospital with minimal recollection of the events.
He is now suing the Carlsbad Police Department for $650,000.00, which he claims will cover the $120,000.00 in medical costs, plus punitive damages that will keep Carlsbad Police from acting so swiftly with the taser in the future.
My Take
My take on the situation is that you can never make a sound judgment when alcohol is involved. I almost always will side with police when I hear the suspect in question was completely intoxicated at the time of the incident.
I will be interested to hear how all of this plays out. As of now, I again reiterate to all of my readers, alcohol is a poison. It is not doing you any good. Incidents like this would definitely be avoided if alcohol had not been involved! Consider an 8 hour drug alcohol class or a 16 hour drug alcohol class to learn more!.