October 24, 2014

Being tasered may affect ability to exercise legal rights

Mad in America - After they have been hit by a taser, most people experience a significant diminishing in their memory and cognitive functions for up to an hour, according to an unpublished study discussed in Live Science. The researchers said that the impacts were serious enough to raise into doubt whether people who’ve been tasered will understand their legal rights during any subsequent police arrest.


“In order to give up your right to remain silent, which would allow the police to question you during that custodial interrogation, you have to be able to give a knowing and valid waiver,” Robert Kane, Director of the Criminology and Justice Studies Program at Drexel University told Live Science. “You have to be of sound mind, you have to know what you are doing and you have to understand the consequences of talking to police.”

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