Post by KC on Jan 22, 2006 14:16:58 GMT -5
January, 22, 2006 - Indicted deputy was called a 'role model' in evaluation Dix faces federal charges for stunning civilian.
Less than a year ago, Charles Dix was an Escambia County deputy whose personnel records portrayed an officer with a bright future.
Now, he faces federal charges for stunning a civilian witness with a Taser.
In Dix's 2004 personnel evaluation, his supervisors called him a "role model," a deputy who demonstrated "good judgment."
In his 2005 personnel evaluation, he received an overall rating of "very satisfactory" and was called "an asset to the department."
What the supervisors failed to note was that Dix had fired his Taser at two civilians in separate incidents.
The explanation from the supervisors who prepared the 2005 evaluation: Dix "had been through enough," and they didn't want to record the second incident. The first incident was never formally investigated by the Sheriff's Office.
On Wednesday, Dix was indicted on two federal charges of violating the civil rights of Martha Bledsoe of Pensacola by using excessive force when he shot her four times with a Taser on Feb. 3, 2004.
The Sheriff's Office in May settled a lawsuit filed by Bledsoe for $250,000.
It now is defending itself in a second lawsuit, filed in June by Chad Baxter, who had an October 2003 run-in with Dix and a Taser. That case is pending.
The two citizens who were fired upon were -- at least initially -- trying to cooperate with law enforcement or emergency officials, court records show.
In both instances, records show, Dix pulled the Taser trigger four times, delivering a 50,000-volt shock with each pull.
During the 2003 incident, Dix zapped Baxter after he had been summoned to an auto accident involving his pregnant wife, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court states.
In the 2004 case, Bledsoe collapsed to the ground after being tased. She had called the Sheriff's Office to report a case of child abuse, court records and sheriff's reports show.
Dix resigned from the Sheriff's Office about three months ago and moved out of state.
He is expected to surrender Wednesday to federal authorities in Pensacola for his first appearance in the Bledsoe case.
Dix could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Neil Hanley of Mobile, did not return calls.
Conflicting accounts
Administrative records at the Sheriff's Office offer differing accounts of Dix's history with the department.
They show that even while his immediate supervisors were giving him annual evaluations that rated him above average and very satisfactory, they also filed a use-of-force report, a counseling sheet and admitted in an internal affairs investigation that he used poor judgment.
The incidents with Baxter and Bledsoe are not documented in Dix's personnel records.
Nor is there documentation in his records that show the arrest charges Dix filed against Baxter and Bledsoe were dropped long before they filed lawsuits.
Four days after Dix used a Taser on Bledsoe at a Pensacola Wal-Mart, some of his supervisors gave Dix an outstanding rating for his attitude and initiative on his annual 2004 evaluation and stated he had a "high degree of good judgment" and "will develop at the present pace to be a role model officer."
That same day, internal department records show, his supervisors wrote him a letter of reprimand and confiscated his Taser.
Dix was called to the Wal-Mart parking lot to meet Bledsoe, who wanted to report seeing a neighbor kick and abuse a 3-year-old.
The deputy asked Bledsoe if, by parking in the fire lane, she believed she was a fire truck, according to her lawsuit. He then called into question every statement Bledsoe made about the alleged child abuse.
When she used her cell phone to call dispatchers about his hostile attitude, he ordered her off the phone and lunged toward her. When she screamed, he then tried to take her into custody for disorderly conduct. When she stepped away toward an approaching patrol car, Dix shot her in the back with the Taser.
Lt. Pat Spears told Dix that she "could not understand and asked him how you go from answering a complaint on a child abuse and you get to the point of tasing the complainant," according to an internal affairs interview.
But Spears took a soft approach in a Feb. 7, 2004, counseling form to Dix.
"Dep. Dix did not intend for this call for service to deteriorate to this point," Spears wrote. "He has assured us it was a misunderstanding and miscommunication of all involved."
Nevertheless, Dix's Taser was taken from him until "further notice."
Dix's immediate supervisors made other records of the Bledsoe incident.
On the night Dix stunned and then arrested Bledsoe, Lt. Bill Price, in a suspect resistance report, noted that "it appears due to the circumstances surrounding this incident that the use of the Taser was not necessary."
In March 2004, Deputy Robert Powers, the Taser control officer, learned that Dix's Taser had been taken from him on orders from Capt. Bruce Wood. Powers asked Dix to return the charger and case for the Taser and then contacted patrol Capt. Randy Brown.
"Deputy Dix was very vocal about his opinions about having his Taser taken from him," Powers wrote in an e-mail. "Captain Brown agreed that the Taser should be taken from Deputy Dix ... Captain Brown advised that if Deputy Dix continued to be vocal about having his Taser taken, that he would find a position for Deputy Dix in court security."
Brown continued to note reservations about Dix's performance in 2005.
He received an overall rating of very satisfactory -- the second-highest score -- and was called an asset to the department.
Brown so strongly disagreed with Dix's evaluation he asked Spears and two other supervisors, Wood and Sgt. Alan Barton, to look at the evaluation again.
They made no changes, which prompted Brown to attach a memo to Dix's evaluation stating that he disagreed with the assessment.
"There is at least one incident ... occurring within the specified evaluation period that demonstrated a lack of good judgment and job knowledge by Deputy Dix," Brown wrote.
Spears told him that she, Wood and Barton "believe that Deputy Dix had been through enough and didn't want to record the incident on this evaluation."
Spears did not return a call seeking comment.
Delayed investigation
Despite the immediate actions Dix's supervisors took after the Bledsoe arrest, an internal investigation did not begin until November 2004.
Chief Deputy Larry Smith said Friday that the department's command staff had no knowledge of the severity of the situation involving Bledsoe. The internal investigation was triggered only after senior administrators listened to the audio tape of Bledsoe calling dispatchers, Smith said.
Bledsoe called on a cell phone for additional officers, according to sheriff's reports and depositions, because Dix was being aggressive and seemed unwilling to take her report of a child abuse incident.
"We did not know about it," Smith said. "From the patrol captain on up, command staff did not know about it."
He could not recall how senior-level staff became aware of the audio tape in November.
The internal affairs report concluded that Dix did not have probable cause to arrest Bledsoe and that she should have been released from custody that night.
It also noted that Dix not only acted improperly, he also could not explain why in-car video tapes that should have recorded his encounter with Bledsoe could not be found.
He received a 30-day suspension at the conclusion of the investigation.
Incident in 2003
The Bledsoe incident, the reports and the internal investigation came months after an Oct. 18, 2003, incident with Baxter.
According to the lawsuit, events unfolded like this:
Baxter was called to the Relax Inn on Mobile Highway because his pregnant wife had been rear-ended by a drunken driver.
When emergency medical service workers asked him to calm his wife, he got into the car next to her.
Deputy Corey Cephas told Baxter to get out of the car and threatened him with arrest if he did not comply.
Baxter got out of the car, but, in explaining to another deputy why he was in the car, insulted Cephas.
Cephas, the suit claims, grabbed Baxter and threw him against a Jeep. Two other deputies, including Dix, also joined Cephas.
Dix then pulled his Taser and shocked Baxter in the neck and back. A Sheriff's Office record of Dix's Taser indicates he discharged the weapon at least four times, the lawsuit states.
After subduing Baxter, Dix, with his Taser still in his hand, turned to a group of witnesses and yelled: "Does anybody else want some?" according to the lawsuit.
Baxter was arrested, charged with resisting arrest -- a third-degree felony -- and taken to Escambia County Jail.
On Jan. 7, 2004, the charges were dismissed by the State Attorney's Office.
Smith said he was not aware of Baxter's lawsuit, which was filed in June.
It may have been filed away with other suits against the Sheriff's Office, Smith said, and would not come to the administration's attention until it progressed to the point that depositions or other case action was needed.
The department did not conduct an internal affairs investigation of the Baxter incident, Smith said.
In speaking of the Bledsoe lawsuit and the indictment that followed, Smith defended Dix, saying he "had a bad incident here."
"Did he make a mistake? Yes, he did," Smith said. "But he was a good officer."
Less than a year ago, Charles Dix was an Escambia County deputy whose personnel records portrayed an officer with a bright future.
Now, he faces federal charges for stunning a civilian witness with a Taser.
In Dix's 2004 personnel evaluation, his supervisors called him a "role model," a deputy who demonstrated "good judgment."
In his 2005 personnel evaluation, he received an overall rating of "very satisfactory" and was called "an asset to the department."
What the supervisors failed to note was that Dix had fired his Taser at two civilians in separate incidents.
The explanation from the supervisors who prepared the 2005 evaluation: Dix "had been through enough," and they didn't want to record the second incident. The first incident was never formally investigated by the Sheriff's Office.
On Wednesday, Dix was indicted on two federal charges of violating the civil rights of Martha Bledsoe of Pensacola by using excessive force when he shot her four times with a Taser on Feb. 3, 2004.
The Sheriff's Office in May settled a lawsuit filed by Bledsoe for $250,000.
It now is defending itself in a second lawsuit, filed in June by Chad Baxter, who had an October 2003 run-in with Dix and a Taser. That case is pending.
The two citizens who were fired upon were -- at least initially -- trying to cooperate with law enforcement or emergency officials, court records show.
In both instances, records show, Dix pulled the Taser trigger four times, delivering a 50,000-volt shock with each pull.
During the 2003 incident, Dix zapped Baxter after he had been summoned to an auto accident involving his pregnant wife, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court states.
In the 2004 case, Bledsoe collapsed to the ground after being tased. She had called the Sheriff's Office to report a case of child abuse, court records and sheriff's reports show.
Dix resigned from the Sheriff's Office about three months ago and moved out of state.
He is expected to surrender Wednesday to federal authorities in Pensacola for his first appearance in the Bledsoe case.
Dix could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Neil Hanley of Mobile, did not return calls.
Conflicting accounts
Administrative records at the Sheriff's Office offer differing accounts of Dix's history with the department.
They show that even while his immediate supervisors were giving him annual evaluations that rated him above average and very satisfactory, they also filed a use-of-force report, a counseling sheet and admitted in an internal affairs investigation that he used poor judgment.
The incidents with Baxter and Bledsoe are not documented in Dix's personnel records.
Nor is there documentation in his records that show the arrest charges Dix filed against Baxter and Bledsoe were dropped long before they filed lawsuits.
Four days after Dix used a Taser on Bledsoe at a Pensacola Wal-Mart, some of his supervisors gave Dix an outstanding rating for his attitude and initiative on his annual 2004 evaluation and stated he had a "high degree of good judgment" and "will develop at the present pace to be a role model officer."
That same day, internal department records show, his supervisors wrote him a letter of reprimand and confiscated his Taser.
Dix was called to the Wal-Mart parking lot to meet Bledsoe, who wanted to report seeing a neighbor kick and abuse a 3-year-old.
The deputy asked Bledsoe if, by parking in the fire lane, she believed she was a fire truck, according to her lawsuit. He then called into question every statement Bledsoe made about the alleged child abuse.
When she used her cell phone to call dispatchers about his hostile attitude, he ordered her off the phone and lunged toward her. When she screamed, he then tried to take her into custody for disorderly conduct. When she stepped away toward an approaching patrol car, Dix shot her in the back with the Taser.
Lt. Pat Spears told Dix that she "could not understand and asked him how you go from answering a complaint on a child abuse and you get to the point of tasing the complainant," according to an internal affairs interview.
But Spears took a soft approach in a Feb. 7, 2004, counseling form to Dix.
"Dep. Dix did not intend for this call for service to deteriorate to this point," Spears wrote. "He has assured us it was a misunderstanding and miscommunication of all involved."
Nevertheless, Dix's Taser was taken from him until "further notice."
Dix's immediate supervisors made other records of the Bledsoe incident.
On the night Dix stunned and then arrested Bledsoe, Lt. Bill Price, in a suspect resistance report, noted that "it appears due to the circumstances surrounding this incident that the use of the Taser was not necessary."
In March 2004, Deputy Robert Powers, the Taser control officer, learned that Dix's Taser had been taken from him on orders from Capt. Bruce Wood. Powers asked Dix to return the charger and case for the Taser and then contacted patrol Capt. Randy Brown.
"Deputy Dix was very vocal about his opinions about having his Taser taken from him," Powers wrote in an e-mail. "Captain Brown agreed that the Taser should be taken from Deputy Dix ... Captain Brown advised that if Deputy Dix continued to be vocal about having his Taser taken, that he would find a position for Deputy Dix in court security."
Brown continued to note reservations about Dix's performance in 2005.
He received an overall rating of very satisfactory -- the second-highest score -- and was called an asset to the department.
Brown so strongly disagreed with Dix's evaluation he asked Spears and two other supervisors, Wood and Sgt. Alan Barton, to look at the evaluation again.
They made no changes, which prompted Brown to attach a memo to Dix's evaluation stating that he disagreed with the assessment.
"There is at least one incident ... occurring within the specified evaluation period that demonstrated a lack of good judgment and job knowledge by Deputy Dix," Brown wrote.
Spears told him that she, Wood and Barton "believe that Deputy Dix had been through enough and didn't want to record the incident on this evaluation."
Spears did not return a call seeking comment.
Delayed investigation
Despite the immediate actions Dix's supervisors took after the Bledsoe arrest, an internal investigation did not begin until November 2004.
Chief Deputy Larry Smith said Friday that the department's command staff had no knowledge of the severity of the situation involving Bledsoe. The internal investigation was triggered only after senior administrators listened to the audio tape of Bledsoe calling dispatchers, Smith said.
Bledsoe called on a cell phone for additional officers, according to sheriff's reports and depositions, because Dix was being aggressive and seemed unwilling to take her report of a child abuse incident.
"We did not know about it," Smith said. "From the patrol captain on up, command staff did not know about it."
He could not recall how senior-level staff became aware of the audio tape in November.
The internal affairs report concluded that Dix did not have probable cause to arrest Bledsoe and that she should have been released from custody that night.
It also noted that Dix not only acted improperly, he also could not explain why in-car video tapes that should have recorded his encounter with Bledsoe could not be found.
He received a 30-day suspension at the conclusion of the investigation.
Incident in 2003
The Bledsoe incident, the reports and the internal investigation came months after an Oct. 18, 2003, incident with Baxter.
According to the lawsuit, events unfolded like this:
Baxter was called to the Relax Inn on Mobile Highway because his pregnant wife had been rear-ended by a drunken driver.
When emergency medical service workers asked him to calm his wife, he got into the car next to her.
Deputy Corey Cephas told Baxter to get out of the car and threatened him with arrest if he did not comply.
Baxter got out of the car, but, in explaining to another deputy why he was in the car, insulted Cephas.
Cephas, the suit claims, grabbed Baxter and threw him against a Jeep. Two other deputies, including Dix, also joined Cephas.
Dix then pulled his Taser and shocked Baxter in the neck and back. A Sheriff's Office record of Dix's Taser indicates he discharged the weapon at least four times, the lawsuit states.
After subduing Baxter, Dix, with his Taser still in his hand, turned to a group of witnesses and yelled: "Does anybody else want some?" according to the lawsuit.
Baxter was arrested, charged with resisting arrest -- a third-degree felony -- and taken to Escambia County Jail.
On Jan. 7, 2004, the charges were dismissed by the State Attorney's Office.
Smith said he was not aware of Baxter's lawsuit, which was filed in June.
It may have been filed away with other suits against the Sheriff's Office, Smith said, and would not come to the administration's attention until it progressed to the point that depositions or other case action was needed.
The department did not conduct an internal affairs investigation of the Baxter incident, Smith said.
In speaking of the Bledsoe lawsuit and the indictment that followed, Smith defended Dix, saying he "had a bad incident here."
"Did he make a mistake? Yes, he did," Smith said. "But he was a good officer."