People v. Brewer CA5

FACTS

On the morning of February 14, 2013, Brewer and three other inmates were placed in a holding cell in the county courthouse, awaiting appearance in court. Brewer was wearing a waist chain, handcuffs, and leg shackles. For about 30 minutes, he repeatedly screamed, “When am I going to court?” and “Get me into court.” Deputy Tafoya asked him several times to lower his voice, but he continued to scream. Tafoya had another deputy open the cell door, then Tafoya confronted Brewer about his screaming, telling him to lower his voice and sit down. Brewer said he would not sit. Tafoya touched him on the shoulder to coax him into sitting, but Brewer batted his hand away. Brewer took a combative stance and screamed at Tafoya. Tafoya realized he needed to use force to gain physical control over Brewer so he pushed him off-balance and tried to pull him out of the cell. Deputy Serrano arrived to assist Tafoya. Brewer was extremely agitated and combative. Tafoya and Serrano grabbed Brewer’s jumpsuit and waist chain and tried to pull him out. Serrano told him to stop resisting. Tafoya and Serrano tried to get him up to a wall, but he resisted and all three went to the floor. Tafoya and…