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By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 01:38 p.m. EDT, Aug 05, 2008
An independent expert in police training and use of pepper spray concisely identified the type of cannister that prosecutors say caused the 2006 death of Summit County Jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr.
''It is a one-pound riot container,'' the expert said as the black can was placed before him in the witness box.
Edward W. Bogats Jr., chief of police in Bridgeville, Pa., and an instructor in the use of the device for 15 years, testified this morning in the ongoing Common Pleas Court trial of deputy Stephen Krendick, saying the can made by Fox Laboratories should be used only in ''controlled, half-second bursts.''
Krendick, 35, who is charged with one count of murder in the death of McCullaugh, emptied the 16-ounce can while the inmate was in handcuffs and leg shackles in his 11-by-7-foot cell in the jail's mental health unit, prosecutors contend.
And last week, Deputy Adam Crolley testified that McCullaugh was kneeling on the cell floor, with his head over his bunk, when Krendick shot the pepper spray through a flap in the closed cell door.
Crolley said the stream of pepper spray hit McCullaugh in the buttocks, the back, the back of his head ''and the wall in front of him.''
He said Krendick shot a continuous stream of the chemical for at least three to five seconds.
Bogats, in the seventh day of the trial, said he trains officers to use the one-pound can ''when there are multiple persons involved in riotous situations.'''
But visiting Judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr., who will decide Krendick's case without a jury, stopped Bogats from answering a series of prosecution questions about his training instructions for the one-pound can in a situation such as the one McCullaugh was in.
The defense objected to those questions regarding McCullaugh being cuffed, shackled and in a closed cell, and Inderlied upheld each one.
Afterward, however, Bogats said outside of court that Krendick's alleged use of the one-pound can while McCullaugh was cuffed and shackled was a ''horrendous'' situation.
Bogats pointed out that Krendick received training with a basic, police-issued, 2- or 3-ounce can of pepper spray kept in his side holster belt.
''In my opinion, as a trainer of many, many people, I thought use of the [one-pound can of] spray was improper and not properly used. The situation was probably out of control,'' Bogats said, ''but to utilize [that can] goes against any training principle that myself or instructors under me would ever, ever permit a basic user to use.
''Maybe if he were properly trained and instructed, and had been through refresher courses like most police officers do, we would not be here today and this would not have happened,'' Bogats said.
Bogats went on to say it was ''disheartening'' to take the stand, then not be permitted to answer the questions to which the defense objected.
''I don't feel as though I helped the way I wanted to help, to clarify some things. But, hey, am I glad I'm here? Yes, because this is horrendous,'' he said. ''I was here solely based upon my opinion, my experience and my training with the use of Fox's [pepper spray].''
Bogats testified that he has been a master instructor for the company since 2000 and a general instructor since 1993, having trained at least 1,000 people in the use of the Fox device.
The morning court session was not without apparent strides for the defense.
Bogats, while under direct questioning from Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Brian McDonough, also testified that he was ''aware of no incident that an injury has been caused'' by the use of pepper spray.
He described the chemical agent as simply an ''irritant'' affecting the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of a subject.
In an interruption of the state's case on Monday, Werner U. Spitz, a defense expert in forensic pathology and a former medical examiner in Wayne County in Michigan, testified that he was not aware of any case in which the use of pepper spray has resulted in death.
Spitz, 81, who testified in the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., estimated that he has personally performed or supervised about 60,000 autopsies in his career.
In order to prove the charge of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, prosecutors in Krendick's case must have clear and convicing evidence of purpose or intent.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
An independent expert in police training and use of pepper spray concisely identified the type of cannister that prosecutors say caused the 2006 death of Summit County Jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr.
''It is a one-pound riot container,'' the expert said as the black can was placed before him in the witness box.
Edward W. Bogats Jr., chief of police in Bridgeville, Pa., and an instructor in the use of the device for 15 years, testified this morning in the ongoing Common Pleas Court trial of deputy Stephen Krendick, saying the can made by Fox Laboratories should be used only in ''controlled, half-second bursts.''
Krendick, 35, who is charged with one count of murder in the death of McCullaugh, emptied the 16-ounce can while the inmate was in handcuffs and leg shackles in his 11-by-7-foot cell in the jail's mental health unit, prosecutors contend.
And last week, Deputy Adam Crolley testified that McCullaugh was kneeling on the cell floor, with his head over his bunk, when Krendick shot the pepper spray through a flap in the closed cell door.
Crolley said the stream of pepper spray hit McCullaugh in the buttocks, the back, the back of his head ''and the wall in front of him.''
He said Krendick shot a continuous stream of the chemical for at least three to five seconds.
Bogats, in the seventh day of the trial, said he trains officers to use the one-pound can ''when there are multiple persons involved in riotous situations.'''
But visiting Judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr., who will decide Krendick's case without a jury, stopped Bogats from answering a series of prosecution questions about his training instructions for the one-pound can in a situation such as the one McCullaugh was in.
The defense objected to those questions regarding McCullaugh being cuffed, shackled and in a closed cell, and Inderlied upheld each one.
Afterward, however, Bogats said outside of court that Krendick's alleged use of the one-pound can while McCullaugh was cuffed and shackled was a ''horrendous'' situation.
Bogats pointed out that Krendick received training with a basic, police-issued, 2- or 3-ounce can of pepper spray kept in his side holster belt.
''In my opinion, as a trainer of many, many people, I thought use of the [one-pound can of] spray was improper and not properly used. The situation was probably out of control,'' Bogats said, ''but to utilize [that can] goes against any training principle that myself or instructors under me would ever, ever permit a basic user to use.
''Maybe if he were properly trained and instructed, and had been through refresher courses like most police officers do, we would not be here today and this would not have happened,'' Bogats said.
Bogats went on to say it was ''disheartening'' to take the stand, then not be permitted to answer the questions to which the defense objected.
''I don't feel as though I helped the way I wanted to help, to clarify some things. But, hey, am I glad I'm here? Yes, because this is horrendous,'' he said. ''I was here solely based upon my opinion, my experience and my training with the use of Fox's [pepper spray].''
Bogats testified that he has been a master instructor for the company since 2000 and a general instructor since 1993, having trained at least 1,000 people in the use of the Fox device.
The morning court session was not without apparent strides for the defense.
Bogats, while under direct questioning from Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Brian McDonough, also testified that he was ''aware of no incident that an injury has been caused'' by the use of pepper spray.
He described the chemical agent as simply an ''irritant'' affecting the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of a subject.
In an interruption of the state's case on Monday, Werner U. Spitz, a defense expert in forensic pathology and a former medical examiner in Wayne County in Michigan, testified that he was not aware of any case in which the use of pepper spray has resulted in death.
Spitz, 81, who testified in the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., estimated that he has personally performed or supervised about 60,000 autopsies in his career.
In order to prove the charge of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, prosecutors in Krendick's case must have clear and convicing evidence of purpose or intent.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
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