Michigan State Police Trooper Mark Bessner
Michigan State Police Trooper Mark Bessner faces charges in the taser death of fifteen-year-old Damon Grimes. Prosecutors say it's not the only time he used a taser unecessarily, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Elisha Anderson and John Wisely of the Detroit Free Press report:
Six weeks before Grimes crashed and died after being tased, Forrest Harvey III encountered Bessner in Detroit near 7 Mile and Hoover. Bessner emerged from his patrol car, ordered Harvey to raise his hands and then shot him with a Taser about 1 second later.
In court documents reviewed by the Free Press, prosecutors argue that Harvey's case is part of a pattern of abusive behavior Bessner inflicted on select Detroit residents. They paint a picture of a rogue trooper with an authority complex who repeatedly used violence to punish "a specific class of people."
In addition to Harvey's case, prosecutors point to three other cases where they say suspects were tasered unnecessarily, sometimes while handcuffed. Prosecutors want jurors to know Bessner's history when the ex-trooper stands trial in August for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Grimes' death.
They've asked Wayne County Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten to allow the evidence. A hearing is scheduled Friday morning to consider the request.
