Defendant Shocked with Stun Device, Attorney Seeks Judge's Ouster

A man acting as his own attorney annoyed a Maryland judge so much that a sheriff’s deputy was ordered to zap the argumentative defendant with 50,000 volts of electricity from a stun device.

Now, the state’s public defender is seeking to remove Charles County Circuit Court Judge Robert Nalley from the bench. Nalley was previously punished by the state’s highest court for letting the air out of a vehicle’s tires because it was parked in his usual spot.

Judge Nalley said that Delvon L. King, 25, of Waldorf was being “non-responsive” and “rude” and “citing case law that did not apply to his case,” reports The Washington Post. King had argued he was a sovereign citizen so the state laws didn’t apply to him, and questioned Nalley’s judicial qualifications.

The shock was administered via a Stun Cuff King was wearing around his ankle after fleeing court proceedings earlier this year.

King’s trial continued and he was convicted of three firearms offenses, says the Baltimore Post-Examiner.

Paul B. DeWolfe, the public defender, tells the Post that instead of being shocked for 5 seconds until he fell to the floor in pain, King could have been held in contempt for lack of judicial decorum and taken out of the courtroom.

“For a judge to inflict physical pain for the sole purpose of silencing an individual is unacceptable,” DeWolfe told the newspaper. “In a court of law, it is the judge’s responsibility to protect the rights of those involved in the process, not to violate them.”

Nalley in 2009 deflated the tires of a Toyota driven by a night-time cleaning crew member who had parked in his typical parking space outside the Charles County courthouse, reports the Baltimore Post-Examiner. The judge pleaded guilty to tampering with a motor vehicle and was sentenced to probation, a $500 fine and ordered to write a letter of apology to the vehicle’s owner.

In July 2010, the Maryland Court of Appeals suspended Nalley for five days without pay as punishment for the tire incident. Nalley, who is 70, retired from the bench in 2013, but was asked to work on cases as needed by the courts.