Bill Gannon
2010-05-15 12:31:09
As to cuffs and guilt, in most jurisdictions the two are not interdependent. Generally if a cop has “reasonable cause” to detain an individual, she/he is entitled to use cuffs to incapacitate the person for personal safety reasons. In this case the subjects were lying on the ground, ergo reasonable cause appears to have already been established. Absent another explanation, that’s why it seems a critical step was skipped.
Of course in uber-liberal Seattle that might not be established case law.
