A Benbrook man is getting a new trial after being repeatedly electrically shocked by order of a Tarrant County judge in 2014.
Terry Lee Morris, 54, was convicted of soliciting a 15-year-old girl for sex and sentenced to 60 years in prison in 2014. But during the course of the trial, Morris broke court room decorum, arguing with Tarrant County Judge George Gallagher.
Gallagher then ordered a bailiff to activate Morris’ “stun cuff” bracelet attached to his leg, shocking Morris with about 80,000 volts of electricity.
In all, court documents show Morris was shocked three times.
After the first shock, Morris and Judge Gallagher had the following verbal exchange:
Judge Gallagher: “Are you going to behave”?
Terry Morris: “I have a history of mental illness.”
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Judge Gallagher: “Hit him again.”
Neighbors in Morris’ former trailer park in Benbrook say it was obvious and well known that he struggled with mental illness.
The appellate court decision found Judge Gallagher’s actions to be unconstitutional and the use of the stun cuff to be “solely as a show of the court’s power.”
