Tazered school student may have a claim against school guard; summary disposition reversed.

Rozelle Jackson sued Perkins Higgins and the Detroit Public Schools after he was tazered by a school guard.  The testimony of Jackson's companions appears to confirm that Jackson was not engaged in any form of misconduct when the guard threatened him with the tazer, chased him down, and in fact tazered him.  The guard testified that the entire incident was fabricated, that he didn't possess a tazer, and that he never used one on Jackson.

The trial court dismissed the case summarily based on the guard's account of the incident.  The Court of Appeals noted that under Michigan's constitution, a judge may not resolve this kind of factual dispute; and that summary disposition should not have been granted.  It is for a jury of their peers to decide the credibility of the Plaintiff, the Defendant and the witnesses:  judges cannot resolve credibilty issues relating to material facts.