"Taser dad" to stand trial; mom wants full custody (Warren, Michigan)

We initially reported on "taser dad" JOSEPH RAYMOND COX last month. Now we're find out more detail on the taser incident with the local police where he used his 2-year-old daughter as a "human shield." I won't summarize the article as you can read it for yourself. Let's just say that it's ridiculous that this mother should have to fight for full custody with such a volatile idiot. It should be a done deal, a slam dunk. Joint custody with guys like Cox is inherently unworkable, and it's time the courts realized that. In the end, it's the children who get hurt.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100422/METRO/4220469/1409/METRO

Dad to stand trial on charges he used toddler as Taser shield
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Warren -- A Belleville father was ordered to stand trial today on allegations he used his 2-year-old daughter as a "human shield" when Warren police attempted to subdue him with a Taser for resisting arrest.

Warren District Court Judge John M. Chmura ruled Joseph Raymond Cox, 27, will proceed to trial on charges of third-degree home invasion, second-degree child abuse and resisting and obstructing police in connection with the March 27 incident.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Cox's ex-wife, Christina Cox, testified during a preliminary hearing today that Joseph Cox showed up around 3:30 p.m. that day along with their daughter to get some diapers from her Warren home. The two made the exchange in the driveway of his mother's home next door.

But Christina Cox said she called 911 after her former husband followed her home. With their child tucked under one arm, he used the other to break the screen door and forced his way inside, she said.

"I was scared...he just snapped that day," she said. "I didn't know what was going through his mind."

Christina Cox said she tried to remove their daughter, Chloe, from his arms, but "he wouldn't let her go." After a scuffle, in which she said she bit him several times in the arm, he and Chloe left.

But he refused to cooperate when Warren police arrived at his mother's home about an hour later to arrest him in connection with the alleged incident.

Warren Police Officer Mike Parisek testified Cox took up a "fighting stance."

Cox reached down and grabbed his daughter and dangled the child in front of himself after Parisek drew his Taser. And with every move Cox made, Parisek said, the child kicked and screamed as her father purposely kept her in the direct path of the weapon.

"He was using her as a human shield," Parisek said. "I demanded he put her down...he would not."

The Taser was not deployed.

In an argument to have the charges dismissed, Cox's attorney, Leonard J. Buczkowski, noted the Taser was not activated and nobody was injured. Buczkowski called prosecutors' claims that the child was in danger a "dramatic conclusion."

"We don't know if there was ever child endangerment," he said. "Mr. Cox did nothing to injure the child, nor did the officer intend to do so."

Chmura ruled the testimony supported all the charges.

"He held the child literally in harm's way," Chmura said. "Tasers are not meant to be used on 2-year-olds."

Christina Cox told reporters after the hearing that she's battling for full custody.

"He thinks he's a great father," she said. "A great father wouldn't hold their kid in front of a Taser."

Cox is due in Macomb County Circuit Court for an arraignment and pretrial conference May 3.

cferretti@detnews.com (586) 468-0343

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100422/METRO/4220469/1409/METRO#ixzz0lsm2zMjL