March 13, 2015

Former Millvale Police Officer Sentenced for Tasering Handcuffed Man

PITTSBURGH—Nicole Murphy, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to three years’ probation. The first three months of the sentence will be served in home confinement, followed by nine months of in-home detention. The sentence also requires that the defendant serve 100 hours of community service for each year of probation, and that the community service consist of outreach to law enforcement about the use of excessive force and the consequences of using excessive force. This sentence was imposed on the defendant for her conviction of deprivation of rights under color of law, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Nicole Murphy, 31.

On Sept. 21, 2012, Murphy, while acting under color of law as a police officer with the Millvale Police Department, deprived an individual identified as Thomas Smith of the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable force, by deploying a taser in both drive and probe-stun modes on Smith’s person while he was handcuffed behind his back and seated on the floor of the squad room at the Millvale Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Carolyn J. Bloch and Cindy K. Chung prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Murphy.