Greenbelt, MD – Former Charles County Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley, 72 of La Plata, was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and fined $5,000 Thursday, March 31 by U.S. District Court Judge William Connelly in Greenbelt.

The judge’s fall from grace began July 23, 2014 when he ordered a Charles County Circuit Court deputy to use an electronic stun gun on Devlon L. King, who was defending himself before Nalley on weapons charges.

U.S. Prosecutor Christy O’Malley played separate audio and video from Nalley’s courtroom regarding the date in question. In the video, the court deputy is seen removing chairs from around King before administering a taser to the defendant.

King is seen falling to the ground in the video and remaining motionless for approximately 30 seconds.

The audio was far more graphic. At one point, King is speaking and Nalley is heard telling him to stop.

When King continued speaking, the judge can be heard telling the deputy, “Do it. Use it.”

What is heard next is King screaming.

King left the courtroom before Connelly announced his decision, because he said he knew what was coming.

“”There was no justice here today,” King said following the judge’s ruling.

“If anybody was to check on it, they would find that I have never acted out in court, not one time,” he said. “I was just arguing for my rights, my human rights.”

“To say that I’m chagrined to be standing here is an understatement,” Nalley told the court. “I deeply regret having taken an action that upon reflection was an error in judgement.”

Although his attorney asked for unsupervised probation, Connelly said that federal probation is almost always supervised.

The judge said he took into account testimony and 32 letters he received in support of Nalley before handing down his sentence and ordering Nally to report to the probation office.

Connelly also ordered that Nalley take a course on anger management as part of his sentence.

Attorneys Hammad Matin and William Renahan were present to offer support to the judge.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com