Tased, shackled, hooded and...well, watch the video

Montezuma Co. Sheriff's deputies forcibly extract Ignacio "Michael" Rael from his cell to attend sentencing after his conviction for second-degree murder. A judge's order to force him to attend the hearing against his will has sparked a debate over state law that does not explicitly require convicted felons be sentenced in person.

Kudos to Denver-based Law Week Colorado for tracking down and posting a disconcerting video of a man dragged from his jail cell in Cortez after he refused to go to his own sentencing. Following a judge’s order to appear in court anyway, push came to shove - and then some - as a team of helmeted Montezuma County sheriff’s deputies stormed the cell of Ignacio “Michael” Rael. Portions of the sheriff’s office video obtained by Law Week aren’t for the squeamish.

The report, authored by Ali McNally and Don Knox, provides a chilling look into how county jail inmates are dealt with at times in our state. It also digs for answers to some nuanced constitutional questions about the line between a convict’s rights and a judge’s prerogatives in a case that involved a brutal slaying. However heinous Rael’s crime, it’s not entirely clear who bears most of the responsibility for this post-trial, knock-down-drag-out: an uncooperative inmate, an indignant judge or a sheriff’s office that seems to be caught in the middle. Take a look and decide for yourself.