Posted on 09/23/2004 5:34:58 AM PDT by Jagdgewehr
VISTA – Jurors began deliberating yesterday in the case of a Poway lawyer accused of not stopping for a CHP officer because she wanted to get her child to school on time.
Stacy Taylor, 44, a patent lawyer, is charged with misdemeanor counts of evading a peace officer with reckless driving, child endangerment and resisting an officer. The charges stem from an incident Jan. 16 that started near the gated entrance to Fairbanks Ranch.
At some point, Taylor drove away from a traffic stop at Circa del Norte and San Dieguito Road and drove about five miles to Del Mar Pines School in Carmel Valley, as two officers pursued her. She was arrested at the school and is now free on bail.
If convicted, Taylor could be sentenced to a year in county jail and fined an unspecified amount, prosecutor David Williams III said.
Williams told a Superior Court jury in his closing arguments yesterday that Taylor demonstrated her attitude toward California Highway Patrol Officer Sam Shockley during the initial traffic stop when she said she "didn't have time for this" and had to take her son, then 7, to school.
Shockley had stopped Taylor in her white Volvo station wagon for driving 61 mph in a 45-mph zone.
Williams said Taylor grabbed Shockley's citation book out of his hand, made a quick U-turn through traffic and ran a stop sign. She later threw the ticket book out onto the street when she stopped at an intersection.
"Sometimes people do things that are irrational," Williams said of Taylor. "Sometimes people do things that are out of character."
Shockley approached Taylor a second time at the intersection and ordered her out of the car. Taylor ignored his commands and proceeded to the school. At the school, Shockley removed her from the car and arrested her.
"We ask him to enforce the law. . . . Sometimes it even means using force," Williams said.
Defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt argued that Shockley's behavior was disproportionate to the situation. He said the officer was so "blinded by anger" that Taylor became frightened for her safety.
"The man was aggressive and violent and out of control . . . ," Steigerwalt said. "If Stacy Taylor tried to act like that, she couldn't."
Steigerwalt also said the officer exercised "absurd judgment" when he ordered Taylor out of her car at an intersection. He said Taylor intended to pull over so she could return Shockley's citation book – which Steigerwalt said she had taken by mistake – and was searching for a safe place to do so.
Steigerwalt said Taylor felt uncomfortable getting out of her car at Rancho Diegueño and San Dieguito roads. Had she followed the officer's orders, her son would have been left alone in the car on a busy street, Steigerwalt said.
"This man was absolutely enraged at Rancho Diegueño because she had the absolute audacity not to pull over," Steigerwalt told jurors. "He thought – genuinely – that she was stealing his book and that's what pissed him off."
The jury is scheduled to continue deliberating today.
I wonder who she's gonna vote for in November?
Yeah, fairly common mistake I am sure. I sometimes find glocks and badges in my car that I have mistakely taken from traffic cops.
I've seen this woman's type before-She needs to learn that there are consequences to actions
Didn't you guys know? Lawyers consider themselves above the law. Traffic stops only apply to the great unwashed masses.
I am sure most American's 'accidently' take police officer's citation books all the time when they drive off from a traffic stop.
Don't most American's refuse to stop when two police officers are chasing them -- apparently it is okay in this lawyers mind.
I hope that once she is convicted, justice is served and she is disbarred.
Motorist who ignored officer says cop 'terrified' her
By Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 22, 2004
VISTA – A Poway patent lawyer testified yesterday that she was "terrified" when a California Highway Patrol officer, who had stopped her earlier for speeding, approached her at an intersection and ordered her out of her car.
Stacy Taylor, 44, said her next thought was to get her 7-year-old son to school so she could then deal with the officer. When she reached the school, the officer became more enraged, she said.
"He was just yelling, 'Get out of the car! Get out of the car!' " said Taylor, who is accused of leading the officer on a brief chase because she wanted to get her child to school on time.
Taylor, on trial in Superior Court, is charged with misdemeanor counts of evading an officer, child endangerment and resisting an officer, stemming from the Jan. 16 incident that ended with her arrest outside Del Mar Pines School in Carmel Valley.
Prosecutors contend that CHP Officer Sam Shockley stopped Taylor for speeding around 8:20 a.m. outside the gates of Fairbanks Ranch near Circa del Norte and San Dieguito Road. Shockley has said Taylor was going 61 mph in a 45 mph zone, but he only cited her for failing to show proof of insurance.
Shockley testified that Taylor told him during the initial traffic stop that she "didn't have time for this," and drove off in her white Volvo station wagon with his citation book still in her car. The officer pursued Taylor, and when he got out of his car and approached her at an intersection, she threw the book out the window, the officer said.
Taylor testified she asked the officer twice during the first stop if she could leave. When he stepped back from her car, she believed that meant she could go, she said.
She said she later realized the officer was following her, along with a motorcycle officer who had joined the pursuit. She testified she intended to pull over but couldn't find a safe place to do so.
"There wasn't anything I had done to justify being pulled over," Taylor testified. She said that when she realized she had the citation book, she intended to show it to the officer when she stopped at a traffic light.
"I was going to say, 'I'm sorry, I didn't know I had it,' " she said. "I never had the chance."
The officer told her to get out of the car at the intersection, but Taylor said she was afraid of leaving her son in the car. She became frightened when the officer reached through her window and unlocked the door.
"I pulled the door shut and I said, 'I don't know what's going on,' " she testified. "The light turned green and I thought, 'I've gotta get my son out of here.' I told (the officer) I was going to the school."
Soon after she reached Del Mar Pines, and her son was taken away by school staff, the officer arrested her. She is free on $60,000 bail.
While cross-examining Taylor, prosecutor David Williams III asked whether she knew she was supposed to stop when signaled to do so by a police officer. Taylor said she knew that but believed she was entitled to look for a safe place to pull over.
The prosecutor also asked whether Taylor ran a stop sign after she initially drove away from the officer, citing testimony from a witness who said she failed to stop.
"I didn't linger, but I did stop," Taylor said.
The trial is expected to continue tomorrow.
Sounds to be fairly in character for a good portion of the LEOs in this country today.
She may never learn this. It's unheard of in her profession.
Just in Los Angeles.
No profession is perfect and clear abuses need to be pointed out. But you are basing your reply on a defense lawyers outrageous crap statement. Wake up
First of all, I clearly did not state "all cops". I said "a good portion".
Second, I did not use the term "Nazis" at all and never would when referring to a Law Enforcement Officer. My father-in-law, whom I respect immensely, is a police officer. I have seen the attitude described by this particular attorney, firsthand.
Third, if you actually believe that the described behavior of the police officer in this case does not exist in our society today, I suggest it is you who needs to wake up.
And I do not appreciate being labeled a lunatic for expressing an opinion. Do you work for CBS?
I'm going to go against the grain here and support the motorist.
It appears the woman complied with the initial stop, and was under the impression she was free to go. She was obviously flustered, and I find her statement that she was not aware the citiation book was in her car to be at least plausible.
Then at the second stop you have the officer obviously intent on getting into her car and dragging her out and cuffing her in the middle of an intersection. That would leave her child in the car with nobody she knows, and her in the back of a patrol car. Obviously, if she were going to be arrested, she would prefer to have her child at the school where he could be turned over to people she knew and trusted.
The officer, on the other hand, was enraged that he did not get instant compliance. Instead of taking five minutes out of his day to follow the woman to the school, he flew off the handle. Was it unreasonable for the woman to fear for the safety of her child under these circumstances? Putting myself in her position, I would have to say that it was not unreasonable.
In any case, having the officers follow her to the school did not prevent them from doing their duty and enforcing the law. The interests of the state were not in any way impeded by her action to get her child to a location where she felt confident of his safety.
If I were on the jury, I would vote to acquit.
Based on your interpretation of the issue, so would I.
Bwahahahahaha.
I will not parse words with you. I have seen the disclaimers you use before, and I am tired of them. All that you says is true, it's the "but" that usually comes after that I am getting very sick of. Thank you for your input
I think the prescriptions of the state penal code and traffic law are sufficient
So you are believing that the police officer gave us his citation book to the woman? I don't, because these books and the tickets are registered. Any officer loosing his books or being unable to account for his tickets is in deep trouble.
Williams said Taylor grabbed Shockley's citation book out of his hand, made a quick U-turn through traffic and ran a stop sign. She later threw the ticket book out onto the street when she stopped at an intersection.
From the scenario in the story, it is pretty easy to figure out what happened. The officer handed her a speeding ticket in his citation book. She took off with the book in the car. She attempted to dispose of the evidence (this shows her culpability) by throwing the citation book out her car at the intersection.
Her behavior is highly suspicious on two occasions. 1) Stopping for the police then charging off without permission. 2) Attempting to dispose of evidence. Both are highly suspicious and I would suspect the woman of Kidnapping at this point. With Amber Alerts ever going forward in our nation, I would say the the police officer was fully justified. Further that the press is clueless or culpable as they attempt to disable police officers from doing their jobs.
Shockley had stopped Taylor in her white Volvo station wagon for driving 61 mph in a 45-mph zone.
Over 15 MPH is reckless driving in many states. Another reason to be suspicious.
I think the motorist's story is enough to establish reasonable doubt about her guilt. It is quite plausible that she just made a series of reasonable errors and forgivable lapses of judgement.
Given that, there is insufficient cause to convict her, IMHO.
Likewise, the Officer's story is enough to establish that he did not act in an unacceptable way. If a complaint were brought against him, I would support his actions as being within the reasonable limits of good judgement, given the circumstances.
So I would not find against the officer, either.
There is no inherent contradiction between these two positions. The standard of proof must be met to find against one or the other, so in a case where the truth lies somewhere in the middle, nobody gets convicted of anything.
No blood, no foul. Move on.
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