Posted on 05/10/2005 1:51:41 AM PDT by Stoat
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Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Police used Taser on pregnant driver She was rushing her son to school. She was eight months pregnant. And she was about to get a speeding ticket she didn't think she deserved. So when a Seattle police officer presented the ticket to Malaika Brooks, she refused to sign it. In the ensuing confrontation, she suffered burns from a police Taser, an electric stun device that delivers 50,000 volts. "Probably the worst thing that ever happened to me," Brooks said, in describing that morning during her criminal trial last week on charges of refusing to obey an officer and resisting arrest. She was found guilty of the first charge because she never signed the ticket, but the Seattle Municipal Court jury could not decide whether she resisted arrest, the reason the Taser was applied. To her attorneys and critics of police use of Tasers, Brooks' case is an example of police overreaction. "It's pretty extraordinary that they should have used a Taser in this case," said Lisa Daugaard, a public defender familiar with the case. Law enforcement officers have said they see Tasers as a tool that can benefit the public by reducing injuries to police and the citizens they arrest. Seattle police officials declined to comment on this case, citing concerns that Brooks might file a civil lawsuit. But King County sheriff's Sgt. Donald Davis, who works on the county's Taser policy, said the use of force is a balancing act for law enforcement.
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Brooks' run-in with police Nov. 23 came six months before Seattle adopted a new policy on Taser use that guides officers on how to deal with pregnant women, the very young, the very old and the infirm. When used on such subjects, the policy states, "the need to stop the behavior should clearly justify the potential for additional risks."
"Obviously, (law enforcement agencies) don't want to use a Taser on young children, pregnant woman or elderly people," Davis said. "But if in your policy you deliberately exclude a segment of the population, then you have potentially closed off a tool that could have ended a confrontation."
Brooks was stopped in the 8300 block of Beacon Avenue South, just outside the African American Academy, while dropping her son off for school.
In a two-day trial that ended Friday, the officer involved, Officer Juan Ornelas, testified he clocked Brooks' Dodge Intrepid doing 32 mph in a 20-mph school zone.
He motioned her over and tried to write her a ticket, but she wouldn't sign it, even when he explained that signing it didn't mean she was admitting guilt.
Brooks, in her testimony, said she believed she could accept a ticket without signing for it, which she had done once before.
"I said, 'Well, I'll take the ticket, but I won't sign it,' " Brooks testified.
Officer Donald Jones joined Ornelas in trying to persuade Brooks to sign the ticket. They then called on their supervisor, Sgt. Steve Daman.
He authorized them to arrest her when she continued to refuse.
The officers testified they struggled to get Brooks out of her car but could not because she kept a grip on her steering wheel.
And that's when Jones brought out the Taser.
Brooks testified she didn't even know what it was when Jones showed it to her and pulled the trigger, allowing her to hear the crackle of 50,000 volts of electricity.
The officers testified that was meant as a final warning, as a way to demonstrate the device was painful and that Brooks should comply with their orders.
When she still did not exit her car, Jones applied the Taser.
In his testimony, the Taser officer said he pressed the prongs of the muzzle against Brooks' thigh to no effect. So he applied it twice to her exposed neck.
Afterward, he and the others testified, Ornelas pushed Brooks out of the car while Jones pulled.
She was taken to the ground, handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, the officers testified.
She told jurors the officer also used the device on her arm, and showed them a dark, brown burn to her thigh, a large, red welt on her arm and a lump on her neck, all marks she said came from the Taser application.
At the South Precinct, Seattle fire medics examined Brooks, confirmed she was pregnant and recommended she be evaluated at Harborview Medical Center.
Brooks said she was worried about the effect the trauma and the Taser might have on her baby, but she delivered a healthy girl Jan. 31.
Still, she said, she remains shocked that a simple traffic stop could result in her arrest.
"As police officers, they could have hurt me seriously. They could have hurt my unborn fetus," she said.
"All because of a traffic ticket. Is this what it's come down to?"
Davis said Tasers remain a valuable tool, and that situations like Brooks' are avoidable.
"I know the Taser is controversial in all these situations where it seems so egregious," he said. "Why use a Taser in a simple traffic stop? Well, the citizen has made it more of a problem. It's no longer a traffic stop. This is now a confrontation."
"Hopefully, your wife follows the laws and gets out of her car when a policeman asks her to. If she does, no problem and no tazer, only a speeding ticket. End of story."
sig heil comrad! well said.
Start your own thread, dude!
THE SUBJECT IS: "Police used Taser on pregnant driver"
my point is the ticket had already been rendered - what end is served by having her exit the vehicle -
I havent heard anyone explain that yet - nor has anyone explained if the non compliance to an arbitrary request warranted a taze from ole sparky
I dont forcibly have to agree to appear - that is my prerogative and I will face the legal consequences if thats the course of action (decidedly stupid) I decide to take.
My point is - you can not be forced to sign anything
and I will for the umpteenth time ask why ticket cams are exempt from this signatory promise to appear?
I don't defend ticket cams. A traffic ticket is actually an arrest. You can flap your gums all you want, but that is the fact of life. What happens then is entirely up to you. I suspect you would wind up in jail waiting for somebody to bail you out.
I, on the other hand, would smile, sign the ticket and drive home for dinner.
what other choices did the cops have? They had already called a supervisor.
1. Let her leave without signing the ticket. In Georgia that would mean they had not promised to appear in court and promising to appear is the condition of release without bail... otherwise a judge has to set bail.
2. Taser - we already see how that worked out - at 8 months the police need to consider the welfare of the baby no matter what their political stand.
3. Pain compliance -this is pretty much just torture - it's bad.
4. Wait her out. If there is no imminent traffic danger then this probably would have been best. Tell her she cannot leave without signing and that if she leaves her vehicle for any reason without signing she will be arrested.
This is obviously on a different scale but the lesson of Ruby Ridge that unless somebody is in danger the cops don't have to be under a time constraint.
You try and live in a society where there are no laws and no lawmen. You might be comfortable living with chaos and anarchy swirling about your head. A place where a thug can come and drag you from your home because he wants it. A place where only the meanest and most animalistic a lawless society can survive.
You go ahead and live there and take your family with you and see how long you live where only the most savage and strongest can survive.
You have fun in the world you want without rules and laws. Me and my family will take the society of laws.
Sig heil my foot. Get a grip on reality.
BTW. Kiss my butt.
THE SUBJECT IS: "Police used Taser on pregnant driver"
Who was breaking the law in a school zone which caused her to be pulled over. Without her speeding in the school zone, she would not have been stopped.
Try again.
The police officer is supposed to be the "voice of reason" in unreasonable situations. He did not use his discretion wisely, as I'm sure he had more than a few options available to handle the situation. If he felt his person was in danger the taser would have made sense. But to use it after he realized the lady was pregnant was excessive force.
I believe he called his headquarters because she was being uncooperative and they told him to arrest her. Don't hold me to it. I would have to reread the story to make sure.
most sheep would - content that theyve made the right choice........that is until officer friendly shows up to check your "papers"
thanks for a reasoned response
Agreed. As the majority of us do.
Only to a racist.
sig heil comrad!
Only a true comrad could justify tasering a pregnant women
taking her child to school.
Carry on comrad!
"32 mph - WHEW ! - good thing weve got that scofflaw off the street........(while pedophiles prey on our children) (sarcasm)"
12 over the limit in a school zone. That's a wee bit serious. I suppose that, had she hit a child, you'd say, "Hey, she chlorinated the gene pool--no prob."
"nobody should have to sign anything under duress or threat of imprisonment"
You've just ended the concept of bail AND being released on one's own recognizance. OK, so from now on, in your ideal world, a speeding ticket gets you in the lockup until your case is heard...
OK, this lady is just FLAT STUPID!!
I AM eight months pregnant. If I got pulled over for speeding through a school zone (whether or not I agreed with their assessment), I would take the dang ticket. You can dispute it later in court. If I were really THAT concerned about what signing the ticket meant, I would add a little note to the citation saying I disputed it.
Geesh! It's a traffic ticket! It's not worth arguing with the cops over, especially when they're showing you a weapon (since she says she didn't recognize it as a taser, I presume she could see that it was a weapon of SOME kind!).
The cops were pretty dumb to taser her, though. I'm sure they had to know there would be a PR fallout, regardless.
*Sigh*
No. It's having the wisdom to know where battle lines are drawn. A speeding ticket is not the end of civilization as we know it.
how about this scenario in Rev911-topia?
Place a "boot" on her car IF her signature is legally required.
If her sig was not legally required - let her go home and sign the cop up for a refresher on "reasonable force, reasoned responses"
"PLEASE!!!!!! School zone speed limits are speed traps. 20 mph is overkill. 32 mph is perfectly safe in all but the most congested school zones. Don't be one of those whiny "It's for the children." ninny's."
I really hope you don't have any kids. We've got a surplus of really stupid people as it is.
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