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."
"one more thought before I abandon the thread - what if the driver was elderly, had an implanted pacemaker, and physcially could not exit the vehicle or communicate that refusal effectively?"
Then maybe the old geezer was in no physical condition to be driving the vehicle, and should have been taken into custody posthaste.
a facet of law abiding Americans said the same thing when the Assault Weapons Ban made a whole buch of law abiding Americans criminals
"Its just AR-15's - who needs 'em" - Then it was Saturday night specials, them high capacity ammo magazines / clips
My point is its incremental - where exactly is YOUR line ?
No, I would be content with the knowledge that Officer Rookie did not get a chance to work out on my head and write some more charges. I would be happy to appear in court to contest or to pay the ticket if I thought I was guilty of the offense.
This really has nothing to do with big brother but everything to do with local enforcement of local laws by local officers.
perhaps - but what about the 99 other oldsters in the same boat who get zapped like a whopper with cheese and go toes up, quickly assuming room temp ?
stop being so obstinate
Have you ever refused to sign a speeding ticket?
How long would it have taken the officer to say "look lady my supervisor says I have to arrest you if you don't sign this ticket"? about 2 seconds, he would have made it seem as if the decision was out of his hands and she probably would have signed it. (maybe not) but she was not going to run anywhere. When I was eight months pregnant I couldn't run. And my hormones were out of wack too. Can anyone say "sensitivity training"? That officer must be a real piece of work at home with the wife and kids.
She was going 32 in a school zone, McFly. Apparently her unborn fetus was more important than a thirty eight-year-olds.
"perhaps - but what about the 99 other oldsters in the same boat who get zapped like a whopper with cheese and go toes up, quickly assuming room temp ?"
Occupational hazard of getting into a pissing contest with a cop while mentally and physically incapacitated.
Stupidity isn't a crime. But the sentence for stupidity is often capital. In that event, it is usually served without appeal.
"How long would it have taken the officer to say "look lady my supervisor says I have to arrest you if you don't sign this ticket"?"
He probably did say exactly that, but this woman had an advanced case of BWOCS and couldn't hear him.
listen to what youre saying - "i would be content that the poorly trained green officer wasnt provided an opportunity by a subservient serf to arbitrarily bash my coconut in and write me up (read harass) me because I disobeyed an instruction I considered unsound in light of the original cause for the stop"
"You have nothing to add but nazi slogans."
some folks just remind me of nazis. The bonehead officers in this case, and your comments supporting them both remind me of nazis.
so sig heil comrad! carry on!
"Have you ever refused to sign a speeding ticket?"
No. I understood that the signature was necessary to be released from arrest.
The speed limit is 25mph at my son's school and the main road is very far from the place where the kids load and unload from the bus, so its all relative. I would like to see where she was when she was speeding in relation to the school.
Look for me on a weapons thread. You'll know where I stand. Second amendment is the heart of them all.
"School zone limits are a joke, unless there are children out on the street." Okay, there is your quote.
See...you did it again. Aloha.
Stupidity isn't a crime. But the sentence for stupidity is often capital. In that event, it is usually served without appeal.
Occ hazard - wow
Its all the sheeples fault - cops are always right (sarcasm) even when zapping someone carrying another life inside of her
Well the article said it was a school zone, so that is the flashing light zone a block or so in either direction of the school. And apparently it was a time when many children would be outside if she was rushing to get her son there on time.
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