Posted on 05/10/2005 1:51:41 AM PDT by Stoat
|
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.
|
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."
Sign the ticket!
I like to say it's been nice talking to both of you.
Yes, I'd really like to.
Goodbye
It is not so much a question of degree as much as direction.
"Sign the ticket!"
Why? I wasn't speeding. I am not even driving.
Lololol. :-) I see your point.
Couldn't have put that any better myself.
I thought it odd that she refered to her baby as a fetus too! Geez, by the time your eight months along you've got a name picked out and a nursery ready - how weird!
It looks like you got plenty of answers in your question to me, all of which support my assertion that it was wrong to taser an eight month pregnant woman. The woman could have been arrested at home at a later time, or perhaps backup should have been called in this case. I'll ask my son, who is a police officer, what he would have done, and report back to this thread.
"See...you did it again. Aloha."
Auf Wiedersehen comrad
Thanks for the clarification. About a year ago, I did a rolling stop in an unfamiliar location, I got lost and had to turn around on a side street. I was pulled over by a Chesapeake police officer who approached my SUV with hand on gun. I always have get the willies around police even though I am (usually) a law abiding citizen. I remembered the DWB rules to survival, I kept my hands on the steering wheel, made no sudden movements and complied with his requests politely. ... we should all remember these rules
HA, HA. Did you see the Chris Rock video on how not to get arrested? One of the ways was to not drive with a woman. The sample video then shows the guy getting stopped and the BWOCS in the passenger seat gets him seriously mauled by the arresting officers. I had tears streaming from my eyes I laughed so hard.
Sorry about the erroneous duplicate reply. Your approach definitely would have been better than the taser.
I was thinking the Oleoresin Capsicum nebulizer therapy might have done the trick.
>>You can see 300 yards in both directions.<<
What about kids with jet-packs?
BTW, 20 IS slow enough for me to avoid a kid coming out from a parked car - if I'm looking for it...
>>It is not so much a question of degree as much as direction.<<
That true. I think it is both.
Thanks-I try to help people understand what happens and why
As you can see, the "All cops are Nazi Tax Collectors" types have gravitated here.
They can be amusing, but the song pretty much stays on one note. I find that bothering them with facts can have disappointing results
I'm Kumeyaay (Southern California Indian).
I am very dark-skinned, and I have some mestizo ancestry, so I look like I may be an illegal.
I sometimes get greeted in Spanish (which I don't speak) if BP/ICE pulls me over...
I concentrate on being very polite, and not making sudden moves.
One advantage is that where I am is pretty rural, and I know the (very few) sheriff deputies who patrol this region. So they recognize me...but I still stay cool, level-headed, and polite. They're usually asking if I've seen something they're interested in.
Never have a problem.
She sounds too spicey already........Just needs tenderizing !........:o)
BTW, the way to handle POMS is to announce at dinner "Nobody's checking out to play this weekend until this pigsty is cleaned up!"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.