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."
The powers that be, the ones we elected must have done a study that determines what the mph should be in that certain area.
Please don't tell me that is your department picture.
You're welcome. I have supported my position. She was speeding and was pulled over for it. She exceeded the posted 20 mph limit.
I don't want to imagine a country where there are no laws or lawmen to back them up.
That's just what my daughter and I were talking about. She was laying the groundwork for a law suit.
No woman calls her baby a fetus, creepy indeed.
Perhaps this is where common sense comes into play. Do not drive 55 mph in a school zone. You can stop your car more quickly at 20 mph than 55 mph. Bingo...we have a speed limit for school zones. (her school zone)
"WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST "SHOOT" HER!!!!"
Wow! Were you an agent with the Federal Bureau of Hysteria?
The law said the speed limit was 20 mph in the school zone. She chose to ignore it was pulled over. She refused to sign the ticket and was uncooperative with the police. They told her to get out of the car, she refused several times. She was causing the situation to escalate.
What were they to do?
Taser???? By God, SHOOT the scofflaw bitch!!!!!!
Sigh.........some cops are just blithering idiots. Sorry, but it's true. Absolute bloody, power-hungry, Dirty Harry-wannabe morons.
There is no indication by the information in the article to suggest that this officer was a power hungry idiot. He was doing his job. Hopefully you'll never need the police to respond to anything in your life as obviously you think they would be incompetent.
Here (SC) a traffic ticket is a summons. Cop writes ticket, you are required to appear in court. Or, you can essentially plead guilty and mail in your fine.
Who come from our very own citizens.
Tonight is part three of our Star Wars trilogy. We're warming up to the new Star Wars coming out.
See you around, and thanks again. Night.
Different rules for different folks.
I am vehemently against the abuses of TACT and SWAT teams and their apparent above the law staus. According to many here that makes me a cop hater.
Nothing like a good cupa joe! :)
no one should be tasered over a ticket, especially a pregnant woman. these cops should be tossed off the force. I hope she sues and wins a big settlement.
this is what I have been saying on all the patriot act threads - there are more civil rights violations occuring at traffic stops, then the Patriot Act will ever result in, for the typical american.
Any cop that figures a taser is necessary to subdue an 8 month pregnant woman has forgotten their training and abused the use of the taser, not to mention is an outright sissy.
"These days its a taser."
And tomorrow they should just shoot the women??
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.