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."
Yep gettin so a troop can't pull out a chicago phonebook with somebody yelling ow !
You cant give the cops the power to enforce the laws then complain when they do as their supervisors and training teach them to do. (Of course over zealous enforcement is an exception.)
If anyone on or off this thread is pulled over and starts giving the officer a hard time, it will escelate the situation until you either back off and play nice or the police persuade you to play nice. You will either leave with the ticket and be on your merry way, or end up hog tied on your way to the pokey or to the ICU with taser burns, bruises, very sore pressure points, a dislocated limb etc.....ITS ALL UP TO YOU. The further you escalate the situation, the worse it will be. (Please see post #26 of this thread.)
Im not a cop lover or a cop hater but looking at this situation with as much reality as possible. Im not in favor of handing out a free taser treatment with every pregnancy test but if you meet the criteria of the physical force that will be applied to you if you resist arrest, then thats what you get.
What if..............she was a convicted felon, or had just robbed a bank, or any other situation that would put her and her "unborn fetus" in danger of an altercation with the police? Are the police not suposed to attempt any arrest because the perp is "with fetus"? Depending on the situation, speeding in a school zone can result in felony reckless driving, child endangerment, or even vehicular homicide.
By the way, the fashion in which SHE BROKE THE LAW increased her stopping distance from around 60 feet to over 110 feet. Thats more than enough to skid through an intersection after you should have already been stopped if you were doing the speed limit.
Sorry. No mercy for her.
| MPH | Ft./Sec. | Braking Deceleration Distance |
Perception Reaction Distance |
Total Stopping Distance |
| 10 | 14.7 | 5 | 22 | 27 |
| 15 | 22 | 11 | 33 | 44 |
| 20 | 29.3 | 19 | 44 | 63 |
| 25 | 36 | 30 | 55 | 85 |
| 30 | 44 | 43 | 66 | 109 |
| 35 | 51.3 | 59 | 77 | 136 |
| 40 | 58.7 | 76 | 88 | 164 |
| 45 | 66 | 97 | 99 | 196 |
| 50 | 73.3 | 119 | 110 | 229 |
.....and in a few years it will likely be a directed sonic or light emitting device that will make you so physically nausious within just a few seconds, your will to fight or ability to resist will be long forgotten as you writh on the ground in agony.
I don't remember if it was you or Eak that mentioned how some don't fathom facts getting in the way of the way they percieve things ought to be. Well, that particular mulling has a home here on this thread. Other than that nobody has any business messing around with phonebooks 8>)
411...411...ow ow !!
BTW ......How Ern doing ?
Not sure on Ern. I should call him. He must be close to hitting the streets
I doubt, after hearing ALL of the facts of this case, that a jury would award her so much as a single dollar.
Cool.......he'll do well !
NO logic in your brain ther pal.
Yes, enforce the law. Taser an 8 month pregger female?
I think not. Sounds like the kgb kind of thought.
There is every indication. Tasering a pregnant woman is the height of stupidity. Facts are facts.
That was me as a rookie. LOL
Actually, I was a Feebie--Office of Special Investigations (some 30 years ago) for about 3 years and saw my share (worked with) a lot of good LE types--and quite few, complete, idiots, at the local, county state and fed level.
Wow! Were you an agent with the Federal Bureau of Hysteria?
I guess (for some people who don't see how an "extreme" reply, is in itself, meant to be sarcastic) I will henceforth, apply the /sarc. Hows that?
The point I was trying to make to the Freeper who "claimed" that is was nearly "impossible" to remove someone's "Grip" from a steering wheel, is that with 2 (TWO) MALE Policemen, that "they" could NOT have pried this woman's hands off from the steering wheel?
Give me a break!!!!
Good Post-
Couple that with the lower survival rates for pedestrian/vehicle collisions at higher speeds and you have a Captain Obvious reason why school zones are regulated as they are.
But like Squantos says a few posts down, some others on this thread don't let facts get in the way of a good rant
Correction-shotokan
Id wager a paycheck that there are at least 2 - 35 mph school zones within 15 miles of your home
Theyre all 25 to 35 around here - and they all use crossing guards
......and ticket cams ?
actually, no. Ive never been arrested and have been pulled over exactly three times in 42 yrs. (52 in a 45, disobeying a traffic control device, and no seat belt / dismissed)
Ive never smoked pot, or done drugs. Had my share of liquor. But thats all behind me.
What I have no tolerance for is abusive behavior by government over it's citizens.
Tazing a pregnant woman (regardless of how far she has carried) for a traffic infraction (even so minor) is over an above what could be considered "normal" or "acceptable" protocol. Couple that with the psychlogically abusive method of letting her actually hear the tazer beforehand, and the situation is only compounded
Now, Given this was 32 in a 20 zone, I would not be so forgiving if it was 47 in a 35, as momentum and physics are exponentially different at those speeds.
"If she presents to the officer what he percieves is a deadly threat, then yes, she will be shot."
Calm down and stop being so melodramatic. A pregnant lady, without a weapon, cannot possibly present a lethal threat or any physical threat. Cops have just simply become the biggest sissies on the planet. So much as backtalking a cop is now deemed a "threat". Not falling face first to the dirt with hands high in the air when they approach is now deemed a threat.
To me, cops are a threat. When confronted by one, it is reasonable these days to assume one's life is in danger.
That is in my opinion unacceptable and an inappropriate mentality as law enforcement is largely fair, reasoned and doing the best they can.
I will however still argue the point that an aspect of law enforcement is a revenue generating tool and means of control over the sheeple
"By the way, the fashion in which SHE BROKE THE LAW "
So, you are advocating tasering anyone who speeds? I KNOW you have sped, so where are your taser marks?
The maximum speed limit within the city limits of my community is 30 mph. All three school zones are 20 mph.
I prefer cash but if you work for a reputable business you can just sign the check over to me.
Thanks.
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