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.
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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."
Sorry, but she did no such thing. All she did was refuse to sign the ticket--note the section where she wasn't REFUSING the ticke---just refusing to sign it. All the rest was on the cops heads--showing HUGE bad judement by both the officer and his supervisor. I hope she sues the hell out of them and that she gets a huge settlement.
The cop was dumb for arresting her? If tasering her was part of the departments policy and procedure and they chose to skip that and force her to release the steering wheel by other means of force such as pain compliance or impact weapons, they would truly have opened themselves up for a whopping civil suit. Deviating from policy in use of force situations is a fast track to the courthouse. Of course people can sue over anything, but it is more legally defensible if the officers act according to established departmental policy.
As far as physically forcing her to release her grip on the steering wheel, it is nearly impossible to make someone do that without injuring them. Try it sometime. If an adult doesn't want to let go of a steering wheel, it often takes amounts of force that lead to sprains, broken bones, nerve damage etc.... Tasers and pepper spray are a step down from impact weapons on the force continuum.
Sounds like mom shouldn't have endangered her baby by being such an obstinate ass. The courts are there for a reason other than filing civil actions....
I don't disagree that the woman should have signed the ticket and gone her merry way, but to be tasered for a non violent act to an eight month pregnant woman - my guess is the officer wanted to see what it looked like to taser a pregnant woman (the officer was really, really stupid, and should be dismissed from the force).
Yes the cop was dumb, dumb for tasering a pregnant woman.
Robberies, rapes, bank robberies, muggings, white collar theft, drug proliferation,on and on and this little man of a cop feels threatened enough to shoot an 8 month preggers female with a taser?
Ever wonder why cops sometime get a bad reputation.
Perhaps she should have watched THIS before she got in her car...
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2458063?htv=12
(Chris Rock on "How not to get your ass kicked by the Police")
ROTFL!!! Hey you're right hehehe.
I've never had a moving violation, but fail to understand why you have to sign the ticket. You either take it and pay the fine or go to court and contest it. What difference does it make if you sign it when it is issued? If you ignore it, they will issue a bench warrant so they are protected.
That said, I noticed that after they used the taser, 2 policemen forced her out of the car (one pushing), got her on the ground and handcuffed her.
I would never advocate breaking the law, but this sure seems like overkill in this situation.
I think they should have just let her go. Sounds to me like a case of overbearing authority, which people need to resist, or risk the second coming of fascism, or worse, another Jonestown incident.
"I've never had a moving violation, but fail to understand why you have to sign the ticket"
A traffic stop is a non-custodial arrest. The Police officer has the otion of issuing a citaion or taking the violator forthwith to a magistrate. The Citation is the default option.
The violators signature is a promise to appear, and acts as a bond. If the violator refuses to sign, they are stating they want to see a judge NOW. Depending on the state, the officer is required by law to take the violator to the judge "Without Delay"
I hope that explains some things on this.
The above being said, I won't second guess the officer on scene, because I wasn't there and the media couldn't report a nursery rhyme properly. I will say I would have looked for other options given what I've read
Please forgive my typos
"Option"
"Citation"
Somebody sent me that link after the guy got tasered in DC because he was pissed that his street was blocked off for the VP's motorcade...I laughed my butt off. It IS comedy, but...there is a grain of truth there!
I admit it, I am usually of the police butt-kissing club. Unless I really feel egregiously wronged. And even then, I don't want to make a scene anymore. Those days are wrong.
As to the poster above who was worried about facism or Jonestown, well, I think that is a bit melodramatic. When the first cave tribe gave a club to one members to enforce discipline, he usually ended up hitting someone over the head inappropriately. Not to say one shouldn't eye their government institutions suspiciously, but I don't think this is one of those cases. Stupidity, but not institutional.
Thank you. I never realized that.
Additionally, this is the Seattle Post-Intelligencer...the editors at the paper probably see no irony in their moniker, but many of us at FR who have followed the type of reporting coming from this paper don't miss it!
Me either. Anyone able to explain the rationale behind that? Why compell you to sign something if they don't give you a line to say you dispute it?
Please see Post 30
Oops - should have read on down.
Happy to help
Well, unless one really read it, of course.
I wonder if she named the baby Tasaresszziaaticksabazza
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