Police used Taser on pregnant driver (Seattle)

The Seattle P.I. ^ | May 10, 2005 | HECTOR CASTRO

[Stoat]

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Police used Taser on pregnant driver
Woman convicted of refusing to obey Seattle officers

By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

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.

 

"It just doesn't look good to the public," he said. 

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."

P-I reporter Hector Castro can be reached at 206-903-5396 or hectorcastro@seattlepi.com

[dit_xi]

Don't you find tasering a pregnant woman and arresting her for refusing to sign a speeding ticket a little bit too extreme and an abuse of power? Sure the woman was guilty for going 12 mph over the speed limit in a school zone. Sure her wrecklessness endangered the children that may have been around the area. But tasering her for refusing to sign the ticket is senseless. So what if she refused to get out of her car to be arrested. Does that really necessitate tasering her? The police could have subdued her by other peaceful and civil means, such as blocking her vehicle and wait the situation out. She's pregnant and has to to pee sooner or later. There's nothing like having an 8 lbs. baby pushing against your bladder.

[Delta 21]

45,000 people die on our roads each year and you want to kill unborn children for speeding that cause 200 of those?

You said...Calm down and stop being so melodramatic.....

Please take your own advice.

Are you related to Cultural Jihad, by chance?

Articulate where I said that and we can talk.

Until then you are on auto-ignore.

[Nov3]

That was his ARREST report. Not a traffic citation. I wouldn't sign an arrest report either.

[5Madman2]

She wasn't tasered for speeding. She was tasered cause she resisted a lawful arrest.

It may or may not have been the best course of action, but there is only one person that is responsible for it going to that point. She is the one that actively resisted a LAWFUL arrest.

If she cared for that unborn child as much as you seem to, she wouldn't have put herself in the position by unnecessarily escalating the confrontation.

Cut the histrionics and hyperbole. Stick to the facts

[5Madman2]

Post 424 is not directed at you-I just pinged you cause shellshocked seems to be on your a## on this one

[Delta 21]

Just another day on the intraweb.

...now where did I put my taser, hmmm?

[shellshocked]

"If she cared for that unborn child as much as you seem to, she wouldn't have put herself in the position by unnecessarily escalating the confrontation. "


That rings of the "If you have nothing to hide" response.

First, you missed the statements being made that she was "speeding" and that caused her to deserve whatever she got.

Second, even resisting lawful arrest does not require a taser. Get real. A pregnant woman cannot be restrained by a cop? If so, the cop has no justification for being a cop. It seems you are advocating extreme use of force. I hope like Hell you are not a cop.

[shellshocked]

"I just pinged you cause shellshocked seems to be on your a## on this one"


Glad you girls could come to each other's aid. One of those chick posses' on Fr, eh?

[shellshocked]

"Until then you are on auto-ignore.
"

Beaten with logic, and run away.

At least we know that killing unborn children for speeding through a school zone is your idea of appropriate use of force.

Tasers on pregnant women. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[5Madman2]

Actually, I am a cop, and do not advocate extreme use of force.

Read my replies on this thread. You may find that I do not necessarily agree with how this went, but I will not depend on what an addle brained newspaper reporter has to say on it to form an opinion.

Sorry-pregnancy is not a disability. Being a woman is not a disability. It didn't stop her from resisting. How active that resistance was is anyones guess.

If you have anything rational to say, I will be happy to discuss this further. If not-goodbye

[5Madman2]

I see the histrionics and name calling continue

Calling the above logic shows you are not worth talking to

Have a Nice Day

[5Madman2]

I see the histrionics and name calling continue

Calling the above logic shows you are not worth talking to

Have a Nice Day

[oceanview]

it won't even make it to a jury. the city will pay off and settle the case.

[Atlas Sneezed]

>>What I'm suggesting is that those who have studied the traffic patterns, etc. and set the speed limits are much more qualified to determine what the save speed is than you are.

The problem is that those who do the studying are engineers, and those who set the limits are politicians. They are not one in the same.

>>To suggest that it is perfectly okay to speed through a school zone is moronic.

To suggest that violating the number set by a politician on a sign is inherently unsafe is moronic.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Your post says that people who "don't follow school zone rules cause 200 deaths per year."

How many deaths occur by those who follow the rules?

How can you say that the disobedience of speed limits is the cause.

If 50% of drivers disobey, and 50% of drivers cause deaths, what does that say about disobedience?

[Stoat]

UPDATE TO ALL:  NAACP "may" file a complaint

KIROTV.com - News - Police Use Taser Gun On Pregnant Woman

Police Use Taser Gun On Pregnant Woman

 

POSTED: 7:43 am PDT May 11, 2005

UPDATED: 8:03 am PDT May 11, 2005

 

SEATTLE -- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says it may file a complaint over the use by Seattle police of a Taser gun on a pregnant woman, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.

Malaika Brooks

  The woman, Malaika Brooks, was convicted in municipal court on Monday of refusing to obey an officer. The jury could not reach a verdict on a charge of resisting arrest.

  Brooks, 33 said she was on Seattle's Beacon Avenue, dropping her son off at school when a Seattle police officer pulled her over for allegedly driving 32 in a 20-mph zone.

  Brooks, eight months pregnant, said she pulled over but refused to sign the ticket.

"Basically, I wasn't gonna sign the ticket cause I felt I wasn't speeding," she said. The officer called for backup, and a police supervisor authorized an arrest if Brooks continued to refuse to sign the ticket.

 

  SURVEY

Under what circumstances should police use a Taser gun?

As a compliance tool.

Only to avoid the use of lethal force.

Never.

Results | Disclaimer

  "He opened the door, twisted my arm behind my back and then officer Jones just started tasing me," she said.

  Brooks said she worried about the effect of the Taser gun on her unborn baby. She delivered a healthy baby girl on Jan. 31.

  Seattle police defended their use of the Taser gun, saying officers were justified and that a person's pregnancy, age or physical disability do not preclude the use of a Taser gun.

Copyright 2005 by KIROTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

(Giving credit where it's due...I found this update because it was linked at Orbusmax)

Orbusmax ™ Northwest News - 'Around The World In 80K'

[Delta 21]

I see you didnt click the link and read the story......


...seems to be a lot of that goin around.

[TheForceOfOne]

THANK YOU, OFFICER
By Michelle Malkin · May 11, 2005 03:39 PM

When was the last time you thanked a cop? And wouldn't it be nice if, for just a brief moment, the mainstream media would hold a ceasefire in its incessant cop-bashing crusades?

http://www.michellemalkin.com/

[Atlas Sneezed]

I see you didnt click the link and read the story......

---

WHat evidence do you have of that?

There is nothing in my story to answer my pertinent questions that you also duck.

It was a moronic story about a gung-ho TV station hyping its outreach effort to be faux law-enforcement. PR hype for ratings dollars.

[MEGoody]

"To suggest that violating the number set by a politician on a sign is inherently unsafe is moronic."

Nevertheless, the speed limit is the law. If you choose to violate it, don't whine when you get gigged for it.

And I hope you can live with yourself if you run over a kid.