Pregnant woman tasered by police . ..
 

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/223578_taser10.html

Pregnant woman 'Tasered' by police is convicted
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

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."

That's just sick.

I couldn't disagree more.

Ditto.

I wonder if he even knew she was pregnant? Don't recall the article saying how far along she was.

She was also resisting arrest and not cooperating with the police officers. Just because she's pregnant doesn't mean that she couldn't be a danger to the police or others around there.

Tazers are fun.

I like your ideas, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Lol, can you tell I wasn't quite paying attention.

So wait, being pregnant entitles you to resist arrest without consequences?

eight months pregnant is just a little hard to hide for most people - that is seriously screwed up...

- marissa

she proabably had loccs, wore a bob marley t-shirt and had popeye crumbs all over her t-shirt, they assume were marijuana leaves
:rolleyes:

it's just another way for police officer to exhibit unnecessary force






---------------

-although tazers are fun...those bitches hurt. i have 2 of them.

LOL!

I agree that it's excessive force, but not because the woman was pregnant.

She was 8 months pregnant.

yes, that's been established. How does that give her a free pass though?

Exactly. She was eight months pregnant AND what?

Now I know it's been a while since I graduated from law school, but I don't recall ever learning that being pregnant was a defense from or an excuse for anything.

If I saw a pig do that, I'd kill his pig ass on the spot.

Pig. dead oink.

If your car stopped by the police for ANY reason, whether or not you feel it's justified, you put your hands on the steering wheel at 10 & 2 o'clock the entire time you're speaking to the officer! Your time to argue is when you take the officer to court for unlawful arrest.

More lives, more sanity would be saved if people would just remember that!

Hrmm . . .

I think the force was unnecessary because her offense didn't need an arrest.

She was speeding. She didn't want to sign the ticket. That was disobeying the police officer.

Because she disobeyed the police officer by not signing the ticket, the police decided to arrest her.

Since she didn't want to be arrested for not signing a speeding ticket she held onto her steering wheel while the police tried to draw her bodily from the car . . . because she didn't sign the ticket.

Since she managed to effectively hold onto the steering wheel while they were trying to drag her out, they decided that they could not control her or the situation and opted to taser her.

After they tasered her they were able to forcibly remove her from the car, toss her on the ground, and cuff her.

All because she didn't want to sign the ticket.

There is a disturbing trend in this country to countenance almost anything alaw enforcement officer does so long as they say they were following procedures or thought they were at risk . . . even if the situation fails the common sense test.

The could have mailed her the ticket or just lest it unsigned with her. IF she failed to show up in court or pay the ticket they could have then issued a warrant for her arrest or suspended her driver's liscence.

In this case it seems that they arrested her less because of breaking the law, but more because she was defiant. A paternal attitude, like the parent that will punish you for talking back or not cooperating.

This response was not proportional to the situation. Her refusal to sign a speeding ticket offered no clear and immediate danger to anyone, except the ego of the police officers involved.

I shouldn't have to fear people that my tax dollar pays, nor should I be treated like a suspect in a traffic stop.

The police are taught that, any time someone reaches for ANYTHING while being stopped, other than what they are being told to produce (driver's license, insurance card, etc), the person may be reaching for a weapon. Whether or not you AGREE with this reasoning, this is what they are taught.

When you are driving with a registered weapon, you ALWAYS tell the police that there is a (handgun) in the (glovebox), so that they will know how to watch you.

Signing a ticket merely states that you have received the ticket; it does not indicate any guilt.

The point that I am trying to make is that a few simple rules on how to handle being pulled over would go a long way to less complaints.

YES, tasering an obviously pregnant woman is extreme, to say the least!

I understand what you are saying Honeychile, and I certainly am extremely polite and even ingratiating when pulled over.

However, its bad when a system seems to encourage that type of fearful attitude and even worse where police develop an odd sense of entitlement when dealing with non-police.

That type of context is what leads to innocent people getting hurt, or even killed.

Her being pregnant is irrelevant. ITs not a situation that needs arrest and certainly not by force. Some common sense needs to be applied.

Also, is it really a matter of law that people have to sign a speeding ticket? Like there is an actual statute, with a corresponding punishment? That just seems unusual.

I will agree about the feeling for entitlement being wrong. But I would ask you if it's wise for a policeman to NOT be prepared for the worst? How do they know in that first minute or two that the driver isn't armed, high, suicidal, or even homicidal? THAT'S why it's important to listen up and obey procedure.

Here, it is. I don't know about Washington state.

We're talking about a woman 8 months pregnant. Someone that far along is not going anywhere quickly.

There were three policemen on the scene. I find it hard to believe that three men could not get a pregnant woman, eight months along, out of a car. I also find it hard to believe that they found her to pose any significant threat.

They also tasered her 3 times! We are not talking once, but three times! They hit her once on the thigh and twice more on the neck.

I believe that the use of tasers on pregnant women should outweigh the risks. IF a woman poses a threat to herself, the officers, OR the unborn child, then I do believe it is necessary. But, when adults have died after being tasered, I think caution should be exercised when dealing with an unborn child.

I don't think in this case it warranted the use of such a powerful weapon.

Yes, she was resisting arrest. But, c'mon. I don't think she deserved to be tasered.

Being tasered is a very serious thing. Proper discretion should be exercised by someone permitted to operate the weapon. I don't think it should be used because officers run out of patience. It should be used in extreme circumstances, IMO.

ugly ugly ugly conjecture, and uninformed opinion -

To address my man James - how about this: the guy was given orders by a superior to arrest her, based upon her actions. This lead to hear her reaction, which lead to her taser-ing. Since our facts are very much incomplete, I have trouble making a clear-cut statement one way or another that either side was wrong.

Along the same lines, there's no chance I can use "SHE WAS 8 MONTHS PREGNANT!" to justify any particular set of actions that aren't expressly dangerous for the fetus.

A cursory search claims that the Taser is not dangerous for the fetus.

you're not required to sign any ticket


well you might be but who cares? I'm way too much out of it to be driving, so let the pregnat bitch get the ticket.

Some policemen are very professional and are really and truely concerned about our safety. Others are arrogant thugs who get off on tasering people, clubbing people, spraying people with pepper spray, the whole power trip thing.

We have a case in our office right now where a kid was told that he was under arrest, the officers tackled him, he broke their tackle (being a former state champion wrestler), ran a few feet, stopped and got on the ground. At that point, the police siced a dog on him, clubbed him for a few minutes on the back, legs, and arms, punched him in the face, pepper sprayed him, tasered him, all of the above all after he had knelt and said he wasn't resisting (we have a polygraph report confirming that story, the police have yet to submit one on their behalf).

And you know what? The officers didn't even get written up for that.

That department is known for thugs, it's sad that we have so little recourse against them. I'm more afraid of guys like that than 99% of criminals.

Hey, it could be worse. In Denver, the cops shoot people.

That does probably cut down a lot on there being another side to the story about their brutality.

I wonder if our local cops will pick that technique up at the next cop convention?

It is amazing reading some (Not Police) reports on certain situations, just media reports.

Most Officers try to do what is best and some of the Rookies get gungho. Training is much better today than it was in days of yore.

If you havent been there Like I have, then it is hard to judge what happened at the moment. I dont condone this type of thing at all, but when you almost get run over by someone in a car trying to hit you, it comes home very quickly. At the Moment, I have a Petition in My Store to keep a asswhole in Prison for killing a Police Officer who I knew. 3 rd time for Parole. Great isnt it.:(

I dont really care if she was 8 months pregnant, if she was fighting, they didnt shoot her with a real gun.:rolleyes:

If you have a chance, sign up for a ride along program and see how it really can get on the streets.

Y0u can get in shit so fast that you will quake in fear.

Oh, it is never the fault of the person being arrested!:rolleyes: :confused:


Billy, Your mouth overloaded your asswhole.:mad: As we used to say to that comment, "I bet your Mother Love to Eat Pork"!

Tom, I think we all respect good cops. It just seems that an amazing number of us have run into officers that seemed to be abusing their badge so that they could be in control and in power over others -- to the point where they feel that they can cause someone considerable physical harm when it wasn't necessary.

What makes it worse is that other cops cover that kind of behavior. When was the last time you ever saw one cop testify against another that had roughed someone that was submitting to arrest?

Sure, it's the criminal's fault that they're being arrested, but that sure as hell doesn't entitle a cop to act as judge, jury and executioner, does it?

-- oh, and as far as the cop killing thing, how does that enter into this? No one is condoning killing police officers, at least no one who is sober.