Woman beaten during traffic stop
 

Ok legal eagles....she speaks no English, may not be legal, she had no license, driving a defective vehicle, and was brutally beaten by a cop....now she wants to sue...what do you think of her case?

Video here

Who knows? There is another side to the story I'm sure. Maybe they got their signals crossed and her body language conveyed that she was resisting arrest or maybe we have a piece of crap cop who trumped up a bunch of charges so that the D.A. could bargain for a covenant not to sue in exchange for dropping all the charges?

Both of those sorts of situations are pretty common.

She's got some nasty gashes. He should have gotten a translator before it came to that or learn some basic words in Spanish! Oh wait, this is America. My bad.

Yeah, exactly - or if you meant that the "illegal" part should matter, DS, non-citizens have rights too under quite a few Constitutions (maybe almost all?).

THAT is the part I am questioning...driving without a license in a broken car.

Can she STILL sue IF (and there is no proof yet) she is illegal?

Something else that is bugging me too...in an unrelated news item, there has been a story about a guy impersonating a cop driving a Crown Vic. Now the news folks have been kind to remind us that if you are being pulled over by an officer and you dont feel safe, go to a public place...now this woman was in a gas station and I am guessing that no one saw what was going on?

Hmmmm....

I know a person who was raped in a ditch, in broad daylight, with people walking by on the sidewalk. People don't like to get involved.

ETA: If the police are beating somebody up, who do you call? The police? Well, other than every news station within a 50 mile radius.

Police calling police on the police...hmmm..

That would be an interesting movie.

Sure.

Whether she should? Debatable.

She'll get up and give her account of things, medical bills, etc.

The cop is going to probably swear on a stack of Bibles that he didn't use excessive force and that she was not cooperating and was being belligerent, etc. He'll put an expert on the stand to testify as to what constitutes excessive force.

Without witnesses, it's going to be a dog of a case, IMHO. The only reason it's even worth touching with a 10-foot pole is that it'll probably get some media attention and some lawyers are into that.

i would think that the negative publicity would encourage the city/county to settle. from a pr standpoint it sucks, if only because its a woman.

What does her being a woman have to do with her getting beaten during a traffic stop?

Please explain how those 2 connect.


We have seen time and time again how cops can go overboard on ANY citizen regardless of their gender.

I don't think her being a woman is the key to VA settling this case.


Sidebar: You all know a bill went up before the VA senate last year that would have made it possible for their gov't to deny basic civil services to illegals.

ETA: Found it

I think you underestimate both a.) how many people think illegal/undocumented immigrants either can't or shouldn't be able to sue and b.) the level of credibility loss that comes with the simple line of questioning, "documents to be here? give a fake SSC?"