More Fun With Tasers

[Greg Mitchell]

A split Ninth Circuit panel today sided with Seattle officers who'd tased a pregnant woman three times after she refused to sign a speeding ticket that she didn't think she deserved.

Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall's majority opinion said the officers had done nothing to justify stripping them of qualified immunity.

Just a few months ago, another Ninth Circuit panel OK'd a suit in another traffic-stop tasing case, Bryan v. McPherson. In that one, the court said police overreacted when the agitated driver -– who, through a series of misfortunes, was half-naked and on his second traffic stop of the morning -– started slamming his fists into his own thighs and yelling "gibberish." Judge Kim Wardlaw said that while the tasing officer's "desire to quickly and decisively end an unusual and tense situation is understandable," his means of doing so -- shooting the driver with a taser, causing him to fall to the ground and chip four teeth -- violated the driver's "right to be free from excessive force."

But in Friday's case, Brooks v. Seattle, the tasing was done in "touch, or drive-stun mode," which Hall distinguished from the tasing in Bryan.

The distinction didn't sit well with Judge Martha Berzon, whose dissent begins:

Here is what happened to Malaika Brooks, a pregnant mother, as she was driving her son to school one day: Two, soon three, police officers surrounded her. The officers thought she was speeding in a school zone; she says she was not. Brooks provided her identification when asked, so there was no doubt who she was or where to find her. The officers wrote her a ticket but she refused to sign it. Refusing to sign a speeding ticket was at the time a nonarrestable misdemeanor; now, in Washington, it is not even that. Brooks had no weapons and had not harmed or threatened to harm a soul. Although she had told the officers she was seven months pregnant, they proceeded to use a Taser on her, not once but three times, causing her to scream with pain and leaving burn marks and permanent scars.

Comments

[Chester Law Firm]

That is an aweful case! In the UK a man who had fallen into a diabetic coma on a bus was tasered three times by officers as he didnt respond to their orders. He only survived because he managed to regain some conciousness in the van on the way to the station and alerted them of his condition. He just made it to hospital and was in intensive care for weeks. Luckily for him, as soon as he had begun a civil case against the police they agreed a six figure out of court settlement.

[Vinyl Banners]

This sounds miserable. I cannot believe that this actually happened, but in this world I should not be surprised.

[Sabrina]

This is ridiculous. Police officers should be limited to using their tasers to dealing with violent arrestees and when there is a clear threat to there safety. I wasn't there when this happened, but it seems that the mother did not present an obvious threat. Police officers may be able to use their tasers on pregnant women, but only if their life depends on it- not when handing out traffic tickets.

[Jimmie]

At 75 with 28 years military,following years with school yard bullies, and a six month tour with the military police during the Viet Nam era; I have observed and experienced bullies once given power over others. Far too many of these people gravitate to police work, or become prosecutors. I have very strong negative feelings about those police officers who abuse their power. For protection, I obey their commands, and the law as I know it. I trust no police person, unless I know them personally. THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!
Not intending to condemn all police officers, far too many are natural bullies and abuse their power. Cowards and bullies tend to gravitate to this time of work because it conceals them from their bullying abuse. There is a code in the police forces, do not rat on a fellow officer, or become ostracized. Unfortunatly, there is little that can be done to rid the system of those types before the damange is done.