Court OK’d Tasering of Pregnant Traffic Violator
A federal court Judge ok’d the tasering by police of a pregnant woman who was stopped in Seattle, WA for a traffic violation. Shocking, isn’t it?
According to our pals over at The Truth About Cars, Malaika Brooks bypassed a traffic stop while driving her eleven-year-old son to school in November 2004. Officer Juan Ornelas stopped to ticket the expecting mother, Brookes refused to not only acknowledge her speeding but also declined to sign the ticket. After more refusing she was asked to get out of her car and possibly face arrest. A second officer, Donald M. Jones came on the scene and didn’t seem to like Ms. Brookes attitude. He took out his taser and told her it would hurt “extremely bad.” Still putting up an argument, Brookes was tased three times on her thigh, shoulder and neck.
Brookes and her unborn baby were ok, but that didn’t stop her from taking them to court. She had every right too – how could a pregnant woman be a threat to two trained officers of the law? Well, according to the jury, she could.
Furthermore: “Although obstructing an officer is a more serious offense than the traffic violations, it is nonetheless not a serious crime,” Hall wrote. “It would also be incorrect to say Brooks posed no threat to officers. While she might have been less of a threat because her force so far had been directed solely at immobilizing herself, a suspect who repeatedly refuses to comply with instructions or leave her car escalates the risk involved for officers unable to predict what type of noncompliance might come next… Brooks may not have posed a great threat, she did pose some threat by virtue of her continued non-compliance.”
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