TAMPA, Fla. - A sheriff's deputy who was videotaped dumping a paralyzed man from a wheelchair onto a jailhouse floor has been charged with abuse of a disabled person, a sheriff's official said Friday.
Surveillance footage from Jan. 29 shows Hillsborough County deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones, 44, dumping Brian Sterner out of his wheelchair and searching him on the floor after he was brought in on a warrant after a traffic violation.
Sterner, 32, said when he was taken into a booking room and told to stand up, Jones grew agitated when he told her that he could not.
Marshall-Jones was suspended without pay, and three other deputies were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Marshall-Jones is charged with abuse of a disabled person, a third-degree felony, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee.
If convicted, she could be sent to prison for five years. Gee said Marshall-Jones was aware of the warrant for her arrest, but that he didn't know when she might turn herself in.
Marshall-Jones could not be reached by phone for comment Friday night. A telephone number listed in her name has been disconnected.
Sterner, who can drive a car but has not been able to walk since a 1994 wrestling accident, was arrested at his Riverview home and taken to the Orient Road Jail on a charge of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, according to records. He had called for charges to be filed against Marshall-Jones. You said it, right in your post..
Abuse of a disabled person is a felony. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR WHAT HAPPENED. The man was not threatening anyone in any form.. the deputy was TOLD he could not stand (which should have been totally obvious to anyone with eyes in their head.. much less a police officer).
ANY law enforcement officer is trained, and expected, as part of their employment, to treat any person in a professional manner. They are allowed to defend themself against obvious attack or danger. This person was brought in, related to a TRAFFIC issue, and did not endanger the officer at any time. He did not "refuse" to comply with her orders.. he was UNABLE to comply for reasons that were right in front of her face, and she willfully ignored.
Abuse/ mistreatment of a physically capable suspect/ prisoner is contrary to law. This went beyond even that.
I grew up respecting law enforcement. This is just one example of police abuse/ corruption that has destroyed my respect for the justice system.
By the laws of this country, she should be charged with a crime, and given a fair trial, where a jury decides what happens to her. Too bad that she could not follow the law that she was there to uphold. No. The guy was probably being a smart ***. Is it appropriate for a cop to do? No. Is it a jailable offense? I don't think so.
As for the more serious incidents you've added, obviously the punishment should increase proportionately to the action. Since it is his first offense he probably won't go to prison. The good thing about it is that it is shining a light on the way many police and deputies treat people. They usually get by with it, but it looks like this time that won't happen.
I think the loss of a good job, good benefits, and good retirement will be enough. Hmmm... tough call. You know, given the amount of crap these police have to put up with from these criminals, I'm not sure I'd send her to jail.
Maybe just fire her and leave it at that. yes He's already in prison! Damn right she should. Being a "smart ***" (if indeed that was the case) is NO excuse for what happened. perhaps you saw the news yesterday, an NYPD officer abusing a 13 year old boy. the young teenager called the officer "dude." this was recorded on video.
sad state of affairs in america. authorities are out of hand. Yes, I think he should go to jail. There was no compassion in what he did and, dont we know that saying about the police their there to "serve and protect?" Well who does the protecting when were being attacked by the police? Damn right she should go to jail.
Sterner was brought into the jail in a wheelhouse, for Chrissakes, and she told him to stand up. When he replied "I can't, I'm paralyzed", don't you think the presence of a wheelchair might have made her think "Hmmm, maybe he is paralyzed"?
Her activities were utterly indefensible, and she should indeed go to jail.
Richard I just looked this up on youtube, and there is a comment from another officer who went to the same academy as this FEMALE deputy and agrees she should get jail time.
Cops are supposed to uphold the law, not abuse it. I think cameras should be in every room of a prescient. Yeah, there are criminals who manipulate and lie with excuses to get out of doing stuff, but when cops take the law (judge and executioner) in to their own hands, need to be held accountable.
IMNSHO (not so humble opinion), police don't "protect and serve" the people, just the letter of the law.
Ok, Sterns was arrested on a warrant (he had a prior), but what crime could he have committed warrant being slapped around like that? I |
