You should probably begin your discussion here .....You should probably do some reading on the first thread for a couple of reasons, the least of which is you are from NEW YORK and probably not familiar with Texas law relating to traffic violations and assaulting people (we don't have to shoot them down here to be charged!) and acceptable law enforcement procedures in Texas.
Originally Posted by LexusLover
As for "New York": What was the result of the grand jury in the Garner case?
First of all, I am going to presume you lack adequate reading comprehension. As I said three times in the same post you quoted me from...
I am not from New York. At present, I am a resident of New York.
Second of all, I wasn't singling out Texas and letting New York off the hook regarding matters of police brutality. The lack of indictments in the Garner case was absolutely baffling to me... as is the lack of accountability for the trooper who arrested Bland and for the jail that neglected their responsibility for her life while she was in their custody.
Third, I'm somewhat familiar with certain ass-backwards laws in Texas, such as this one from Texas code that essentially makes charging someone for resisting arrest legal even if the initial arrest or search was illegal:
Sec. 38.03. RESISTING ARREST, SEARCH, OR TRANSPORTATION. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally prevents or obstructs a person he knows is a peace officer or a person acting in a peace officer’s presence and at his direction from effecting an arrest, search, or transportation of the actor or another by using force against the peace officer or another.
(b) It is no defense to prosecution under this section that the arrest or search was unlawful.
You should probably begin your discussion here .....
... what is your factual basis for the statement ...
"she was illegally detained"?
Originally Posted by LexusLover
If you want the short answer, it's quite simple. The charge was "assaulting a public official." The dashcam video shows no such assault, "kicking," or "slapping" occurred - and if there had, it had to have occurred when the trooper forced himself into Ms. Bland's car in order to force her out illegally.
The video is available for viewing by anyone with functioning eyeballs and 20/20 vision.
https://youtu.be/jpSEemvwOn4
Now, if you would like the long answer, shall we take the facts one at a time?
1. By the 2:15 mark, the trooper has already issued Ms. Bland a warning for an illegal lane change. As far as the law is concerned, the infraction by Ms. Bland had been settled and unless another infraction had been committed or was in the process of being committed, he had no further reason to detain her.
2. The trooper then asked if Ms. Bland if she was okay, to which she expressed irritation that he was (allegedly) tailgating her and that the lane change he'd pulled her over for was a result of her moving over to get out of his way. Now, whether the trooper was tailgating her or not, I don't know.
3. Then the moment came when the situation escalated. The trooper asked, "Would you mind putting out your cigarette, please?"
Bland responded, "I’m in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette?"
The trooper then said, "Well, you can step on out now."
"I don't want to step out of my car."
"Step out of the car."
The trooper then opens the car door by force.
This argumentative exchange goes on for about thirty more seconds before the trooper essentially forces himself into the car to forcefully remove her - illegally.
At this point, as far as the law is (or should be) concerned, the trooper is out of bounds. The traffic infraction had been settled, so what cause does he have to ask her to step out of her vehicle? She was not smoking in a public building; she was smoking in her own privately owned vehicle. There is nothing in the video or elsewhere to indicate she had blown smoke in his face (and it still wouldn't qualify as assault if she had). And if he was ordering her to step out of her vehicle because she was irritated, "taking a tone," "copping an attitude," or otherwise questioning his authority... then, yes, he was illegally detaining her.
Questioning an officer's orders is not an arrestable offense. Period.
So, yes, the trooper was absolutely unprofessional in his conduct and should have been fired and faced consequences for abuse of authority, illegal detainment, and (arguably) excessive force for forcing himself into her vehicle to grab her and then pointing a Taser at her... for the crime of not putting out a cigarette in her own car, being irritated, and (allegedly) assaulting him after he'd tried to force his way into her vehicle to illegally detain her.