Police beat up an unarmed 12 year old girl, then charge HER with assault.

Four plainclothed officers in an unmarked van were responding to a call about 3 white prostitutes and 2 black male drug dealers. But when they arrive in the area, instead of looking for those 5 suspects they decide to approach a 12 year old black girl in her own yard, who they somehow believe is a prostitute.



Understandably, she flees from these 4 strange men, and when they reach her and start to apprehend her and beat her she tries to fight them off. For that they charged her with assaulting a police offer. You'd think that would get thrown out of court, but it actually went to trial. TWICE. Both ended in a mistrial then the prosecutors finally decided to stop pursuing the case.



Below are some key paragraphs from a court opinion of the (unsuccessful) lawsuit filed by the family. The last quoted paragraph highlights the undisputed facts of the case. Search the web for "Dymond Milburn" for more articles.



Full court opinion at http://ift.tt/1FYKatn

Quote:

Sergeant Gomez and fellow officers Roark, Popovich and Stewart, responded to the dispatch and proceeded to the 24th Street location. The GPD officers were in plain clothes and arrived in an unmarked [van] vehicle. Officer Stewart was first to exit the van and proceeded to approach the plaintiff, Dymond Milburn, a minor. According to the plaintiff, she stepped outside the house to reset a breaker in the electrical box because the breaker had “tripped” and certain electrical outlets were inoperative. After she flipped the breaker switch, she proceeded back into her house. She was approached by the men who were running toward her. When she saw them, she ran and “jump[ed] into the bushes” in her yard and near the porch and breaker box of her house. The GPD officers approached her, accused her of being a prostitute and demanded that she come with them. She refused, claiming that she was not aware that the men were police officers. When she refused, she relates that officer Stewart slapped her face and struck her, causing injury to her neck, arm, wrist, legs and head, as officers Stewart, Roark and Popovich attempted to pull her from the bush. Both the plaintiff’s minor brother and father attempted to intervene but were held back. Officer Stewart admits that he did not observe the plaintiff engaged in any illegal activity and that her conduct, being in her own yard and walking to or from the breaker box, was legal activity. Officer Roark expressed concerns that the plaintiff might have been “stashing illegal contraband and weapons.” He admits that he might have struck the plaintiff when he went into the bush to remove her. He also asserts that he was struck by the plaintiff as he proceeded to handcuff her. He asserted that the plaintiff violated the law when she fled from the breaker box into the bush. ... The criminal information, filed in Juvenile Court, stated that on September 22, 2006, the plaintiff caused bodily injury to Officer Roark by striking him in the face with her hand [a Third Degree Felony] in violation of Section 22.01 of the Texas Penal Code. The case proceeded to trial on October 3, 2007, and a mistrial was declared. The plaintiff was again tried for the same offense and it, too, resulted in a mistrial on February 9, 2009. Noteworthy is the fact, no drugs were recovered at the scene. ... The evidence is undisputed that the plaintiff was struck and injured during the course of the police officers attempting to remove the plaintiff from the hedge in her yard. It is also undisputed that the GPD was not on the plaintiff’s property to execute a search warrant. Nor is there a factual dispute that the plaintiff did not fit the description of the female prostitutes or the drug dealers referenced by the tipster. Finally, it is undisputed that the GPD officers were acting under color of law. What remains in dispute is whether the force used by the officers on the occasion was “excessive and objectively unreasonable” under the circumstances.

Police beat up an unarmed 12 year old girl, then charge HER with assault.