Originally Posted by
DRK Star
And before any of you want to debate me...
She was legally pulled over for not signaling.
when the cop approached her, he has every right to ask her to put out that cigarette (its a lit stick and considered a weapon), and when she refuses, he has every right to tell her to get out of the car (cop is now dealing with someone who is non compliant, and could potentially try to injure him). She was actually just getting a warning from the cop, but her mouth caused issues which led to her getting arrested.
What he could have done is tried to calm her down, but he doesnt HAVE to go out of his way to calm her down, and she was being, essentially, a confrontational bitch.
She didnt listen to orders, and he was within his right to do everything he did. She was 100% at fault.
There is also a video (I didnt watch it though) that shows her being led into her cell and no one went into it after that. They will likely do an autopsy to determine how she died. She likely hung herself, but no results yet.
She was asked, upon booking, if she ever considered taking her own life and she wrote down that YES, she has tried to kill herself before, just a few years ago.
Feel free to argue with any of my points.
Was listening to NPR today and they brought on an ex-cop who now teaches at a law school. He basically said that as far as he knows there is nothing that says she had to put out the cigarette. The cop has no legal right to make her put out her cigarette in her own car, just like I wouldn't have the right to make you do that. He went on to say that where she messed up was by refusing to comply with the officer to get out of the car, because as you said, the officer has the right to make you exit the vehicle.
This right for an officer to make you exit your car under any circumstances arose out of the need of officer safety when pulling over cars in dark areas with darkly tinted windows so that they don't have to approach the car without seeing the drivers hands. It is their right, but obviously this is just another instance of them abusing their rights. He obviously didn't need her to exit the vehicle because he feared she might have a gun waiting on him when he approached the car.
She was not arrested for her mouth. Again, the ex-cop they brought on the radio said that she can basically say whatever she wants to the cop. It's protected by our freedom of speech. Technically, she was arrested for refusing to exit the vehicle, but we all know that's not what this was all about. It was about him being a punk. Was she stupid for mouthing off? Yes, but I can understand the frustration after being pulled over for failure to signal a lane change. That's just complete bullshit and is selectively enforced all the time. Lot's of people don't even use their blinkers when making turns in front of cops and never get pulled over.
There was no real reason for her to need to exit the vehicle. Had she exited the vehicle when asked, then there would have been no grounds for an arrest. At most the cop would have been able to give her a ticket. The cop obviously escalated the situation and caused what happened to happen. I'm sure if she would have exited the vehicle as asked he would have found some other reason to arrest her. Why did he take her out of the range of the dash camera in the first place? I'm sure he would have done that no matter what and lied saying she tried to assault him while off camera or something. His word vs hers, where is that going to land her? Jail. If you can't see that and are so blind you side with him you are complete brain washed idiot.