Posted on 02/04/2008 7:36:26 AM PST by VRing
CANTON -- Hope Steffey's night began with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, completely naked and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Steffey says Stark County sheriff's deputies used excessive force and assaulted her during a strip search 15 months ago, according to a federal lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at wkyc.com ...
CoC prohibits me from saying more...
All you need to do is watch the video to see what smells in this case. Do you think any of the “rock star” murderers like OJ or Robert Blake, Phil Specter or the Menendez brothers, were treated similarly?
No, that's Holmes county. I used to live in Canton at the crappy apartments on Orchard Dale NW. The people there all had teeth, they were just black and rotting. Holmes county has all the Amish...most have at least 8-10 teeth missing by the age of 15.
“If this had been my wife/daughter... I wouldn’t be filing lawsuits.”
I agree completely.
In or out of context, I fail to see any justification for 2 male officers to be involved in the declothing of this woman. I can't think of any reason why they should have been in the room. Can you? (not being sassy, but genuinely wondering if you could think of a reasonable answer)
It was very low volume in the video.
Why do we let Government Agencies investigate Government Agents?? Personally I think we should have a Policy of rotating Criminal Defense Attorneys assigned to Investigate and Prosecute ALL GOVERNMENT AGENTS accused of a crime. They would of course, as Special Prosecutors have the same powers as The District Attorney.
Every cop in this video should be locked up for a very long time in General Population. No excuses.
Eyeamok
“What we have here, is possibly a “Rodney King” video — something that looks ghastly, until you understand it in context.”
How does context even enter the picture? She was forcibly stripped by a group of male and female cops.
Once she was mistakenly identified as the instigator they treated her as such. She made several mistakes which I could easily see my wife making under stressful circumstances. The dead sisters id, and the comment "now or ever?" She had just been attacked by a cousin, and she's supposed to be cool calm and collected? Unrealistic. Apparently the first responder ignored the advice of witnesses as well.
As usual the police applied force "to protect her" when they thought she was a suicide threat. No common sense used, just brute force disrobing of a woman who had been assaulted.
I can understand some posters problem with the males being present. But when you are being strip searched by the police against your will (and possibly your rights), does the sex of the officers really matter?
I’ll join the chorus. I agree that the early circumstances are too fuzzy in the story, but I’d really like to know what “context” you think can justify 1) having two males help strip the woman when there are five women there to do it, 2) those two males are the last to leave the room (getting in a little ogling?), and 3) leaving her there naked without even a blanket for six hours (the sheriff admits this happened).
Stark County.....did anyone catch that. Home of Stark County Deputy Bobby Cutts who is on trail for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
Stark County.....10 miles south of Summit County where 5 Summit County Deputies are indicted and waiting trail for the murder of a mentally ill inmate.
What context would justify male officers participating in the forced stripping of a female detainee?
IF (and that’s a big IF) the police have justification for a strip search is a question that requires more evidence than is currently available. The inclusion of the two males is an issue that does not, IMO.
I am simply addressing the piece of the issue that is clearest cut, and leaving the remainder for the time when adequate information is available.
The police responded to a 9-1-1 call of a person assulted and having injuries. What did the police do other than ask the victim for an I.D.? Why was this asked before receiving further police service and/or medical attention at the scene. YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE!
I can't believe you're asking that question seriously. It's a stark admission that you don't give a damn about the finding out the facts -- which, btw, you haven't got yet. You've got your mind made up already.
She was forcibly stripped by a group of male and female cops.
And Rodney King was repeatedly struck by nightstick-wielding cops. Ghastly stuff. Those cops were thugs doing thuggish stuff ... right?
Oh, wait. A few things happened before the Rodney King video, didn't they? And the video you saw on TV was truncated, too. Hmmmm. It turns out that the context of the Rodney King case was much less friendly to him than what was reported on TV.
So. What does context have to do with this case? Are you kidding? You think they did it for no reason at all?
It's entirely possible that their actions were unjustified. Or it MAY be that the true facts of the case will make their actions much more understandable.
“I can understand some posters problem with the males being present. But when you are being strip searched by the police against your will (and possibly your rights), does the sex of the officers really matter?”
Only in that having males in there was a CLEAR and absolute violation of department rules. I would think it would add to the humiliation, as well.
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