Deputy in wheelchair jail case won’t go on trial
July 2nd, 2008
From the St. Petersburg [Florida] Times, ABC News, Tampa:
Charlette Marshall-Jones, the Florida sheriff’s deputy who was caught on videotape tossing a jailed suspect from his wheelchair onto the floor, will likely avoid a prison sentence in the case.
That’s because Brian Sterner, the man who was shown falling onto the floor, has agreed that a program of 100 hours of community service would be a just resolution of the case. Sterner, who is paralyzed as a result of a wrestling accident, didn’t rule out civil litigation. His attorney said Sterner was looking for awareness, not vengeance.
Sterner still faces the criminal charges that landed him in jail in the first place: fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer.
(ABC News photo)
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on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm and is filed under criminal justice, law, wheelchair.
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July 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
This is unfortunate. The county desperately needs to make sure fully corrective action is taken against Marshall-Jones to ensure these kind of incidents don’t keep recurring. That will sadly only be accomplished with criminal prosecution. As we have seen, such slaps on the wrist just cause further problems.
I realize that movies and TV have made it acceptable to portray persons with disabilities as abusers, malingers, and whiners. But allowing that type of societal prejudice to manifest itself as police policy is a very dangerous precedent indeed.