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Gaglione filed suit against the department and the officers involved, but the video evidence that eventually won Gaglione $250,000 this past November was not immediately forthcoming. Gaglione's attorney Howard Price claimed that Hernandez failed to check a box on the arrest report stating a video camera had, in fact, recorded the incident.
But the footage was eventually uncovered and the California Highway Police settled the case out of court and the officers were never required to testify, nor was the video ever submitted as evidence. The CHP has not commented on the case and the two arresting officers remain with the force.
Meanwhile, the now far richer Gaglione has left Los Angeles with her now 9-month-old son and, she says, she'll be forever terrified by the police.
www.dailymail.co.uk...
A Southland woman has been awarded $250,000 in damages after she was thrown to the ground and hogtied by California Highway Patrol officers while she was pregnant.
Officers stopped Tamara Gaglione on the Harbor (110) Freeway near downtown Los Angeles in August 2011 for talking on her cell phone while driving.
She later denied she was resisting arrest, but admitted that she was stunned as officers drew their firearms.
In a CHP report on the incident, officers claimed Gaglione had raised her arms in a threatening manner.
Her attorney, however, argued the officers used excessive force and knew she was pregnant.
Gaglione was later charged with resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license, but those counts were dropped. She and her now nine-month-old son have since moved out of Southern California.
Pregnant Woman Hogtied By CHP Awarded $250,000
losangeles.cbslocal.com...
On the way to the station, she could hear officers discussing video of the encounter candidly, said attorney Howard Price to The Huffington Post. But when Price requested the video as evidence for Gaglione's criminal trial, he was told there was no footage of the incident.
"I went back to them, and I said, 'Look, am I stupid? This involved a chase. There must be a videotape,'" said Price. Eventually the prosecutor handed over footage from a backup officer's camera, which showed nothing.
Finally, he was told the footage existed, but that no one could transfer the data to another medium -- so he had to go to the CHP station himself to view it. Price made sure to record the footage for himself, and he uploaded the shocking video to YouTube.
CHP quickly resolved the suit in August, and Price notes on his site that the damages were settled without "any depositions taken by either side" -- probably because the CHP knew that the video would be admitted into evidence, guessed Price. Gaglione received the check by Christmas time.
Now that the settlement check has been cut, Price is on a mission to make sure the CHP officers involved in Gaglione's case are appropriately disciplined. On behalf of Gaglione, Price filed an internal affairs complaint a few days ago against the men, who are still on the force.
"Yes, we want these officers to be investigated and hopefully disciplined," Price told HuffPost. "It's pretty outrageous conduct."
www.huffingtonpost.com...
Originally posted by HomerinNC
After watching most of this, I can see that the driver was driving erratically, and failed to obey the cops orders. She shouldn't have been on her cell in heavy traffic
Originally posted by Murgatroid
Sure it was LAPD?
Looked kinda like CHP to me...
Originally posted by HandyDandy
First.....
It was LAPD
Second.......
A Hispanic woman not following English orders.....who'da thunk it?
Yo comprendo Espanol pocito............but that doesn't mean I could follow the barking orders of a policeman in Spanish.
edit on 15-2-2013 by HandyDandy because: (no reason given)