These video images show Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones pushing Brian Sterner, 32, in his wheelchair before dumping him on the floor in order to search himBy Stephen Foley
Monday, 18 February 2008
The Independent, United Kingdom
A Florida prison officer who dumped a paraplegic man out of his
wheelchair in order to search him could be jailed after being charged
with abuse of a disabled person.
Surveillance video footage showing the behaviour of Charlette
Marshall-Jones, a sheriff's deputy at the Hillsborough county
detention centre in Tampa, caused national outrage when it was picked
up by the news channels and posted on YouTube.
After repeatedly having asked Brian Sterner, 32, who has been
paralysed from the waist down since a wrestling accident 13 years
ago, to stand up to be searched, Deputy Marshall-Jones is shown
tipping him on to the floor as if unloading a wheelbarrow. Other
officers look on and one walks away smiling, as Mr Sterner is
searched while still lying on the floor. Four officers, including Ms
Marshall-Jones, have been suspended while the incident is
investigated, and the deputy faces five years in jail if convicted of
abuse. She was bailed at the weekend.
Mr Sterner, who drives a car fitted with hand pedals, had been
arrested for a traffic offence. In a national television appearance,
he said: "Hopefully, that's what will come out of this, that this
negative way of dealing with life and people will change."
Monday, 18 February 2008
The Independent, United Kingdom
A Florida prison officer who dumped a paraplegic man out of his
wheelchair in order to search him could be jailed after being charged
with abuse of a disabled person.
Surveillance video footage showing the behaviour of Charlette
Marshall-Jones, a sheriff's deputy at the Hillsborough county
detention centre in Tampa, caused national outrage when it was picked
up by the news channels and posted on YouTube.
After repeatedly having asked Brian Sterner, 32, who has been
paralysed from the waist down since a wrestling accident 13 years
ago, to stand up to be searched, Deputy Marshall-Jones is shown
tipping him on to the floor as if unloading a wheelbarrow. Other
officers look on and one walks away smiling, as Mr Sterner is
searched while still lying on the floor. Four officers, including Ms
Marshall-Jones, have been suspended while the incident is
investigated, and the deputy faces five years in jail if convicted of
abuse. She was bailed at the weekend.
Mr Sterner, who drives a car fitted with hand pedals, had been
arrested for a traffic offence. In a national television appearance,
he said: "Hopefully, that's what will come out of this, that this
negative way of dealing with life and people will change."
She did what she did because everything at that job led her to believe it was o.k. for her to do that. That was the kind of thing that was done there every day!
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