— A Louisiana judge has awarded a woman and two of her children more than $41,000 after hearing testimony that sheriff’s deputies used excessive force on her when she was pregnant, shouted racial slurs and erased a cellphone video of the confrontation. In January, the New Iberia-based judge presided over a juryless trial for Wright’s lawsuit. The judge said the force used on a pregnant woman was “unnecessary and excessive.”“It is unbelievable that this pregnant woman would be thrown to the ground in such a manner although she did not resist her arrest,” he wrote. The judge said he believed testimony that deputies used racial slurs and profanity. He also questioned whether deputies arrested Wright because she had complained about a deputy’s actions or because she recorded the incident.

Source: National Post May 07, 2018 20:32 UTC