Woman Attacked by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Deputies

The panel of appellate judges who heard the case Wednesday picked apart Perkins’ claims, including the allegation that an officer choked her during the interaction, per AP. Judge Cory Wilson noted an officer had his hand on her neck at some point which the defense argued was only for a moment. Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod questioned whether her son being shoved and threatened by the officer was a constitutional violation given a Taser is a non-lethal weapon. The bulk of the claims in the suit are attributed to the footage of the incident, which Judge James Ho said was “hard to follow.”

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U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter previously denied tossing the case in July 2022 ruling there was enough evidence to support Perkins’ claims of excessive force. Now that decision may be reconsidered.

Read more from AP News:

Vitter had ruled there was evidence supporting Perkins’ claims that the officers used unnecessary force even after she’d been subdued and that her son was clearly not interfering with her arrest when Moring shoved him in the chest and threatened him with a Taser as the teen recorded. The evidence of constitutional rights being violated overcame the deputies’ claim that the suit should be thrown out under the doctrine of “qualified immunity,” which protects police from lawsuits arising from the scope of their work.