Deputy violated Bradenton grandmother’s civil rights when he hit her with Taser, lawyers say
A Bradenton woman claims the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office violated her civil rights when a veteran deputy on Dec. 26 forced his way into her home in an attempt to arrest her grandson, who had an outstanding warrant. That deputy, said attorneys for Barbara Pinkney, also used excessive force when he tasered Pinkney three times while knocking her to the ground before her arrest.
The attorneys announced this week that Pinkney intends to sue the sheriff’s office. In a letter dated Jan. 2, Pinkney’s attorneys Ben Crump and Michele Rayner-Goolsby, notified the sheriff’s office of their intent, as required by Florida law.
The allegations, according to the letter, are that Pinkney was tased when deputies attempted to enter her home without a search warrant. During a news conference outside Pinkney’s home on Thursday evening, Crump and Rayner-Goolsby elaborated, stating that the deputies violated her civil rights by coming into her home without a search warrant and then used excessive force.
Pinkney was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and obstructing justice that day, her 70th birthday.
The sheriff’s office has launched an internal affairs investigation, into whether the deputy, Jason Riley, broke any laws or sheriff’s office procedures when he forced his way into Pinkney’s home and the subsequent arrest. Other deputies on scene that day are considered witnesses in the internal investigation, according to the sheriff’s office, which denied public records requests to release their names and incident reports until the investigation is complete.
The sheriff’s office had not yet received the official notification of Pinkney’s intent to sue as of Friday, according to their spokesman Randy Warren.
“We look forward to the opportunity to bring all the facts in this case and we’re ready to be served. We look forward to taking this entire case in front a judge and we are confident we will prevail,” Sheriff RIck Wells said Friday afternoon. “That’s the best place for this case to play out.”
Riley, who joined the sheriff’s office in 1996, has been reassigned to administrative duties while the investigation is underway.
According to the probable cause affidavit penned by Riley, Pinkney tried to shut the door on him when he tried to push his way inside after failing to get her to let them in. The deputy also claims Pinkney pushed him when he first tried to place her in handcuffs.
Pinkney’s attorneys now claim that Riley committed a battery against her, which is a felony because she is over the age of 65. They also say she had the constitutional right not to let them in her home since they did not have a search warrant.
But Rley claims in his report that deputies explained to Pinkney that they did not need a search warrant because they had an arrest warrant and her address was her grandson’s current address.
According to Florida statute, an “officer may use all necessary and reasonable force to enter any building or property where the person to be arrested is or is reasonably believed to be.”
Crump is a civil rights attorney well-known for his work including representing the Trayvon Martin family. He has recently published a book, “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,” that delves into the high-profile case and others and how the the shooting of black people is being justified.
Crump’s book is part of the defamation lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted of charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of Martin, against Crump, the Martin family, prosecutors, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the state of Florida for $100 million.
This story was originally published January 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
