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Features
Forum Addresses Student Encounters With Law Enforcement
Rape Victim Says She Was Denied Justice
RENALIA DUBOSE Visiting Professor, Cooley Law School
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A video that surfaced last week, showing the actions of a member of law enforcement towards a female student shocked the world. A video posted on the Internet shows him tossing the teenager across the classroom.
The incident was captured by students who witnessed the encounter and deputy, identi- fied as Ben Fields, was ter- minated from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, November 9th, the Black Law Student Associ- ation of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Campus, will host a forum entitled “Responding To A Law Enforcement En- counter.” It will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Middle- ton High School, 4801 N. 22nd Street.
The forum is free and open to the public. It is designed to provide information to par- ents, students, and the com- munity on encounters with law enforcement.
Ms. Doretha Edgecomb, Vice Chairperson of the Hills- borough County School Dis- trict, will extend greetings. The panelists slated to participate in the event are: Judge Perry Little, Sr., Hillsborough County and Florida Circuit Courts, Retired; Ms. Renalia
OFFICER GIG BROWN School Resource Officer, Middleton High School
DuBose, Visiting Professor, Western Michigan University, Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Campus, Jeffrey Swartz, Professor, Western Michigan University, Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Cam- pus, and former Miami-Dade Court Judge; Darrell Brown, Retired Lieutenant and Shift Commander, District 1, Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office; Faye Brown, General Manager 1 Detention Officer, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and Tampa Police Officer Gig Brown, Middleton School Resource Officer.
Ms. DuBose said the forum was planned long before the incident involving the former deputy and the student. How- ever, she said it re-enforces the need to address the issue with patents and students.
“The officer was very much over the top in that video. But, we want to help students learn to prevent something like this from happening. We are telling them to obey the officer and then let the adults take care of the problem and not try and handle it themselves.
“One of the members on the panel is a School Resource Of- ficer, so parents and students can ask questions of him as well.”
Anyone wishing to obtain additional information can email blsa-tb@cooley.edu.
On January 29, 2013, Jane Doe (used to protect her iden- tity ) called a cab to take her to a doctor’s appointment. When she arrived at the doctor’s of- fice and got out of the cab, she quickly realized she had left her cell phone in the cab.
“I called the company to tell them, and the dispatcher told me she would contact the driver and tell him about my phone.
“The dispatcher told me the driver said my phone was not inside his cab.”
Jane Doe said after her ap- pointment with the doctor was over, she called the same cab company, and when she heard the horn blowing, she asked if he was there to take her home.
“He said yes, and I got into the cab. When we reached the area of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard near a McDonald’s, I realized he was going the wrong way.
“I told him that and we got onto the interstate and he took me home. During the ride, I told him about the situation with my cell phone, and he said he would call the dispatcher to check on it for me, but he did- n’t have a phone.”
Jane Doe said when they reached her home, she allowed the driver to come inside and use her phone while she re-
treated into another room. “When I came back into the room, he was standing there completely nude and he at-
tacked me.
“I was raped and he made me
clean myself up afterwards. He threatened me and told me to not call anyone about what he had done.”
After the attack, Jane Doe said she was frightened and in shock. She said she stayed in- side her home for a few days before leaving to see a doctor.
“I eventually wound up at the Crisis Center where I was ex- amined and they said there was evidence I had been sexu- ally assaulted. I asked them for help, and they did nothing.
“I finally contacted the police and told him everything. He took a report, and told me he had met with the man who raped me. He said he denied raping me and ever being in- side my apartment. The officer did write up a report and took some pictures of me.”
Jane Doe said to her shock, the case never went to court.
“I met with a prosecutor who asked me what I wanted to see happen to the suspect. I was later told he could be sen- tenced to 5 years in prison, and I found that completely unac- ceptable.
“I was later told not to bother
going to court, because he had been put on probation, and de- ported to his homeland of Haiti.”
Jane Doe said her attacker should have gone to prison, but she never had a chance to tes- tify before a jury and tell them what happened to her.
“As far as I’m concerned, he should have gone to prison, and I was denied any form of justice. He was never punished for what he did to me.
“The incident has left me traumatized and seeing doc- tors for my physical and men- tal damage. I have to take medication to sleep and for de- pression.”
Jane Doe said she felt the need to tell her story for some kind of relief from her anguish, and to see if anyone else has suffered the same kind of in- justice she endured.
“No one believed I had been raped. No matter what I said, or what evidence they had, no one believed me.
“I have learned a valuable lesson from all of this. The main thing is to be less trusting of people, don’t invite strangers into my home no matter what story they tell, and to not expect any justice from the judicial system.”
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