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Prosecutors To Review Texas Deputy’s Taser Use On 72-Year-Old Woman
Prosecutors will review a Texas deputy constable’s use of a Taser on a 72-year-old woman who became belligerent during a routine traffic stop.
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73 Comments 
AUSTIN (June 11, 2009)--Prosecutors will review a deputy constable's Tasering of a 72-year-old woman to see if the case should be presented to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said Thursday that her office reviews all use-of-force cases by law enforcement in the county and the review is not unusual.
Lehmberg says her office will meet with Pct. 3 Constable David McCain as early as next week. McCain's office has conducted an internal investigation and stands by the deputy's actions.
Video of Deputy Constable Chris Bieze's May 11 confrontation with Kathryn Winkfein was released this week and received widespread attention.
Winkfein faces misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest.
Meanwhile Sgt. Major Gary Griffin of the Travis County Constable's Office is defending the deputy’s use of a Taser on Winkfein.
The great grandmother refused to sign a speeding ticket after getting out of her white pickup truck and cursing Bieze.
Then she dared Bieze to shock her with a Taser.
Winkfein was pulled over May 11 for driving 60 miles-per-hour in a 45-mph zone just west of Austin.
A dashboard camera in Bieze's car recorded what happened when the 4-foot-11 Winkfein got out of her truck and things turned ugly.
Winkfein used profanity, and Bieze pushed her to get her away from traffic and warned the woman to step back or that he would use the Taser.
Bieze was firm but somewhat polite as he blocked her from trying to get back in her truck.
The video shows Bieze using the Taser and Winkfein hitting the ground and moaning.
Eventually, Winkfein was taken to jail and charged with resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail and fines of as much as $4,000.
‘Griffin says Bieze's actions were justified because the woman was belligerent and difficult to handle, but he understands why people were upset.
"I'm crystal clear on that. But you know what? At the end of the day that officer went home to his kids uninjured and that woman - although she spent a night in the Travis County Jail - she did it uninjured. She didn't have to go to the hospital,” he said.
Latest Comments
Yep, still no name huh. The use of force like that should be used if his life is in danger. His life wasn't in danger , unless she was getting ready to turn green because she was mad. He's twice her size , he could have handled it a lot better, But noooo he was probably dying to use it on someone and did, on her.
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Anon, your the same type person who, if he had not tazed her and she had somehow gotten into traffic and was killed, would have said he should get fired for not doing whatever he had to to stop her. Of if he had tried to physically restrain her and she had gotten hurt, which easily could have happened, that he used too much force. Your the type of nimrod who knows all the answers to all situations without having been in any of them and from the safety of your computer chair, after the fact. And yes, if a cop does something illegal or going too far I would say something.
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There is no excuse for acting like an idiot no matter how old you are.
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