What I do believe happens in a lot of these cases is that we somehow want to place blame on the victim for their behavior or that they brought it upon themself. As law enforcement official, you are held to a higher standard. You are expected to execute your job in that regard.
Sharon CooperSo the fact that the grand jury would come back and make the decision not to indict the jailers and not make a decision on Officer Encinia, it makes us feel as though there's not going to be a positive outcome for us in that regard.
Sharon CooperProsecutors are allowed to cherry-pick what evidence, if any, that they do present to a grand jury. So the grand jury process overall is flawed. And that's why it should not be utilized in this case and so many cases that are similar to this.
Sharon CooperWhen you have police officers like Office Encinia who is a trained professional, who is trained to de-escalate a situation where a motorist may not be in the best of moods because of an encounter that they're having with you, you are trained to respond differently.
Sharon Cooper