Woman beaten unconscious by Calif. deputies as kids watched wins $17M

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Woman beaten unconscious by Calif. deputies as kids watched wins $17M

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/woman-beaten-unconscious-california-settlement-21076472.php


On the night of Aug. 6 2020, Porter and her father, Joe Berry Powell, were driving from Oakland to Sacramento with Porter’s two daughters, ages 3 and 4, and her niece, 6, when they pulled over in Dixon to switch seats. As Porter and her father made the change, two Solano County sheriff’s deputies, one male and the other female, approached the family, the complaint said.

Deputies later said they approached the car because of a mismatched license plate. However, the complaint noted that the rear plate, which displayed the state of Maryland, had already been checked and confirmed as matching the vehicle, and there were no reports of the car having been stolen. Porter had recently moved to California and had yet to change her registration. 

In the complaint, Almadani argued deputies forced Porter away from the patrol car’s dash camera and beat her, striking her in the head, neck, back and stomach. Before the blows led her to collapse unconscious, Porter allegedly cried out, “God, bless me! Bless me, God!” She remained unconscious for more than five minutes, which her lawyers argued was consistent with a severe, “Grade III” concussion.


Deputies booked Porter into Solano County Jail overnight based on reports that she had “slipped the cuff” and “punched” the male deputy. In her deposition, the female deputy acknowledged that her only basis for saying that Porter had struck the male deputy was that he had told her “after the fact.” The district attorney later declined to file charges against Porter. 

Almadani noted that body camera footage played a pivotal role in exposing what happened.