Reader comments
Woman sues over alleged strip search

JFortune | 4:20 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

Watch out for those rouge cops in "UTAH"

C4mackk | 4:30 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

Sounds like things were slow in Mayberry that night and Barney and the gang didn't have cable. I hope she wins. It appears to be a case of excesive force on steroids.

Anonymous | 4:49 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

Why would she refuse to do any of these things? If you refuse field sobriety then they take you to jail. People should stop blaming cops because of their own stupidity.

Comments continue below

JWoodruff | 5:26 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

If there were any male officers present, they ought to be thrown in jail. It's called sexual abuse, and it doesn't matter the pretense. I get sick and tired of high-school drop out cops over extending their authority.

re:JFortune | 5:42 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

Learn to spell or use spell check. The word is "rogue" (but you were close, you had all the letters). Then again, perhaps you meant that Utah police have rosy cheeks?

uncannygunman | 7:22 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

I am aware of no law that requires a person to submit to field sobriety tests. The police still need probable cause to arrest you. So why (potentially) give them probable cause by participating in field sobriety tests?

Just say no.

name them | 9:17 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

The lawsuit names the Central Utah Narcotics Task Force, its head, Cordell Pearson, Sevier County Sheriff Phil Barney, and several other officers as defendants.

Why not name the and several other officers as defendants. do they deserve special treatment

To JWoodruff | 9:58 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

In Utah to become a certified police officer, you have to have AT LEAST a high school diploma, so your complaint about "high school drop out cops over extending their authority" is weak.

Sarah | 11:59 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008

The article writes, "Hooper "was half-naked, bleeding, and had several male and female strangers watching and participating in the violation of her rights,"" And this bit seems to imply that she was the victim of false arrest, "Criminal charges were brought against Hooper, but a judge later dismissed the case citing a thin pretense for her arrest."

If this is proven to have taken place, then I would certainly hope that in addition to HUGE monetary damages, the powers-that-be take notice of this disgusting case and instigate a criminal investigation of the police officials involved. Certainly they should face criminal charges and if convicted, be fired, stripped of their pensions, and tossed in jail!

I am beginning to wonder if "gross stupidity" is the only standard for hiring a cop in Utah. Please tell me this is NOT the case and that these "rogue cops" are the exception to the rule!

fire | 6:43 p.m. Nov. 16, 2008

Refusing a field sobriety est is your right.
The woman was not operating an automobile. Public intoxication may have been her only offense.

Fire the audience that participated in that womans assault and charge every onlooker with failing to report sexual assault.

Those animals are not cops they are perverts and should be jailed for a very long time.

Power corrupts? | 10:00 p.m. Nov. 16, 2008

Things do tend to get out of hand in law enforcement at times, especially dealing with the more hard core type of individuals. Sometimes the police want to weild their own swift justice having seen these people before under adverse circumstances. It takes tremendous self control to be a law enforcement officer and deal with the destructive side of the human race on a daily basis and not develop some hatred and resentment for them.

Joan Q | 10:14 p.m. Nov. 16, 2008

I think there's an assumption that she did nothing wrong. The warrant for the owner of the car is enough to get the car pulled over. The fact that she refused a field-sobriety test is enough to arrest her and require her to provide the fluid sample. I don't know if they were able to take a blood sample, but people don't have the right to pick how they comply with a sobriety test.

I'm not saying that catheterizing her was the right way to handle it. It had to be especially humiliating to have it done in front of men. But enough families have experienced tragedy at the hands of drunk drivers that law enforcement has to be able to stop such menaces.

Dennis | 5:29 p.m. Dec. 4, 2008

Joan Q: "But enough families have experienced tragedy at the hands of drunk drivers that law enforcement has to be able to stop such menaces."

Menaces, Joan? How was this lady a menace? Yes, the police had cause to pull the car over, but when they found that the guy the warrant was for wasn't in the car, they had no cause to detain the woman another minute.

Anonymous | 2:54 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Mattie, who remained in Seattle. ,

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