An Arizona woman is suing the Globe Police Department after officers used a Taser on her in her own bedroom, even though she committed no crime and posed no threat. ABC15 Investigators exposed the police misconduct against Memory Burns earlier this year. Burns, 36, is considered to be seriously mentally ill by the State of Arizona.
Burns was quiet when officers arrived, but she would not come to the door. Officers decided to enter her apartment without a warrant, cornered her in her bedroom, stunned her with a Taser weapon, and arrested her. She was unarmed and committed no crime that night.
Burns’s dad filed a civil rights lawsuit on his daughter’s behalf, alleging police used excessive force, and for illegal search and seizure. “If a neighbor’s noise complaint is sufficient to allow police to enter a private home, then there is no Fourth Amendment anymore, they can enter any home at any time,” said Jesse Showalter, an attorney for Burns’s family.