Jury Finds White PBSO Deputy Liable: Put Unarmed Black Woman in Choke Hold, Body Slammed her and Punched her in Face while Handcuffed - Stopped b/c Music was Too Loud

From [HERE] Back in 2008, a Black woman who was pulled over [b/c she was Black] for allegedly blaring her car stereo in Belle Glade claimed that her encounter with police ended with a beating in the back of a police car. She filed a lawsuit against the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office. On Friday, a jury in federal court in Miami heard Maria Paul's claims about her run-in with former PBSO deputy Michael Woodside.

The jury awarded Paul $75,000 on claims that the white deputy intentionally used excessive force, violated her civil rights and unlawfully caused her injury. (In photo, racist suspect Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who has faced allegations of racism in his department]. 

The suit claimed that on Christmas Day 2008, Paul was pulled over and cited for having her stereo up too loud. Following the stop, Paul drove off for a moment until she was pulled over again by Woodside. In a police report the deputy explained Paul drove off too quickly for his liking. The second stop ended with Woodside ordering the woman out of the car. He then allegedly put her in a "chokehold position, slammed her body to the ground, and handcuffed" Paul.

The encounter ended with Paul handcuffed in the back of Woodside's cruiser, where the deputy "repeatedly punched her about the face and body," according to the original complaint.

Woodside, it turns out, was just one of a number of rogue, racist cops running free in Belle Glade at the time. According to the suit, by the time Paul brushed up against Woodside on Christmas Day, he was the subject of four use-of-force complaints and two internal affairs investigations from his time in Belle Glade. A later 2009 probe would find him guilty of four infractions. 

The lawsuit points out that he applied and was rejected by the department twice, in 1998 and 2005. During his third try at a job with the sheriff, Woodside was involved in a 2007 federal lawsuit stemming from his gig at the time as a Jupiter cop. In that suit, later settled, Woodside was accused of "false arrest and false imprisonment." Despite that pretty hefty smudge on his record, PBSO brought him on.

It just so happened Woodside ended up in Belle Glades, where he fell under the supervision of Sgt. Brent Raban. This was the fine public servant who would later be booted from the department in 2009. You might remember the case: Raban wore a hat inked with "punishment" while running around on duty in Belle Glade. He also bragged on Facebook about smacking around citizens. "[U]nder the supervision of Sergeant Raban" Woodside "acted aggressively towards the citizens of the Belle Glade area," Paul's suit claims. [MORE]

This month, an eight-person jury heard Paul's case against the office and its former employee. Of the eight counts outlined in Paul's suit, the jury deliberated on only two -- excessive and unreasonable force by Woodside and PBSO. The jury found in Paul's favor on both counts and awarded the woman $75,000 for the incident.