A 69-year-old woman who was shocked with a stun gun after she honked her car horn at a police cruiser has been convicted of resisting arrest for sparking a quarrel with officers.
A Circuit Court jury refused to send Louise Jones to jail, fining her $650 instead.
Jones’ attorney, Basil North, said he might appeal. “We don’t think she should have been convicted of anything,” he said.
On June 15, 2004, police officers Cory Le Moine and Ryan VanDeusen responded to a domestic disturbance call near Jones’ home. The officers were cruising the street slowly, watching for trouble. Jones was in her car behind the police vehicle when she honked her horn and pulled into her driveway.
Police, spooked by the horn, parked and questioned Jones, leading to a scuffle after they threatened to write her a ticket. The stun gun of one of the officers discharged during the altercation, according to testimony.
The trial was Jones’ second in the case.
She and her 78-year-old husband, Fred, who tried to break up the scuffle, had been convicted and sentenced to probation by a judge in Municipal Court over the incident. Both appealed, and charges against the husband were dismissed, while the wife was granted a retrial in Circuit Court.
