Trial of Mom in Florida set about Taser incident involving man with Down syndrome

From the Miami Herald:

When her son with Down syndrome grew enraged in April, Ana V. Ramirez called 911 for help, but with a warning for police: Do not use a Taser on the young man.

But an officer did use a stun gun, prompting Ramirez and another adult son to frantically try to pull the electrified prongs from Christian Pagan, 25, who suffers from a delicate heart condition.

Now, the mother and brother face trial on a charge of resisting arrest without violence.

Prosecutors had dropped Ramirez's case last month, but refiled the charges August 5 after police complained, according to her defense attorney, Ricardo P. Hermida, who said the state was ``browbeaten into a bogus refile.''

``In this case, the young prosecutor absolutely did the right thing and dumped the case'' initially, Hermida said.

Ramirez, 57, a former Circuit City manager, cares for her son full-time at their West Kendall house. Christian Pagan, a graduate of G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School, was born with a hole in his heart.

On April 22, Pagan had a violent outburst, storming around the house and cutting his hand as he thrashed about.

Ramirez dialed 911, but warned the dispatcher against using the Taser, according to a recording of the call.

``He's a handicap kid. I don't want them to shoot him with a Taser,'' she told the dispatcher.

In an interview Friday, she said: ``His heart is not like mine or yours. It's weak.''

Miami-Dade police Officer Idania Felipe wrote in a report that Pagan, ``visibly agitated and in a fit of rage . . . violently charged at me'' outside the house.

Felipe said she fired the Taser because she feared ``for my safety.''

Ramirez and her other son, Hernando Yunis, 21, hurled themselves over Pagan, pleading with police to stop. Ramirez said officers shot Pagan with the Taser six times, and herself once.

But Felipe wrote that the mother and son refused to obey commands and ``continued to obstruct and resist my efforts to perform my lawful duties.''

Ramirez and Yunis were charged with resisting arrest without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail. Pagan was not charged.

``The officers were acting in good faith,'' Miami-Dade police spokesman Javier Baez said of the episode.

Pagan was hospitalized for two weeks as doctors monitored his heart to ensure there had been no damage. He is home now, but refuses to sleep, Ramirez said.

Prosecutors dropped the charge against Ramirez on July 12 by mistake, said Miami-Dade assistant state attorney David Maer, head of the county court division.

The prosecutor, Thomas Prestia, mistakenly believed that Felipe and another officer had failed to show up in court, according to Maer.

``The prosecutor was under the impression the witnesses hadn't appeared, so they were not ready for trial when, in fact, they had checked in with a different prosecutor and were waiting in a different room,'' Maer said.

Maer said that when the mistake was discovered, supervisors refiled the case Thursday.

Prestia declined to comment Friday.

Ramirez's trial is scheduled for Sept. 13 before Miami-Dade County Judge Flora Seff.

The charge against Yunis was not dropped. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 16.