If you read the news in Memphis, you’re no stranger to regular instances of police officers sometimes detained for unethical behavior – though typically off-duty. This is a sad, but true, reality.

However, for Cherokee Nation, police officers are under scrutiny not for their actions, but for that of their police dog.

After making a “positive hit for narcotics” on Emily Newman’s vehicle pulled over by police for speeding, a police dog lunged into the car and bit Newman in the face, leaving pieces of her skin on the ground.

As a lawyer, two things stand out in this story:

  1. There was no indication of whether or not narcotics were found in the car
  2. Police dogs are trained for aggression

Questions of the dog’s history of aggression is a part of dog attack cases. However, a police dog is trained to be aggressive and attack under the supervision of the police officer.

But, if you’re pulled over for speeding, you wouldn’t normally expect a police dog to jump through your car door and attack you.

As in any dog bite case, a lawyer needs to prove liability and negligence to recover damages for the victim. The lawyer would need to prove the police officer was negligent in not being able to maintain his aggressively-trained police dog.

This is undoubtedly a gruesome injury and surgically repairing the bitten-off skin onto Newman’s face may or may not work and could potentially result in permanent scarring. As I’ve seen it happen before, that physical damage could potentially lead to psychological damage.

As an experienced Memphis personal injury attorney, I would fight to make sure Newman receives appropriate compensation. If you’ve been injured by a dog, you need the dog attacks lawyer Memphis, TN relies on for their worst injury cases.

We’re no strangers to these kind of cases. Dog attacks can be very traumatic and with medical bills tacked on, the experience can be too much to handle. An experienced lawyer can help ease the pain as much as possible.

If you’ve been attacked my a dog, contact us today, either online or by calling us at (901) 327-1212 and one of our attorneys will be ready to speak with you, free of charge.