Tiara Helm says she can almost draw a line through her life. Before the incident, and after. She was 17 years old when she suffered a seizure at a concert in Rainbow City, Alabama, an hour northeast of Birmingham. She regained consciousness to find 4 police officers on top of her, pinning her down. A fifth arrived and used a Taser on her. When there was no internal affairs investigation and Helm received no apology or acknowledgement of mistreatment, she and her family turned to a lawsuit. She had no idea back then that she would grow into an adult as her case slogged through the federal civil court system. Seven years later, this past October, her case finally went before a jury. Every year, thousands of people file lawsuits against the police in federal court, alleging that officers violated their civil rights. It can take years to go to trial. Most lawsuits don’t get that far. Federal judges dismiss the majority of cases in favor of police. About 5% of plaintiffs who claim police abuse make it to trial. Of those, only a third prevail in court. To read more on Tiara's story, go to the link in our bio. | @marshallproj