A 77-year-old grandmother is fighting charges of obstructing justice and resisting a peace officer, claiming a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy used excessive force during a confrontation at her home.
Marguerite Boyd said an argument with an adult grandson in her Lancaster home in April 2012 led to him calling 911 and falsely reporting that she had a gun pointed at him.
Responding deputies did not find a gun on Boyd.
"He said, 'Turn around.' I said, 'Turn around for what?' I thought they were there to help me. I didn't know they were coming to kill me," Boyd said.
When Boyd refused to comply, she said, the deputy got physical.
"He put his knee down on my back with his weight," she said. "He said he weighs 215 (pounds), but he's over 6-feet tall and a big corn-fed man."
Boyd's daughter, Michelle Boyd, said her mother was knocked out cold and left with a swollen face.
"I thought she had died, I panicked, I got hysterical, I cried," the daughter said.
Marguerite Boyd said the only thing she's resisting is a conviction for actions she didn't commit.
"I said I would not plead no contest, I will not plead guilty," she said.
In a statement to NBC4, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said, "age doesn't determine anyone's ability to resist."
Boyd said she has filed a civil rights lawsuit. That case is set to be heard in May 2014 in Los Angeles federal court.
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