http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/taser_stun_guns Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:23:24 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11882 Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11882
Stun guns have soared in popularity as a nonlethal alternative to bullet-firing guns. But some suspects do die after being shocked by the electronic control devices.

The Justice Department's research arm counts 184 such deaths, most of them since 2000. Amnesty International has called for a moratorium on stun gun use, saying its tally comes to about 160 deaths in the past five years.

Officials say the study won't look at whether the stun guns were used appropriately.

They'll only make medical assessments in the instances where the weapons were used.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11606 Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11606
The first is whether Tasers, even when used as instructed, are potentially deadly because of a number of pre-existing conditions suffered by many individuals or due to the location at which the shocking device attaches itself to a suspect in some situations.

The second has to do with training procedures and deployment of the weapon since many complaints and claims of injury and death have been association with such things as repetitive shocks, extended-duration shocks, unnecessary shocks to suspects that pose no real danger to anyone, shocks to suspects whose respiratory, neurological, or cardiovascular systems are already compromised by illegal (or even legal) drugs, alcohol, over-exertion, or emotional distress.

The death of a 56-year-old wheelchair-bound disabled woman in Florida after being shocked by a Taser stun gun has only heated up the controversy on both fronts.

Over the past two years, safety concerns have continued to mount against the company on three fronts: (1) increased reports of deaths and injuries directly associated with the use (or abuse in many cases) of the stun gun; (2) deaths and injuries indirectly associated with the device; and (3) injuries to law enforcement officers during training exercises involving the Taser.

In October, the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) chapters of Nevada and Northern California mounted a two-front assault on Taser International. In Nevada, the ALCU filed a $10 million federal wrongful death and civil rights action arising out of the death of 47-year-old Keith Tucker who died after being shocked multiple times with a Taser during a struggle with the Las Vegas police.    

In a report released by the ALCU (Northern California), the safety of the Taser stun gun has been questioned on several levels. "While the Taser stun gun has the potential to save lives ... it poses a serious health risk as long as it remains largely unregulated," the report released in San Francisco states.

In early September a Chicago teenager was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. That was significant because Taser International has always maintained that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Many lawsuits allege Taser has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has now compiled a list of 167 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. (http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#).  
    
“The Arizona Republic, using computer searches, autopsy reports, police reports, media reports and Taser's own records, has identified 167 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike since September 1999. In 27 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someone's death. In 35 cases, coroners and other officials reported the stun gun was not a factor. Below is a synopsis of each case. The Republic requested autopsy reports for all of the cases and so far has received 50.”

On July 17, 2005, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: “In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas – including three in Fort Worth – have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun.”

On July 27, 2005 a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.    

Finally, on July 30, for the first time, the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered was not immediately explained.

Numerous police officers in several states have claimed they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.

 In early September 2005, a Chicago teenager was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. That was significant because Taser International has always maintained that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Apparently, the only reason the teenager survived was that he received immediate medical attention. Dr. Wayne H. Franklin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago (and a second doctor), claimed that an electrocardiogram confirmed that the boy did, in fact, suffer fibrillation.

Dr. Franklin stated that this case demonstrated the danger posed by Tasers and why portable defibrillators should be available whenever the stun guns may be used.

Taser International immediately countered the medical opinion of the two doctors with an email from a doctor of their own who stated the conclusion was purely speculative and not backed by scientific evidence.

Regardless of the circumstances, Taser has challenged any suggestion, opinion, or finding in every case where the stun gun has been implicated in a death or serious injury.

Although there had been a surge in Taser use in 2003 and 2004, safety concerns and mounting circumstantial evidence of potentially deadly risks associated with the device have caused sales to plunge in 2005.  

Those concerns included the specific finding (above) by the Coroner of Cook County, Illinois, that a Taser was, in fact, the cause of death of a man arrested in Chicago.
Taser International issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration." According to a posting on Taser’s website, for subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks."

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued only last year. It also departs from Taser’s previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented well over 100 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company’s bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police has suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are “overly assaultive;” to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March 2005, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer. The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities have backed off making additional purchases or have imposed stricter conditions for their use.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, has now advised police that “repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm.”

All of these considerations on both sides of the debate seemed to have converged in the Florida case, however.

It is difficult to imagine how a wheelchair bound 56-year-old woman could have posed so serious a threat to a number of able-bodied police offices that she needed to be shocked by 50,000 volts of electricity in her wheelchair.

Even assuming she was, in fact, brandishing knives and a hammer as claimed, her threat was, at best, easily avoided because of her very limited mobility. Moreover, her age, obvious disability, and confinement made it clear to the responding police officers that this was not an optimum situation for the use of a stun gun.

Potential breathing problems and other potentially serious physical consequences should have been considered before shocking a woman who could easily have been “waited out” or otherwise minimized as a threat by alternative strategies.

Now, the death is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement while to two officers involved have been put on paid administrative leave.

The dead woman, Emily Marie Delafield, lost consciousness following the shocking and later died at Orange Park Medical Center.

This latest death has prompted Florida legislators to contemplate action to direct law enforcement agencies to adopt procedures restricting the use of stun guns to situations where a suspect has become combative or puts one or more officers in clear and immediate danger from an aggressive advance.

Florida is one of several states now at a cross-road over what to do about limiting or otherwise controlling the use of stun guns. Liability judgments and settlements threaten to seriously imperil the finances of a number of smaller cities and counties. Several law enforcement officers have also been prosecuted, disciplined, convicted, or forced to resign over charges stemming from the alleged misuse, abuse, or excessive use of stun guns.

Thus, while there is no doubt that Tasers and other stun guns have saved the lives of police officers, civilians, and even suspects, there is an equal conviction that the devices have maimed or killed suspects who did not deserve to die or suffer serious injuries.

Clearly, Tasers have been misused and abused. They have been used as an easy way out of situations where other less problematic strategies may have worked if given the chance. The devices have been improperly utilized and deployed without adequate training and follow-up refresher courses in their proper use. They have been used on suspects who are clearly under the influence of narcotics or alcohol, suffering from physical or emotional problems, or in locations where being shocked will greatly increase the likelihood of a serious or fatal injury. They have been used in cases where merely displaying the device would have caused the suspect to surrender.

All of these situations raise serious issues with respect to the adequacy of the training given to officers carrying the devices as well as to the need for extremely strict regulation and supervision of their use in all cases where there is a confrontation between a suspect and the police.

While the underlying issue of the device’s safety in general is still very much a topic for investigation and public concern, its misuse and abuse are far more serious matters. Clearly, Tasers and other stun guns will never be perfectly safe and they may always cause some injury, or even deaths, due to unknown medical conditions a suspect may be suffering from at the time of the confrontation.

The goal should be to limit those occurrences to the absolute minimum by fully understanding the potential consequences associated with the proper use of stun guns as well as to take all possible precautions to eliminate the abuse, misuse, or excessive use of the device. Until both objectives are achieved people will continue to die or be injured unnecessarily.  
]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11338 Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/11338
The study, published last month in the peer-reviewed Journal of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, concluded that the shocks are powerful enough to cause fatal heart rhythms. It is one of the few scientific studies of Taser's electric jolt in which the company did not participate.

"The findings show the energy delivered by the weapon to be considerably understated by the manufacturer," the Journal study said. "These findings place the weapon well into the lethal category."
   
Officials with Scottsdale-based Taser International Inc. condemned the findings, saying they are exaggerated, erroneous and "beyond the laws of physics."

They pointed to a test conducted last week in response to the Journal article. A lab hired by Taser found that the weapon produced power that was significantly less than what the Journal study found and met all specifications.

Taser contends that the author of the Journal study, electrical engineer James Ruggieri, does not have the technical expertise to make conclusions about stun guns. Taser is suing Ruggieri for defamation over his claims in a presentation and testimony in a wrongful-death case last year that Tasers can cause fatal heart rhythms.

In a separate finding, the Army also concluded last year that Tasers could cause ventricular fibrillation, the irregular heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.

A memorandum from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, where the Army develops, tests and evaluates weapons, said, "Seizures and ventricular fibrillation can be induced by the electric current."

At issue was whether soldiers should be shocked with the stun guns during training exercises, as Taser recommends.

The Army's occupational health sciences director determined that Taser is an effective weapon but added in the February 2005 memo that "the practice of using these weapons on U.S. Army military and civilian forces in training is not recommended, given the potential risks."

Taser for years has maintained that its stun guns have never caused a death or serious injury. Company officials say the guns save lives, reduce injury and save millions of dollars in legal costs because they prevent deadly confrontations.

But since 1999, more than 167 people have died after police Taser strikes in the United States and Canada. Of those, medical examiners have cited Tasers in 27 deaths, saying that they were a cause of death in five cases, a contributing factor in 17 cases and could not be ruled out in five cases.

Several law enforcement agencies have filed lawsuits accusing Taser of misleading them about the stun gun's safety and claim that the company failed to conduct adequate tests before selling the weapon. Some police departments have delayed or halted Taser purchases because of safety concerns.

Taser denies these claims and says its record of safety is bolstered by dozens of medical and university studies and by the company's experts.

Law enforcement officials and testing experts agree that there is no widely accepted standard for measuring Tasers. Studies have shown various results.

In May, for example, an international testing laboratory hired by Canadian authorities initially reported that two stun guns were significantly more powerful than the manufacturer specified. The guns also fired at different levels of power.

The stun guns were used on a man who died after being shocked by Vancouver, British Columbia, police in 2004.

Taser challenged the test last week, and the laboratory backed off its results. Officials with the lab, Intertek ETL Semko, said testing protocols provided by the police differed from those of the stun-gun manufacturer. As a result, Intertek said the tests could not be relied upon.

Bruce Brown, deputy commissioner of a British Columbia agency investigating the police role in the Vancouver death, said his agency wants to enlist Canada's National Police Research Center to conduct a rigorous study of the stun gun's power.

"We've sent people to the moon, so there has got to be a way to come up with a peer-reviewed (standard)," he said.

The 50,000-volt Taser works by shooting two darts up to 25 feet. The darts are connected to wires that deliver a burst of electricity that is designed to instantly immobilize a suspect. The gun also can be used as a handheld device, without the darts, by touching two metal probes directly against a person's body in what police call a "drive stun."

The shock from a Taser is measured in electric pulses. Tasers typically used by police deliver 15 to 19 pulses a second in a five-second interval, although the gun will continue firing without interruption as long as the trigger is held down.

Tasers operate at 50,000 volts, but Taser says the stun guns do not pose an electrical safety risk because the pulse's current is too low and its duration too short to affect internal organs, including the heart.

Ruggieri's study found that the Taser's pulse was more powerful and longer than the gun's specifications indicate. Ruggieri studied a Taser M-18, which is nearly identical to the Taser M-26 used by police except it has less power.

Taser specifies that the M-18 produces 10 pulses a second at 1.76 watts per pulse. Ruggieri said his tests showed the Taser produced 14 pulses a second at 50 watts per pulse.

Ruggieri said it took him months of research to conduct and complete the tests.

He said he relied on Taser's research and previous stun-gun studies to create a verifiable methodology for testing the Taser.

His findings are based on how electric current penetrates the body.When established electrical standards were applied to the stun gun's electrical discharge, Ruggieri said the current could be fatal. He said measurements of the electric current showed that, according to electric safety standards, the gun had a 50 percent risk of causing ventricular fibrillation.

Taser Vice President Steve Tuttle called the claim "ludicrous" and said it is "clearly refuted by the fact that well over 100,000 human volunteers have been exposed to the Taser discharge without fatality."

Taser maintains that skin tissue blocks electric current and is equivalent to 1,000 ohms of resistance.

But Ruggieri said skin tissue breaks down as electricity is applied, decreasing resistance and increasing the impact of the shocks on the human body.

"This creates a runaway effect of increasing current with decreasing resistance," Ruggieri said.

An independent electrical engineer who reviewed the Journal study at the request of The Arizona Republic said Ruggieri's conclusions were credible and based on scientific principles.

Robert Nabours, who has degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford and the University of Arizona, said scientific and medical evidence support Ruggieri's claims that skin tissue breaks down when subjected to electric pulses. Among the evidence are findings from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctors.

Ruggieri focused on the Taser in its "drive stun" mode. He said measurements of the current found that the power was about 39 times greater than the manufacturer's specifications. Taking into account the lowered resistance of skin tissue, Ruggieri said the stun gun generated 704 watts of power as opposed to 18 watts.

Ruggieri contends that one of Taser's main claims of safety, that the duration of the electric pulse is too short to cause injury, could not be proven. He said his tests of the current showed that duration of the pulse also increases as resistance drops.

The lab hired by Taser, Exponent of Phoenix, could not replicate Ruggieri's results. Exponent, which has offices throughout the country, is a consulting firm that employs scientific and engineering experts who, like members of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, often serve as expert witnesses in court cases.

Exponent electrical engineer Ashish Arora said Ruggieri reported 17 times more power than the Taser he tested. Arora said that in his tests, the power of the stun gun measured at or below specifications.

Arora said the pulses Ruggieri measured could also not be verified, even when resistance was dropped. He said that caused concern.

He said he would have expected some similarity in the results. But he said the tests results "were completely different."

There were differences between Exponent's and Ruggieri's tests, both involving how the gun was charged and how the current was measured.

Ruggieri said he used a battery specified by the manufacturer to mirror a real-world setting. He changed the battery after each jolt to ensure that the power did not degenerate. Exponent used a power supply to charge the battery.

Ruggieri said a power source could limit the amount of power going into the gun in a way that a battery would not.

Ruggieri also measured the output using two high-voltage meters attached to each of the Taser probes, which he said gave more-accurate readings.

Exponent used a single meter. Arora said the single probe and battery wouldn't change the results.

Taser has repeatedly attacked Ruggieri's credibility since he made a presentation critical of the stun guns to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in February 2005. Taser claimed his presentation was based on "junk science" and "propaganda" and that his conclusions have been disputed by numerous government, university and medical studies.

Some of Ruggieri's claims were independently verified, including his assertion that Taser had misapplied Underwriters Laboratories standards in suggesting the stun gun could not cause ventricular fibrillation.

Taser sued Ruggieri in November, several months after he announced the Journal findings at an engineering conference in Chicago.

In a news release last year, Taser described Ruggieri as a high school dropout with no medical training.

Ruggieri said he left high school to attend college in New York. He later obtained a master's degree in computer science from the University of Phoenix.

Ruggieri's resume shows that he is a professional engineer with licenses in five states. He said he has investigated electrical accidents for federal agencies and helped write electrical safety standards for top electrical laboratories and commissions.

Taser officials challenged the academy journal, calling it an "obscure bulletin," saying none of the peer reviewers was qualified to assess the findings.

"That unfortunately allowed Mr. Ruggieri to utilize inappropriate science and flawed mathematics in attempts to support his unsupportable conclusions," Taser's Tuttle said.

Journal Editor Marvin Specter said the academy is affiliated with the National Society of Professional Engineers and is made up of experts in several engineering disciplines.

The Journal lists a technical review committee for Ruggieri's study that includes 20 engineers, including one well-known Taser consultant. The reviewers' identities are confidential and have not been released, Specter said.

Specter said Ruggieri's paper went through a rigorous peer-review process before being published in the biannual journal.

In an interview last week, Ruggieri said Taser has launched personal attacks to distract from the real issue.

"This isn't about me. It's about the findings, the study," he said.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10995 Sat, 03 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10995
During that time, however, another major corporation has been in a similar struggle to save itself from the injuries and deaths claimed to be caused by one of its products.

Stun gun manufacturer, Taser International Inc., of Scottsdale, Arizona, has been embroiled in a number of legal problems including: state and federal personal injury and wrongful death cases;  federal class-actions challenging the advertising and marketing claims made by the company; a federal inquiry into claims made by Taser with respect to its safety studies; an SEC probe of an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections; and reports that Taser was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety.

This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.
Taser International Inc. has also been notified by the NASDAQ Stock Market that its stock could be delisted for failing to file its third-quarter financial report on time.

As a result, the stun gun maker’s shares fell as low as $6.50 a week ago. Despite the company’s spirited defense with respect to the safety of its product, Taser International’s stock has continued to fall from $33.45 in December 2004 to $9.72 on July 30. Last Friday’s closing price now represents a decline of just over 80% in Taser’s value in less than one year.

Over the past two years, safety concerns have continued to mount against the company on three fronts: (1) increased reports of deaths and injuries directly associated with the use (or abuse in many cases) of the stun gun; (2) deaths and injuries indirectly associated with the device; and (3) injuries to law enforcement officers during training exercises involving the Taser.

Another challenge to Taser’s dominance in the stun gun market occurred earlier this week when Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, announced that his deputies will begin testing 30 new stun guns as an alternative to Tasers. This could only have been regarded with concern by Taser International, which is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.  

According to Arpaio: "Stinger tells me their weapons have better target attainment, they cost less and are cheaper to operate. If those claims are true, I may very well move away from Taser weapons."

In October, the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) chapters of Nevada and Northern California mounted a two-front assault on Taser International. In Nevada, the ALCU filed a $10 million federal wrongful death and civil rights action arising out of the death of 47-year-old Keith Tucker who died after being shocked multiple times with a Taser during a struggle with the Las Vegas police.    

In a report released by the ALCU (Northern California), the safety of the Taser stun gun has been questioned on several levels. "While the Taser stun gun has the potential to save lives it poses a serious health risk as long as it remains largely unregulated," the report released in San Francisco states.

In early September a Chicago teenager was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. That was significant because Taser International has always maintained that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Many lawsuits allege Taser has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has now compiled a list of 153 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. (http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#).  
    
“The Arizona Republic, using computer searches, autopsy reports, police reports, media reports and Taser's own records, has identified 153 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike since September 1999. In 21 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someone's death. In 31 cases, coroners and other officials reported the stun gun was not a factor. Below is a synopsis of each case. The Republic requested autopsy reports for all of the cases and so far has received 49.”

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections.  

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that “Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety...This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.”

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

Although there had been a surge in Taser use in 2003 and 2004, safety concerns and mounting circumstantial evidence of potentially deadly risks associated with the device have caused sales to plunge in 2005.  

This includes a specific finding by the Coroner of Cook County, Illinois, that a Taser was, in fact, the cause of death of a man arrested in Chicago.

That report came at the same time police officers in five states were filing lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.

One officer, a Missouri police chief, alleged that he suffered heart damage and two strokes after he volunteered to be shocked with a Taser in April 2004, while hooked up to a cardiac monitor that was supposed to show the Taser was safe. The officer also claimed he suffered hearing and vision loss as well as neurological damage.

Other injuries claimed by the officers involved include spinal fractures, burns, a dislocated shoulder, and soft-tissue damage. A previous lawsuit file in February 2004 alleged a sheriff’s deputy suffered a fractured back in 2002.

The lawsuits challenge Taser International’s central marketing claim that its device is safe and charge the manufacturer of misleading its customers concerning the potential risks posed by the stun guns. Taser is also accused of minimizing and misrepresenting the 2002 fractured back case even after its own doctor found a one-second shock from a Taser caused the injury and that the company withheld reports of injuries to at least 12 other police officers.

It is the fractured-back-case that became the first product-liability case against Taser to go to trial. The case being tried in Phoenix involves allegations from a former Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy, Samuel Powers, who claims a one-second jolt from a stun gun in 2002 fractured his back and ended his career.

According to the Arizona Republic, Mr. Powers’ lawyers charge that “Taser officials misled officers about the safety of the stun gun by misrepresenting medical studies, failing to perform adequate tests and downplaying the potential for injury.” They claimed in “their opening statements…that before being shocked during mandatory training, Powers was given constant reassurances that the stun gun ‘did not, has not, and could not cause any long-term injuries.’”

Taser is defending itself by alleging that “Powers' medical history, saying evidence showed he had years of back problems and a bone disease that left him vulnerable to the shocks. They denied Taser misled police departments about the safety of its stun guns.”

Taser had originally blamed the Maricopa Sheriff's Office for Powers' injury. Immediately after Powers sued Taser, the company claimed the Sheriff's Office should be held responsible for "unreasonably requiring" officers to be shocked.

In a motion from February 24, 2004 Taser stated: "If there is evidence that the shock from the (Taser) caused any injuries or damages to the plaintiff (the Sheriff's Office) and/or Sheriff Joe Arpaio are at fault for unreasonably requiring the plaintiff to be shocked by the Taser as part of its non-lethal weapons training."

Of course, that is the same Joe Arpaio who has now announced that his deputies will begin testing 30 new stun guns from one of Taser’s competitors (Stinger) with an eye on moving “away from Taser weapons."

According to the Arizona Republic, pictures “of Powers getting shocked were shown to jurors Wednesday. They showed Powers standing between two deputies, who were supposed to keep him from falling. Electrodes were attached to his left ankle and right shoulder. The shock, which lasted no more than a second, appeared to cause Powers to yell in pain as his body contracted and he fell forward.”

Taser’s attorney told the jury that Powers was given ample warnings about the stun gun's risks and, despite his previous back injuries, agreed to go forward. "The warnings provided to Samuel Powers, as well as warnings to any other police departments, were adequate."

The attorney “dismissed claims made by Powers' lawyers that Taser intentionally misreported Powers' injury as way to avoid admitting the stun gun hurt an officer.”

As to the misrepresentation of Powers’ injury in several filings with the SEC, Taser’s attorney called it a simple mistake. "What the big beef here is they just didn't amend SEC filings."

The Arizona Republic article, however, pointed out that Powers’ lawyer stated “it wasn't the first time Taser had misreported critical information. He pointed to a study that Taser cited for years as proof of the stun gun's safety.

The study, a 1987 report by a California emergency-room doctor, compared gunshot injuries and Taser injuries.”  
Taser, however, used the study to say that Tasers caused "0 percent long-term injuries" without mentioning that was only when compared with gunshot wounds. Taser claims the study's findings were reported accurately.

”Gary Ordogg, author of the study, who is expected to testify, has previously said that Taser misused his study and that he has believed for two decades that stun guns can cause deaths.”

The outcome of this trial will likely affect the future of Taser International in a significant way regardless of which way the jury decides. Should Taser prevail, it will give the company more of a reason to adhere to its posture of denying anything is wrong with its product. Should Taser lose, however, the verdict may signal the beginning of the end for the once high-flying company that dominated its market.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10626 Sun, 04 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10626
However, it is getting more and more difficult for Taser supporters to explain away the mounting number of cases in which people have died or suffered serious or life-threatening injuries after being shocked.

This week, The New York Times reported on a case involving a Chicago teenager who was caused to go into ventricular fibrillation as a result of being shocked with a Taser. This is significant because Taser International maintains that its stun guns cannot cause this usually fatal heart disturbance in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood.

Apparently, the only reason the teenager survived was that he received immediate medical attention. Dr. Wayne H. Franklin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago (and a second doctor), claimed that an electrocardiogram confirmed that the boy did, in fact, suffer fibrillation.

Dr. Franklin stated that this case demonstrated the danger posed by Tasers and why portable defibrillators should be available whenever the stun guns may be used.

Taser International immediately countered the medical opinion of the two doctors with an email from a doctor of their own who stated the conclusion was purely speculative and not backed by scientific evidence. The company has adopted the position that its product is safe and has staunchly defended it regardless of the circumstances in every reported death or injury case so far.

Although there had been a surge in Taser use in 2003 and 2004, safety concerns and mounting circumstantial evidence of potentially deadly risks associated with the device have caused sales to plunge in 2005. 

Recently, Canadian Police Research Institute stated that Tasers and other “conducted energy devices” are acceptable because the advantages they provide outweigh the risks they pose.

In reaching this conclusion in its report to Canadian police chiefs, however, the Institute was apparently not overly troubled by the enormous number of deaths that have occurred in cases where a Taser has been used.

The specific finding by the Coroner of Cook County, Illinois, that a Taser was, in fact, the cause of death of a man arrested in Chicago also appears to have been ignored in the report as the type of definitive evidence it was seeking to support the claim that the devices can cause death.

This report came at the same time that police officers in five states were filing lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.

One officer, a Missouri police chief, alleges that he suffered heart damage and two strokes after he volunteered to be shocked with a Taser in April 2004, while hooked up to a cardiac monitor that was supposed to show the Taser was safe. The officer also claims he suffered hearing and vision loss as well as neurological damage.

Other injuries claimed by the officers involved include spinal fractures, burns, a dislocated shoulder, and soft-tissue damage. A previous lawsuit file in February 2004 alleged a sheriff’s deputy suffered a fractured back in 2002.

The lawsuits challenge Taser International’s central marketing claim that its device is safe and charge the manufacturer of misleading its customers concerning the potential risks posed by the stun guns. Taser is also accused of minimizing and misrepresenting the 2002 fractured back case even after its own doctor found a one-second shock from a Taser caused the injury.

The lawsuits also allege Taser International withheld reports of injuries to at least 12 other police officers and that the company has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

As with all previous allegations against it, Taser International has stated that it intends to vigorously defend the claims. The company has denied any of the 144 deaths which have occurred following the use of a Taser was caused by its product.

Clearly, both sides cannot be right in this matter. As we reported on August 7, Taser International has now issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration."

According to a posting on Taser’s website, for subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks."

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued only last year. It also departs from Taser’s previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

The Houston Police Department (HPD), Taser’s biggest U.S. customer, has formed a review committee of police officials and community leaders, including representatives from the NAACP and League of United Latin American Citizens, to study the use of Tasers in the city of Houston.
The committee started by reviewing the HPD use-of-force policy, training sessions that officers receive, and the first 200 incidents in which Tasers were used in Houston.

Houston will also be involved in a study of Taser use conducted by a national police-research organization according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Obviously, a non-lethal weapon becomes a problem when it starts killing people. Many experts and critics of the Taser stun gun believe that time has long since passed. 

For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has now compiled a list of 144 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#

The sources used included autopsy reports, computer searches, police reports, media accounts, and Taser International’s own records. To date, the research indicates that medical examiners have cited the Taser to some extent in 18 deaths. In four cases it was a cause of death, in 10 it was a contributing factor, and in four it could not be ruled out as a cause of death. 

This, however, seems to be just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Taser International’s mounting problems with respect to its approximately 100,000 stun guns now being used by some 7,000 U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

Despite the company’s spirited defense of its product, Taser International’s stock has continued to fall from $33.45 in December 2004 to $9.72 on July 30, a decline of over 70%.

From the very beginning, many experts questioned the safety of the 50,000 volt “non-lethal” weapon.

A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company’s bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police have suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are “overly assaultive;” to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March of this year, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer.

The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

A class-action lawsuit was commenced only last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the city of Dolton, Illinois, on behalf of police departments across the country for being misled about the safety of the Taser and for leaving the police with weapons that are too dangerous to use on the street.

The law firm representing the city of Dolton claims to have already been retained by other police departments in four states. Paul Geller, an attorney from that firm, states that the law suit would be dropped if Taser would agree to take back the stun guns.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces like those in Birmingham and Lucas County (Ohio) have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities like Chicago have backed off making additional purchases.

The mayor of Birmingham ordered police to stop using Tasers after the death of an inmate who had been shocked with a Taser several hours before he died.

The mayor of Dolton, which suspended their use, calls his city’s purchase of Tasers “a mistake” because “they need far more testing.” He went on to say that losing the money his city paid for the Tasers was far less than the financial risk posed by even one wrongful-death lawsuit.

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections. 

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that “Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety.

This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.”

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: “In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas – including three in Fort Worth have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun.”

On July 27, a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.   

Finally, on July 30, several news sources reported that (for the first time) the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner had ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered has not been explained.

Although the Chicago police force will continue to use the Tasers they already have, an order for additional units was suspended. This weeks report involving the Chicago teenager who suffered ventricular fibrillation following his encounter with a Taser may alter that city’s position regardless of Taser International’s denial of blame. 

Taser has vigorously defended its stun guns in every situation where it has been linked to an injury or death. The company continues to maintain that Tasers are non-lethal and that all of the reports regarding deaths and injuries associated with the device are baseless and can be explained      
away on the basis of other causes.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, however, advised police that “repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm.” 

Given all of this information, it is difficult to imagine how the Canadian Police Research Institute reached its conclusion that the benefits of the Taser and similar devices outweigh the risks they pose to anyone who is shocked with any of them.

Although it appears that the courts will likely be the forum in which the final verdict on the Taser will be rendered, Taser International may not be able to survive the financial losses caused by dwindling sales, cancelled orders, and the negative press surrounding each case where the embattled stun gun is implicated in a death or serious injury.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10577 Tue, 23 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10577
In reaching this conclusion in its report to Canadian police chiefs, the Institute was apparently not overly troubled by the enormous number of deaths that have occurred in cases where a Taser has been used.

The specific finding by the Coroner of Cook County, Illinois, that a Taser was, in fact, the cause of death of a man arrested in Chicago also appears to have been ignored in the report as the type of definitive evidence it was seeking to support the claim that the devices can cause death.

This report comes at the same time that police officers in five states have filed lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.

One officer, a Missouri police chief, alleges that he suffered heart damage and two strokes after he volunteered to be shocked with a Taser in April 2004, while hooked up to a cardiac monitor that was supposed to show the Taser was safe. The officer also claims he suffered hearing and vision loss as well as neurological damage.

Other injuries claimed by the officers involved include spinal fractures, burns, a dislocated shoulder, and soft-tissue damage. A previous lawsuit file in February 2004 alleged a sheriff’s deputy suffered a fractured back in 2002.

The lawsuits challenge Taser International’s central marketing claim that its device is safe and charge the manufacturer of misleading its customers concerning the potential risks posed by the stun guns. Taser is also accused of minimizing and misrepresenting the 2002 fractured back case even after its own doctor found a one-second shock from a Taser caused the injury.

The lawsuits also allege Taser International withheld reports of injuries to at least 12 other police officers and that the company has ignored credible research suggesting the device can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

As with all previous allegations against it, Taser International has stated that it intends to vigorously defend the claims. The company has denied any of the 144 deaths which have occurred following the use of a Taser was caused by its product.

Clearly, both sides cannot be right in this matter. As we reported on August 7, Taser International has now issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration."

According to a posting on Taser’s website, for subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks."

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued only last year. It also departs from Taser’s previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

The Houston Police Department (HPD), Taser’s biggest U.S. customer, has formed a review committee of police officials and community leaders, including representatives from the NAACP and League of United Latin American Citizens, to study the use of Tasers in the city of Houston.

The committee started by reviewing the HPD use-of-force policy, training sessions that officers receive, and the first 200 incidents in which Tasers were used in Houston.

Houston will also be involved in a study of Taser use conducted by a national police-research organization according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Obviously, a non-lethal weapon becomes a problem when it starts killing people. Many experts and critics of the Taser stun gun believe that time has long since passed. 

For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has now compiled a list of 144 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#

The sources used included autopsy reports, computer searches, police reports, media accounts, and Taser International’s own records. To date, the research indicates that medical examiners have cited the Taser to some extent in 18 deaths. In four cases it was a cause of death, in 10 it was a contributing factor, and in four it could not be ruled out as a cause of death. 

This, however, seems to be just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Taser International’s mounting problems with respect to its approximately 100,000 stun guns now being used by some 7,000 U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

Despite the company’s spirited defense of its product, Taser International’s stock has continued to fall from $33.45 in December 2004 to $9.72 on July 30, a decline of over 70%.

From the very beginning, many experts questioned the safety of the 50,000 volt “non-lethal” weapon. A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company’s bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police have suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are “overly assaultive;” to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March of this year, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer. The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

A class-action lawsuit was commenced only last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the city of Dolton, Illinois, on behalf of police departments across the country for being misled about the safety of the Taser and for leaving the police with weapons that are too dangerous to use on the street.

The law firm representing the city of Dolton claims to have already been retained by other police departments in four states. Paul Geller, an attorney from that firm, states that the law suit would be dropped if Taser would agree to take back the stun guns.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces like those in Birmingham and Lucas County (Ohio) have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities like Chicago have backed off making additional purchases.

The mayor of Birmingham ordered police to stop using Tasers after the death of an inmate who had been shocked with a Taser several hours before he died.

The mayor of Dolton, which suspended their use, calls his city’s purchase of Tasers “a mistake” because “they need far more testing.” He went on to say that losing the money his city paid for the Tasers was far less than the financial risk posed by even one wrongful-death lawsuit.

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections. 

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that “Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety...This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.”

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: “In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas – including three in Fort Worth – have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun.”

On July 27, a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.   

Finally, on July 30, several news sources reported that (for the first time) the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner had ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered has not been explained.

Although the Chicago police force will continue to use the Tasers they already have, an order for additional units was suspended.

Taser has vigorously defended its stun guns in every situation where it has been linked to an injury or death. The company continues to maintain that Tasers are non-lethal and that all of the reports regarding deaths and injuries associated with the device are baseless and can be explained      
away on the basis of other causes.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, however, advised police that “repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm.” 

Given all of this information, it is difficult to image how the Canadian Police Research Institute reached its conclusion that the benefits of the Taser and similar devices outweigh the risks they pose to anyone who is shocked with any of them. It now appears that the courts will be the forum in which the final verdict on the Taser will be rendered.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10464 Tue, 09 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10464
The men, both of whom exhibited bizarre behavior and refused to follow police commands, were the fourth and fifth people to die in police-custody incidents involving Taser since Aug. 1.

Autopsies will determine the cause of death in each case and whether the Taser strikes played a role.
   
The two deaths come about a week after a Chicago medical examiner for the first time named Taser as the primary cause of someone's death and less than a month after an Illinois police department filed a class-action lawsuit claiming company officials misled law enforcement agencies about the safety of its weapon.

Scottsdale-based Taser International, which maintains that its stun guns have never caused a death or serious injury, has been fighting to overcome safety concerns that this year have caused some police departments to stop using Tasers, led to a drop in the company's stock price and resulted in state and federal inquiries into the company's safety claims.

"We know that over 7,800 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. continue to deploy Taser devices to prevent numerous injuries and save lives every day," Taser Vice President Steve Tuttle said in a statement Monday. "Until all the facts surrounding these recent incidents are known, it is crucial that the public understand that it is inappropriate to jump to any conclusions on the cause of these unfortunate deaths."

On Sunday, an unidentified man died in a confrontation with Phoenix police after tearing up the restrooms of a taco restaurant on Seventh Street and locking himself in a women's stall.

Police say the 47-year-old man displayed great strength, kicking and swinging his arms at three officers who were trying to arrest him.

"A struggle lasting five minutes or longer took place," Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force said in a statement. "Officers reported that the suspect threw them around easily and (the officers) were nearly exhausted by the time they finally subdued him."

During the struggle, officers deployed Tasers five times for five seconds each time, said Sgt. Lauri Williams, a Phoenix police spokeswoman.

The Taser, which uses electricity to override the nervous system and incapacitate a suspect, normally works by firing two darts from distances of 21 feet. But it can also be used as a hand-held device, in which officers push the probes of the stun gun directly against a suspect's skin. According to Force, officers carried the man outside. Although he had been breathing fast before and after being shocked with the Taser, his breathing slowed. Paramedics transported him to a Phoenix hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident is similar to the July 15 death of Ernesto Valdez, the last suspect to die in the custody of Phoenix police after being shocked with a Taser before Sunday. Valdez broke into a Church's Chicken restaurant after closing time, chased out the employees, began throwing himself at the walls and fought with police. During the struggle, Valdez was shocked three times with a Taser.

To date, seven men have died in the Valley after police Taser strikes.

On Friday, a 38-year-old man died after being shocked by Glendale police outside of a minimart. The man, Olsen Ogodidde, was sleeping in the back of a car that wasn't his.

When police ordered him to come out, he reportedly refused to move. Officers attempted to remove him and shocked him in an arm and a leg with a Taser before he was arrested, said Officer Mike Peña, a Glendale police spokesman.

Officers suspected that Ogodidde was impaired by an unidentified substance and called paramedics to take him to the hospital, where police say he had a seizure and died.

The two Valley cases over the weekend followed three deaths in California last week involving suspects who were shocked by police during struggles with officers in Sacramento, Fremont and San Jose.

Police and Taser officials caution that the sequence of events involving the deaths is typical of violent suspects who fight with police and then die in custody whether a Taser is used or not.

"It is the safer use-of-force alternative available for law enforcement agencies to subdue violent individuals who could harm law enforcement officers, innocent citizens or themselves," Tuttle said. "We are prepared to help the investigations of these tragic incidents."

For years, Taser officials have publicly said the stun gun was never cited in an autopsy report.

But an Arizona Republic investigation last year revealed that Tasers have been cited repeatedly by medical examiners in death cases and that Taser did not start collecting autopsy reports until April.

Of the 147 cases of death in the United States and Canada after a police Taser shock since 1999, coroners have cited Tasers in at least 18 deaths.

They cited the stun gun as a cause of death in four cases and a contributing factor in 10 cases.

In four other cases, medical examiners said Taser could not be ruled out as a cause of death.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10448 Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10448
Officers were called to the Tacos Jalisco at Seventh Street and Mountainview in north Phoenix Sunday night after the suspect had vandalized two restrooms.

Employees told police the man appeared to be crazed and that he was locked in a bathroom stall, said Sgt. Randy Force. Employees said they had seen him hitting the window of a nearby business with a metal rod before entering the restaurant.

The man was extremely combative when three officers attempted to take him into custody, Force said. They used Taser stun guns on him as they tried to subdue him in the fight, which lasted at least five minutes.

When the officers and the suspect got outside, the officers said they noticed that the suspect's breathing had slowed. Paramedics were called and the man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died a short time later.

The officers involved in the incident were identified as Alison Ribar, Adam Gjelhaug and Andrew Tullberg. All were placed on standard administrative leave, Force said.

In the first incident, a 38-year-old man, accused of resisting arrest, died Friday night at a west Phoenix hospital after police used a Taser electronic stun gun to take him into custody, officers said.

Olsen Ogodidde went into a seizure after he arrived at Maryvale Hospital Medical Center and emergency-room doctors were unable to save his life, said Officer Mike Peña, a Glendale police spokesman.

An autopsy will be needed to determine the cause of death, Peña said.

In the meantime, two officers, whom he declined to identify, have been placed on administrative leave, a standard move, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, Peña added.

Earlier, Ogoddide was found near 59th Avenue and Bethany Home Road sleeping on the back seat of somebody else's vehicle, Peña said.

He struggled with officers who tried to remove him% from the car and was stunned twice with a Taser before he was taken into custody, Peña said.

“Officers immediately recognized that the suspect appeared to be under the influence of some type of impairing substance,” Peña said Saturday.

Ogodidde was alert but would not communicate with officers, he said. He was placed on a gurney and was treated by paramedics on the way to the hospital.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10438 Sun, 07 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10438
For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has compiled a list of 140 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#

The sources used included autopsy reports, computer searches, police reports, media accounts, and Taser International’s own records. To date, the research indicates that medical examiners have cited the Taser to some extent in 18 deaths. In four cases it was a cause of death, in 10 it was a contributing factor, and in four it could not be ruled out as a cause of death. 

This, however, seems to be just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Taser International’s mounting problems with respect to its approximately 100,000 stun guns now being used by some 7,000 U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

Despite the company’s spirited defense of its product, Taser International’s stock has continued to fall from $33.45 in December 2004 to $9.72 on July 30, a decline of over 70%.

From the very beginning, many experts questioned the safety of the 50,000 volt “non-lethal” weapon. A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company’s bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police have suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are “overly assaultive;” to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March of this year, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer. The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

A class-action lawsuit was commenced only last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the city of Dolton, Illinois, on behalf of police departments across the country for being misled about the safety of the Taser and for leaving the police with weapons that are too dangerous to use on the street.

The law firm representing the city of Dolton claims to have already been retained by other police departments in four states. Paul Geller, an attorney from that firm, states that the law suit would be dropped if Taser would agree to take back the stun guns.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces like those in Birmingham and Lucas County (Ohio) have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities like Chicago have backed off making additional purchases.

The mayor of Birmingham ordered police to stop using Tasers after the death of an inmate who had been shocked with a Taser several hours before he died.

The mayor of Dolton, which suspended their use, calls his city’s purchase of Tasers “a mistake” because “they need far more testing.” He went on to say that losing the money his city paid for the Tasers was far less than the financial risk posed by even one wrongful-death lawsuit.

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections. 

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that “Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety...This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.”

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: “In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas – including three in Fort Worth – have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun.”

On July 27, a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.   

Finally, on July 30, several news sources reported that (for the first time) the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner had ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered has not been explained.

Although the Chicago police force will continue to use the Tasers they already have, an order for additional units was suspended.

Taser has vigorously defended its stun guns in every situation where it has been linked to an injury or death. The company continues to maintain that Tasers are non-lethal and that all of the reports regarding deaths and injuries associated with the device are baseless and can be explained      
away on the basis of other causes.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, however, advised police that “repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm.” 

Based upon all of these developments, two final facts may become part of the Taser saga: (1) Tasers are not non-lethal weapons; and (2) Taser International’s may have run out of believable excuses to explain away a trail of dead bodies.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10465 Sat, 06 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10465
Dwayne Zachary, a 44-year-old Sacramento County man, died at Mercy San Juan Medical Center after he was shot several times with a stun gun during a fight with sheriff's deputies late Thursday night, authorities said.

Police said they fired at Zachary after he began throwing furniture and a glass photo frame at officers responding to a report that he had beaten a woman.

Zachary was the fifth Sacramento area man in two years to die after being shot with a Taser, which delivers a strong electric shock. But the county coroner's office has not blamed any of the deaths on the stun gun, which is manufactured by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International.

Members of Zachery's family said officers used too much force. "Dwayne didn't have a bad attitude," said Oscar Daniels, Zachary's nephew. "He was only violent when you did something toward him."

Eric Mahoney, 33, of Alameda, died at Washington Hospital in Fremont Wednesday night, five days after he was shot numerous times with a Taser as he attempted to climb a wall to escape police.

The Alameda County coroner's office has conducted an autopsy and is waiting for toxicology test results to determine what contributed to or caused his death.

Mahoney's sister, Karen Moreland, 50, of Alameda, said Friday she believes police were directly responsible for killing her brother. "In my book, if you're running away, you're not causing imminent danger to anyone else," she said.

Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler said Friday that Mahoney, who had a history of drug use, had resisted police orders during a dangerous call for service and had reasons to believe that the suspect might be armed.

Brian Patrick O'Neil, 33, of San Jose, died Monday after police used a Taser on him during a confrontation. Similar incidents have been reported in Santa Rosa, Pacifica, Vallejo and Salinas over the past year.

Mark Schlosberg, police practices policy director with the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco, said more research is needed to understand how Tasers affect suspected drug users. He said more than 140 people nationwide have died after being shot by the device since 2001.

"We do not advocate for a complete ban on Taser," Schlosberg said. "We think that Tasers should only be used as an alternative to deadly force."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10433 Fri, 05 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10433
For subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks," says a recent posting on Taser International's Web site.

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued last year.

It also departs from the manufacturer's previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

Passing around the blame

Most deaths later were attributed to drugs, pre-existing heart problems and excited delirium, a psychotic and typically drug-induced state in which the heart is susceptible to cardiac arrest.

But last month, a medical examiner in Chicago became the first in the United States to attribute a criminal suspect's death to a Taser. The suspect had methamphetamine in his system when the officer stunned him, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Steve Tuttle, vice president of communications for Taser, wrote in an e-mail this week that the company is simply reminding officers to use "only the necessary amount of force" when stunning suspects.

The policy on the use of force at the Houston Police Department, the nation's largest buyer of Tasers, "has always stated very clearly that only minimum force absolutely necessary in order to bring an individual under control" is to be used, Lt. Robert Manzo said Thursday.

"That applies to Tasers as well," Manzo said. "We only use repeated blasts when absolutely necessary. That only happens in a small number of cases."

Houston review

HPD has formed a review committee of police officials and community leaders, including representatives from the NAACP and League of United Latin American Citizens, to study the use of Tasers locally.

Committee members have reviewed the HPD use-of-force policy, participated in the training sessions that officers receive and this week began reviewing the first 200 incidents in which Tasers have been used.

The committee will compile a report and make recommendations to Chief Harold Hurtt in September.

Also, Houston will be involved in a study of Taser use conducted by a national police-research organization.

Watching their aim

In Florida, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department advises its deputies to try not to use Tasers on subjects who are very young or very old. Pinellas deputies are not to use Tasers on pregnant women.

The same policy applies at HPD, Manzo said. In addition, HPD officers are told not to use a Taser on anyone they know to be physically handicapped or in poor health, and to seek immediate medical attention for anyone they stun.

Tampa police Cpl. Tommy Downes, a longtime sniper-team member, said any use of force hand-to-hand, stunning or pepper spray is more of a health risk for subjects high on drugs or in some other psychotic state.

"Their pain receptors aren't working, they're overheated, they're superstrong," Downes said. "Yet if you have someone who's tearing up a place or attacking people and exhibiting all the hallmarks of excited delirium, you have to do something."

Manzo agreed. "The bottom line is, this (the Taser) is less dangerous, potentially less lethal than other methods," he said.

A Taser looks and fires like a gun. But instead of bullets, it shoots two dart-like probes that deliver about 50,000 volts of electricity, according to Taser International.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10350 Sun, 31 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/10350
For example, using a number of sources, The Arizona Republic has compiled a list of 140 cases in the United States and Canada since 1999 where a death followed the use of a Taser stun gun. http://www.azcentral.com/specials/taser/#

The sources used included autopsy reports, computer searches, police reports, media accounts, and Taser International’s own records. To date, the research indicates that medical examiners have cited the Taser to some extent in 18 deaths. In four cases it was a cause of death, in 10 it was a contributing factor, and in four it could not be ruled out as a cause of death.  

This, however, seems to be just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Taser International’s mounting problems with respect to its approximately 100,000 stun guns now being used by some 7,000 U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

Despite the company’s spirited defense of its product, Taser International’s stock has continued to fall from $33.45 in December 2004 to $9.72 on Friday, a decline of over 70%.

From the very beginning, many experts questioned the safety of the 50,000 volt “non-lethal” weapon. A lack of adequate testing and independent medical evidence supporting the company’s bold marketing claims have been cited by such diverse critics as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a consulting electrical engineer as reasons for removing the stun guns from the market until more extensive testing is done especially with respect to how the device affects pregnant women, people on drugs, or those with heart conditions.

Even the International Association of Chiefs of Police have suggested that further testing is needed. The organization advocates using the device only to subdue violent suspects; not to use it on handcuffed persons unless they are “overly assaultive;” to use it the least number of times; and to seek medical attention for anyone who has been shocked.

In addition, all types of Taser-related lawsuits abound. Personal injury and death claims have been commenced in a number of states. In March of this year, Mesa, Arizona, settled a claim by a 43-year-old man who fell out of a tree after being shocked twice with a Taser by a city police officer. The City paid $2.2 million to the man who became a quadriplegic and another $200,000 to the hospital where he was treated.

A class-action lawsuit was commenced only last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the city of Dolton, Illinois, on behalf of police departments across the country for being misled about the safety of the Taser and for leaving the police with weapons that are too dangerous to use on the street.

The law firm representing the city of Dolton claims to have already been retained by other police departments in four states. Paul Geller, an attorney from that firm, states that the law suit would be dropped if Taser would agree to take back the stun guns.

The potential for huge personal injury and death claims have left many municipalities rethinking their purchase of Tasers. Some police forces like those in Birmingham and Lucas County (Ohio) have either stopped issuing the weapons or have pulled them of the street altogether. Other cities like Chicago have backed off making additional purchases.

The mayor of Birmingham ordered police to stop using Tasers after the death of an inmate who had been shocked with a Taser several hours before he died.

The mayor of Dolton, which suspended their use, calls his city’s purchase of Tasers “a mistake” because “they need far more testing.” He went on to say that losing the money his city paid for the Tasers was far less than the financial risk posed by even one wrongful-death lawsuit.

On January 6, 2005 Taser officials disclosed that federal authorities had launched an inquiry into claims made by the company with respect to its safety studies. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also probing an end-of-year sale which appeared to inflate sales in order to meet annual projections.  

In May, The Arizona Republic also reported that “Taser International was deeply involved in a Department of Defense study that company officials touted to police departments and investors as ‘independent’ proof of the stun gun’s safety...This information is surfacing at a time when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general are pursuing inquiries into safety claims that the Scottsdale firm has made.”

On July 17, the Associated Press reported a Texas man died after being shocked between three and six times with a Taser by an off-duty police officer who was acting as a security guard. The man’s wife said she was suing Taser International because her husband “didn’t deserve the death penalty.” It appears the men had done little more than trespass on private property and confront the officer who had chased him.

The report went on to state: “In the past nine months, at least six people in Texas including three in Fort Worth  have died after authorities shocked them with a Taser gun.”

On Wednesday of this past week, a prisoner being held in a Queens, New York, police station died after being shocked with a Taser.    

Finally, only yesterday, several news sources reported that the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Medical Examiner had ruled the February 10 death of an agitated 54-year-old man was caused by being shocked excessively with a Taser.

The finding indicated that the 57-second shock was sufficient, in and of itself, to have killed the man. Why such a long shock (ten times the usual amount) was administered has not been explained.

Although the Chicago police force will continue to use the Tasers they already have, an order for additional units was suspended.

Taser has vigorously defended its stun guns in every situation where it has been linked to an injury or death. The company continues to maintain that Tasers are non-lethal and that all of the reports regarding deaths and injuries associated with the device are baseless and can be explained       
away on the basis of other causes.

A recent training bulletin issued by Taser, however, advised police that “repeated, prolonged, and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm.”    

While Taser International’s position can be understood in terms of corporate self-preservation, it appears as if its stun gun is little more than a cat that is rapidly running out of lives. Only so many deaths and injuries can be explained away as coincidences or attempts to sully the name of a good product. 
]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9862 Tue, 31 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9862
The sources used included autopsy reports, computer searches, police reports, media accounts, and Tasers own records. To date, the research has shown that many of the deaths were "a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someones death."

In several other cases, coroners and other officials reported that the use of the stun gun was not a factor in the death. In any event, the report lends strong support to the claim by many critics of the Taser that the so-called non-lethal weapon is far more dangerous than its manufacturer would have the public believe.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9882 Tue, 31 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9882
City police used Tasers on 42 people in the first three months of this year, compared to just six in all of 2004, when police made 686 use-of-force arrests. The most popular method of restraint -- wrestling or tackling suspects -- was used in 352 of those cases. Police used pepper spray in 102 instances.

The increasing reliance on Tasers by Pittsburgh police comes at a time when many other law enforcement agencies and local governments throughout the country are rethinking their policies.

In February, the Lucas County sheriff's office in Toledo, Ohio, stopped using Tasers when a man died after being shocked nine times. About the same time, the Chicago police department said it will not distribute any more Tasers to its officers while it investigates the device's use on a man who died and a teen who was injured. Last month, the police department in Lexington, Ky., announced that it won't buy more Tasers while awaiting the outcome of medical studies about the risks of the weapons.

Human rights groups say the growing popularity of Tasers is cause for alarm. Tasers are used by more than 7,000 police agencies, and blamed by Amnesty International in the deaths of more than 100 people in the U.S. and Canada since 1999. In a report released in March, Amnesty International said there were 13 Taser-related deaths in the U.S. and Canada in the first three months of this year, compared with six during the same period last year.

"There is not enough medical research that shows Tasers are safe," said Amnesty International spokesman Ed Jackson. "There needs to be more alternatives to lethal force. That Tasers are safe is fictitious."

The stun gun's manufacturer maintains that the devices are among the safest tools to subdue a violent person.

"While we understand the concerns of the public concerning the topic of in-custody deaths, there are medical experts who dispute the few cases, out of tens of thousands of life-saving uses, where a Taser device has been cited as a contributing factor to an in-custody death," said Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International.

Tasers fire metal barbs that can temporarily disable someone by scrambling the electronic impulses sent by the brain to the rest of the body. The 50,000-volt shocks can incapacitate someone in a fraction of a second.

Pittsburgh police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. defends the weapon.

He expects that the stun guns will minimize officers' direct physical contact with people. He also hopes they will reduce injuries and the costs associated with them, such as workers' compensation claims, sick leave and disability.

The increasing use of Tasers corresponds with a surge in the number of Pittsburgh officers equipped with them.

About 190 city police officers carry Tasers today, up from just six last year, and 250 officers have completed the department's mandatory one-day training session, said McNeilly, who hopes to have all patrol officers and narcotics detectives armed with Tasers by the end of this year or early next year.

Al Arena, a project manager at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said a universal code of use should be adopted. The association recently issued a nine-page guideline suggesting how, and when, Tasers should be used.

McNeilly and his wife, police Cmdr. Catherine R. McNeilly, wrote the department's policy on Taser use last year. Tasers are not to be used as alternatives to deadly force, on people who have been pepper-sprayed, pregnant women, those threatening to commit suicide, children younger than 7, or people older than 70 "unless the encounter rises to the level of a deadly force situation," the policy states.

There are 163 law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania that use Tasers. The state police are still evaluating them.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9671 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9671
Police Chief Anthany Beatty said his department will still use the department's Tasers, which stun with a jolt of electricity, because "they've been effective, and they do work."

Lexington bought about 100 Tasers, at $900 each, in July.

Lexington police reports show that during the past year, officers have used their Tasers at least 69 times. In comparison, officers used their batons on eight occasions, the reports state.

Tasers have become controversial. The gun sends a 50,000-volt jolt into the central nervous system, immobilizing the target. The shock usually lasts five seconds and can be re-sent at the officer's discretion.

Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle said it has been "a year of frustration" because people are not waiting for medical opinions before reaching conclusions about the weapon's safety.

"We've never said the technology was risk-free; but compared to other uses of force, it is the safer alternative," Tuttle said.

Amnesty International released a report this month that says there have been 103 Taser-related deaths in the United States and Canada in the past five years.

Beatty said his department started its moratorium before the release of Amnesty's report.

The chief said his command staff made the decision after he talked with other departments and spoke with officials from the city's risk-management and law departments.

"There are medical deaths that are not directly associated with the Taser, but until we know that factually and absolutely for sure, then we're going to hold off and keep the moratorium placed on purchases," Beatty said. "If the medical information says they shouldn't be used, we won't use them; but I'd be very surprised if that is the case, given the number of departments we have using them versus the number of deaths."

Albert Arena, a spokesman for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said 7,000 agencies out of 17,000 in the United States are using stun guns. He said there are at least 130,000 Tasers on the streets.

"We say more study needs to be done, but so does the Department of Defense and everyone else out there," he said. "We also don't feel there is enough data out there that says they should not be used."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9413 Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9413
The product liability lawsuit filed in Solano County Superior Court on behalf of the late Andrew Washington Sr.'s 2 1/2-year-old son, Andrew Jr., adds to the growing controversy about Taser stun guns. According to Amnesty International, 94 people have died in the United States and Canada after being shocked with stun guns by police. Amnesty is calling for a moratorium on Taser use until independent medical research resolves safety concerns. In Northern California, seven deaths after police Taser use have occurred since August, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Defendants Taser International ... knew that the Taser gun that caused (Washington's) death was defective in design, and that the defective design increased the risk of serious injury and death to persons in normal use of the gun,'' according to the lawsuit filed by Walnut Creek attorney on behalf of Washington's son.

The Vallejo Police Department is not a defendant in the lawsuit, because police may "have been misled by Taser to believe that this gun was safe.''

Andrew Washington Sr. died Sept. 16 after fleeing police following a minor accident in which he struck a parked car.

Officers chasing him on foot fired a Taser at Washington as he climbed a fence, causing him to collapse into a shallow canal. Police then zapped him about five more times "because when the Taser was not on, Washington appeared to be trying to crawl away,'' according to a coroner's report. Officers noticed the man was having trouble breathing and called an ambulance, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

An autopsy report ruled Washington's death an accident, caused by "cardiac arrest associated with excitement during (the) police chase and cocaine and alcohol intoxication, occurring shortly after Tasering.''

Dr. Arnold Josselson, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy, has said that he could neither rule the stun gun in or out as a contributing factor in the death, because it would leave no physical evidence.

Washington had a 0.19 percent blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal threshold for a drunken driven violation and a "minimal'' amount of cocaine in his system, those factors would not have killed an otherwise healthy young man.

"It was the Taser that killed the decedent in this case,'' the attorney said. "He was a very healthy young man. His arteries were not clogged on autopsy. His heart was not enlarged."

"There were no other factors that could have caused this death, but for the electrical shock to the heart that was delivered by the Taser," he added.

Tasers fire twin metal barbs that emit a 50,000-volt charge into a suspect, causing them to collapse from loss of muscular control.

Taser International did not respond to requests from comment Monday. Previously, company officials have maintained that the stun gun does not generate enough electrical current to disrupt the heart. Instead, Taser has blamed deaths on suspects who have drug or alcohol intoxication or underlying health or psychological problems that often trigger death during the physical exertion of a police confrontation.

But medical experts say Taser ignores established medical evidence that shows that people intoxicated with drugs and people who are fleeing have heightened levels of adrenaline in their systems and may be more vulnerable to having their heart rhythms disrupted by a Taser shock. This could trigger a potentially fatal chaotic state known as ventricular fibrillation, causing cardiac arrest.

"I've seen the Taser folks say, 'Oh, the guy had cocaine in his system, that's the reason for his death, ''said Dr. Zian Tseng, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at UCSF who specializes in heart-rhythm disorders. "Well, someone with cocaine in their system is also much more prone to a Taser induced cardiac arrest.''

"They cannot say that it's safe in my opinion,'' he added.

Taser says company studies where researchers shock anesthetized pigs confirm the stun gun can't trigger erratic heart beats. Tseng said knocked-out pigs won't have the same panicked adrenaline response of a suspect clashing with police.

"So what can you say: It was safe on anesthetized pigs," Tseng added. "It's far from a real world test.'']]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9395 Wed, 23 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9395
In a separate ruling, the prosecutor said the use of the Taser against Hyde was justified.

The medical examiner says other factors in the man's death include his use of methamphetamine and the loss of blood from a cut suffered from a home break-in. When police arrived, Hyde said he was the devil and threatened to kill the officers and the homeowner.

Tasers fire metal barbs attached by a wire that deliver 50,000 volts of electrical charge for five seconds. The idea is to temporarily immobilize suspects so that officers can gain control.

Tasers have also been in the news in Lucas County. Sheriff James Telb suspended his department's use of Tasers, just weeks after a man was shocked nine times by authorities and died within minutes of the final jolt. Jeffrey Turner, 41, of Toledo, died Jan. 31 after he was shocked five times by Toledo police and four times a few hours later by sheriff's correction officers at the jail.

Lucas County Sheriff James Telb said that he also wants a policy requiring any suspect shocked by a Taser to pass a medical examination at a hospital before being booked into the county jail.

"Many times we do that now," said Richard Keller of the Lucas County Sheriff's Department. "If an inmate is injured when they come in here prior to booking we have our nurses look at them and if it's a medical decision, we still have the arresting officer take that person to a medical facility. But I think that's the direction, way we're gonna go."

Telb said the device will not be used until he receives more results from safety studies. He said his officers have used Tasers about a dozen times since they went into service last year.

Telb said no policy violations were committed in Turner's death and no administrative or criminal charges would be filed by his office. The Lucas County coroner's office said the cause of death remains inconclusive pending the results of toxicology tests and further investigation.

The family of Jeffery Turner reacted strongly about the new procedures in Lucas County concerning Tasers. Turner's brother Shawn Turner said the new policy is a step in the right direction but it's two weeks too late and more can be done. "I think [Sheriff Telb] should have pulled those Tasers immediately instead of waiting two more weeks," said Shawn.

Shawn told News 11 he's done research on Taser-related deaths around the country and in the world. He says he's done some math about his brother being hit nine times at 50,000 volts a pop. "When I see that, that's over the limit, that's extreme. That's excessive, that's ridiculous," he told us.

Shawn likens the sheriff's new policy on Tasers to recalls on bad cars. "Now it's a problem, so they bring it to the public and recall the car. Just like these people, these people are dying, too many people dying in a short amount of time. I think we have a problem now we should look into it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Toledo Police Department will continue using Tasers at least for the time being. Police Chief Mike Navarre tells us he has sent two letters out, one to the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the other to the attorney general. Both letters ask for an independent study into the safety of Tasers. The department has used Tasers at least 225 times to subdue suspects in Toledo.

Amnesty International said in a report last November that at least 74 people have died in the United States and Canada in the past four years after being shocked with Tasers. The manufacturer, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International Inc., has said the device is among the safest ways to subdue a violent person.

Taser International, Inc. has said all along it has done extensive research, its products are safe and have never been the sole reason someone has died.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9368 Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9368
Tasers, which jolt suspects with 50,000 volts of electricity, are responsible for the deaths of 85 people across the country, according to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an Atlanta-based civil rights group.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police is asking police agencies nationwide to reconsider their use of Taser guns.

More Metro Detroit police agencies are using the device. Late last year, Shelby Township, Utica, Sterling Heights and Center Line all were considering new purchases of Taser guns.

Police in many other area communities use them, saying they work as both a physical and psychological deterrent to violence and that they have had no problems with the guns.

"My guys think it's one of the best tools to come along in a long time," said Sgt. David Wenzel of the Rochester Police Department.

Rochester officers used a Taser last year on a suspect who struggled with them as they tried to take him into custody, Wenzel said.

Officers used the device so they could get handcuffs on him. They asked the man if he would behave when his cuffs were removed.

"He said, 'I'll do anything you ask as long as you don't use (the Taser gun) again," Wenzel said.

Taser International Inc., which makes the stun guns, has said they are among the safest ways to subdue a violent person.

But all communities don't embrace the weapons. Two years ago, facing pressure from groups such as the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, the Detroit City Council chose not to arm officers with the weapons.

Coalition spokesman Ron Scott said he was pleased to hear that the Tasers are receiving more scrutiny. He said more research is necessary to ensure safety.

"There needs to be more study done on the effects of Tasers," Scott said.

"There are a lot of things to be concerned about, including the disruption of pacemakers or proper training for police officers."

Deputies in Toledo suspended their use of stun guns after the death of a suspect who had been shocked nine times.

Lucas County Sheriff James Telb said Wednesday the department will not use Tasers again until more safety studies are conducted.

Last week, a 54-year-old man died in Chicago after a stun gun was used on him, and a teenager was seriously injured in a separate incident.

In July, Plymouth Township police shot 36-year-old Robert Steven VanBuren to death at a day care center after he had been shot at least once by a Taser gun.

Barbara VanBuren contends the Taser shots stunned her son, causing him to fall over. Police said he was grabbing for an officer's belt.

"Those Tasers I don't believe do their job," she said. "And they're not doing their job anywhere in the country. They're just terrible, terrible, terrible."

The VanBuren family has filed a $65 million lawsuit against Plymouth Township, charging negligence in Steven VanBuren's death.

Departments seeking funding for Tasers often tout the device's non-lethal impact, as well as the savings from reduced insurance premiums.

"Our insurance carrier strongly encourages us to use Tasers and other nonlethal devices," said Charles Craft, Troy police chief. "In some cases, they'll reimburse the costs of the Tasers to departments to encourage their use."

Nearly all of the 137 officers employed in Troy carry Tasers or keep them in their patrol vehicles

"Our policy, in cases where Tasers or chemical spray is used, calls for us to bring in a medical responder," he said. "They'll remove the probes and check the person out to make sure there are no complications."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9359 Thu, 17 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9359 Lucas County Sheriff James Telb says the department won't use Tasers again until more safety studies are conducted.

A 41-year-old man died last month after he was shocked five times by police and four times by guards at the jail. His cause of death hasn't been released yet.

Telb says no policy violations were committed in the man's death and no charges will be filed.

Taser International Incorporated, which makes the stun guns, has said they're among the safest ways to subdue a violent person. However, last week, a Chicago man died after a stun gun was used on him and a teen-ager was seriously injured in a separate incident.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9323 Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9323
Police said they used the stun gun when they were unable to restrain an unruly 54-year-old man who was fighting with officers at a high-rise building on the city's North Side Thursday afternoon.

The man went into cardiac arrest and later died, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Authorities did not identify the man Thursday evening.

Police Cmdr. Michael Chasen said the man was trying to kick and bite officers and threatening to infect them with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"'I'm going to kill you with my blood,'" Chasen quoted the man as saying.

The death came the same day an official with the Department of Children and Family Services sued the city and a police officer who used a stun gun on a 14-year-old boy on Monday. The boy, who also went into cardiac arrest, remained hospitalized Thursday night.

Police Superintendent Philip Cline defended the officers' use of the weapons at a news conference but said the department will delay plans to increase its number of stun guns.

"We remain confident that the use of Tasers in Chicago has made our streets, our citizens and our police safer," Cline said.

In Monday's incident, authorities were called to a group home after the teen injured his hand in a violent outburst. The Taser gun was used after he teen lunged at an officer, police said.

But Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris said reports indicated the boy had already calmed down and was sitting on a couch when police arrived.

Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's law department, said she could not comment on the lawsuit because city officials hadn't had a chance to review it.

Harris did not return a call seeking comment Thursday about the lawsuit or the teen's condition.

The stun weapons temporarily paralyze people with a 50,000-volt jolt delivered by two barbed darts whose current can penetrate clothing.

The Chicago City Council has voted to look into police alternatives to Taser guns in response to concerns about the stun guns' safety.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9216 Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9216
Milton Salazar, 29, of Flagstaff, died July 23, two days after a struggle with Mesa police officers attempting to arrest him for throwing candy at a store clerk. He was shocked twice during the scuffle, according to police reports.

The autopsy report comes as Taser's stock price is on a roller-coaster ride. It declined sharply after last week's announcements that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general were looking into Taser's safety claims and an end-of-year sale.

However, in the past two days, Taser stock has climbed with reports supporting the stun gun's safety. The latest of those was an article published in the Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology Journal concerning a cardiac safety study. The stock price rose 22 percent Thursday, closing at $20.80.

The cardiac study, outlined in a company news release, reports that tests on large pigs showed the stun gun would not cause a cardiac arrest. It relied on a simulated model that fired 6,000 volts of electricity instead of the one used by police departments that fires 50,000 volts.

Authors of the study, two of whom work for Taser, say the simulated model matched the characteristics of the stun gun used by police.

Taser has enjoyed remarkable success, going from a family business that went from the brink of bankruptcy to the nation's largest supplier of stun guns. It has armed nearly one-fifth of America's law enforcement agencies with Tasers and has made millions for investors in the past three years.

Police departments across the country credit the stun gun with reducing the number of police shootings, suspect injuries and lawsuits.

Detective Tim Gaffney, Mesa Police spokesman, said the autopsy report on Salazar's death will not affect the way his department uses Tasers.

"Taser has a long history of reducing injuries to police and suspects," he said.

Regarding Salazar's death, the company released this statement:

"Taser International is always concerned when a death tragically occurs in custody and mourns any loss of life. We have reviewed the autopsy reports of Milton Salazar. . . . (T)hese are consistent with other unfortunate sudden in-custody deaths where Taser devices are not deployed. We do know that Tasers continue to prevent numerous injuries and save lives every day."

Taser maintains that other factors were to blame for the deaths, including heart problems and drug addiction. They say the deaths would have occurred with or without use of the Taser.

For years, Taser said, no medical examiner had linked the stun gun to a death. But an investigation by The Arizona Republic this summer found those claims were based on autopsy reports that the Scottsdale-based company did not possess.

Using computer searches; autopsy, police and media reports; and Taser's own records, The Republic has identified 90 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike since September 1999.

Of those, medical examiners in nine cases have cited the gun as a cause or contributing factor in someone's death. In three other cases, medical examiners could not rule out the stun gun as a cause.

Maricopa County Medical Examiner Phillip Keen said Thursday that Taser was one of several factors that contributed to Salazar's death. He called it "part of a triggering event."

"The stress from the physical struggle and Taser stun-gun injuries is (a) contributing factor," the autopsy report reads.

The cause of Salazar's death was listed as excited delirium due to cocaine intoxication. "Excited delirium" involves suspects whose adrenaline levels spike during exertion, including struggles with police, causing cardiac arrest.

According to police, Salazar was throwing rocks at motorists on Dobson Road, then entered a convenience store and threw candy bars at the clerk. When an officer tried to arrest him, Salazar lay on the floor with his hands underneath his body and refused to obey commands.

Officer Cynthia Stull said that she shocked Salazar but that it had no effect. She said Salazar continued to kick and yell. Another officer was able to get a handcuff around one of Salazar's hands before Stull shocked Salazar a second time. Stull said that she struggled to put Salazar into handcuffs and that when she rolled him over, he "immediately turned white."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9170 Wed, 05 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9170
Taser International, the device's manufacturer, says stun guns, which typically emit 50,000 volts of electricity, can instantly incapacitate a person more safely than police batons or pepper spray.

But cardiologists are concerned that, at just the right moment in the heartbeat cycle, Tasers can trigger a potentially deadly state known as ventricular fibrillation during which the heart writhes uncontrollably.

"I think they are dangerous," said Dr. Zian Tseng, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. "If you are shocking someone repeatedly, it becomes a bit like Russian roulette. At some point, you may hit that vulnerable period."

Cardiologists say people who have underlying heart problems, or who are using certain drugs, are more vulnerable to the condition.

Executives at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International say they're aware of the heart's vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation, but insist their devices are safe.

"The current delivered by a Taser is too weak to induce ventricular fibrillation," said Mark Kroll, a Taser board member.

On Sunday, Gregory Saulsbury, 30, of Pacifica suffered a heart attack and died after police shocked him with a Taser while trying to subdue him at his family's home. His family has retained Oakland civil rights attorney, John Burris, to represent them.

Pacifica police have released little information about events leading up to Saulsbury's death. The police department and San Mateo County District Attorney's office are conducting a joint investigation into the incident.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9171 Wed, 05 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9171
The family of 30-year-old Greg Saulsbury, who died at Seton Medical Center after getting shocked at least once by Pacifica police with a Taser gun Sunday night.

Saulsbury's actual cause of death and its connection to the Taser shock is still unknown an autopsy is scheduled to take place today.

Pacifica police claim Saulsbury was acting combative and resisting arrest in his grandmother's home on the 400 block of Inverness Drive in Pacifica. Police Capt. Jim Tasa said officers responded to a 911 medical call and entered the house to secure the area for medical personnel. However, he did not elaborate on any details of the incident, such as how many times Saulsbury was tased.

"It's unfortunate obviously, but we are working in conjuncture with the San Mateo County District Attorney's office to make sure we get all the facts straight and verify exactly what happened," Tasa said.

Saulsbury's grandmother, Clarice Patterson, told The Examiner Tuesday that an ambulance never arrived at the house, and that against her will, at least seven officers pushed past her into the house just before midnight Sunday.

"They were just wrong they came in like vigilantes, like they were hyped up on something," Patterson said. "They didn't have a reason."

Family members told The Associated Press that Saulsbury was acting paranoid and irrational and was possibly on drugs, however Patterson said her grandson was just sick and simply lying down in a back room when officers arrived. Patterson said police shocked Saulsbury several times with the Taser while trying to arrest him, and that his father, Gregory Saulsbury Sr., was also tased when he attempted to intervene on his son's behalf. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9172 Tue, 04 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/9172
But Cincinnati police won't have to change their policy on taser use especially against children after a council committee made that decision at an unusual hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Police policy says don't tase anyone under age seven or over age 70-years-old.

City council Chris Smitherman wants to prohibit tasing children between the ages of seven-years and 10-years-old.

In an effort to try to prove his point he had two of his four children testify before city council's Law and Public Safety committee.

"It is not right for police officers to be able to tase children because they might hurt the children," said Smitherman's son, Christopher.

"Police might even kill young children like me by tasing them," said Smitherman's eight-year-old son.

But a spokesperson for the Cincinnati Police department had a different stance on the issue.

"There have been no taser deployments against anyone under the age of 12," said Lt. Col. Rick Janke, of the Cincinnati police department.

"There was one 12-year-old who was armed with a knife, who was tasered and that situation was successfully resolved," said Janke.

"I wanted to tell you that I am very scared to get tased," said Malcolm Smitherman, Christopher's younger brother.

"I don't want my brothers or my friends, or children like me, to get tased," said the six-year-old.

"I would suggest to you that there's no evidence and no indication that Cincinnati Police abuse their power either when addressing using tasers on adults or younger age," said Janke.

Smitherman's wife also said she's worried about her children's safety.

"I have one child who has a heart murmur," said Pamela Smitherman. "If he were to be tased with 50,000 volts of electricity, I don't know what that would do for his quality of life or his life overall."

Assistant Chief Janke said the department used tasers 629 times last year in making nearly 38,000 arrests.

That cut down on injuries to officers and suspects.

"Good judgement, good training, good people, good police officers," said Janke. "That's who exercise these options. We don't have any evidence that these tasers are being used inappropriately."

The law committee voted 3-2 to reject Smitherman's plan.

David Pepper, John Cranley and Jim Tarbell voted no.

Smitherman and Laketa Cole voted for the plan.

Smitherman has also sent a letter to City Manager Valerie Lemmie, criticizing some recent comments she had made.

Last week, Lemmie said police continue to fully cooperate with a federal monitor overseeing two police reform agreements signed in 2002.

That contradicts monitor Saul Green who filed a motion in court asking a federal judge to find the police department in breach of the two agreements.

The judge has not ruled on the motion.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8933 Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8933
A Los Angeles County coroner said Taser could not be ruled out in the 2002 death of Johnny Lozoya, who was shocked by police when he fought with hospital staff attempting to help him following a seizure.

"One cannot exclude the Taser causing above damage to the tissues, specifically the heart," Deputy Medical Examiner Louis Pena wrote in an autopsy report. "Thus the manner of death could not be determined." advertisement

The autopsy of the 34-year-old Gardena man is the latest in a series of medical reports obtained by the Arizona Republic, which has identified 77 deaths following a police Taser strike since 1999.

The autopsy appears to contradict previous published reports by Taser International, the stun gun's Scottsdale manufacturer, which blamed Lozoya's death on a heart attack from cocaine intoxication.

"Taser not a cause," according to a company report touting the weapon's safety.

Taser says the stun gun, which has been sold to more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies as an alternative to deadly force, has never caused a death or serious injury.

Taser officials on Monday maintained that Taser played no part in Lozoya's death.

"After reviewing this case, it is similar to other in-custody deaths in which Taser technology was not deployed," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. "Taser International is always concerned when a death in custody tragically occurs."

Of the 77 cases, The Republic has so far examined 29 autopsy reports. Medical examiners have cited Taser as a cause or contributing factor in six cases and said the gun could not be ruled out in two other previous cases.

Lozoya died on July 20, 2002 after police found him lying on the ground having a seizure.

Gardena police reports show that the partially clad Lozoya was running on a convalescent home's roof. Shortly afterward, witnesses reported that he was running through traffic and that he jumped on a car.

Police found him on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Officers called paramedics, who took him to the hospital, where he became combative.

"Officers used a non-lethal weapon (Taser) to subdue the decedent," the autopsy report stated. "He went into full arrest shortly thereafter."

Although Lozoya was resuscitated, he later died.

The autopsy report shows that Lozoya died of hypoxic encephalopathy, a lack of oxygen to the brain, following cardiac arrest. The medical examiner noted on the report that Lozoya's injuries were caused by unknown factors, cocaine and Taser use.

Tuttle says Lozoya's death could not be related to the Taser because he died several minutes after being shocked.

"With the 11 minute or greater time elapse between the exposure of the Taser and Lozoya's collapse, there is no plausible cardiovascular link between the Taser use and this tragic event," Tuttle said.

For years, Taser officials claimed that no autopsy or medical examiner ever cited the stun gun as a factor in a death.

But The Republic found that Taser never had copies of autopsy reports and didn't start collecting them until April. The company also omitted cases linking the stun gun to deaths from reports to shareholders and the public.

Taser officials now acknowledge autopsy reports linking the stun gun to deaths but question their accuracy, saying coroners do not have the expertise to determine if Tasers have caused deaths.

They blame the deaths on other factors, including drug addictions and pre-existing health problems.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8915 Wed, 24 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8915
The incident, which took place Nov. 17 in South Miami-Dade County after the teen was caught driving a stolen car, prompted a police brutality complaint on Monday. Police said the teen was Larue Stokes III of Homestead.

While the police statement confirmed Stokes' allegations that he was zapped several times while on the ground it did not say when he was handcuffed. Stokes claimed an unidentified female detective zapped him after the restraints were placed on his wrists.

In their account of the incident, police said the use of the Taser, which delivers a 50,000-volt charge, was justified. According to their statement, detectives chased Stokes and two others after the three bailed out of a stolen car near Southwest 236th Street and 127th Avenue. Stokes ran into some woods, ignoring commands to stop.

The woman detective fired her Taser at him, but the two electrical probes that carry the charge didn't make a connection. She reloaded and fired again, this time striking the teen in his chest, according to the police account.

Stokes ''was ordered to place his hands behind his back, but refused and continued to resist,'' the police statement said. ''Again he was ordered to place his hands behind his back. ''He yelled an obscenity at the officers and attempted to crawl farther into the bushes, the report said.

Police said Stokes was 'Tased at least two more times before he complied with the officers' demands to stop resisting.''

Other discrepancies emerged between Stokes' version and the police version.

Stokes, in an interview with The Herald on Monday, said he was fired upon after a male officer tackled him. He said he was lying motionless on his side when the officer instructed his female partner to use the weapon.

Stokes' father said Tuesday he didn't find the police account credible, and he denied his son didn't respect officers' commands.

''How are you going to be shot in the chest while you're running away?'' said Larue Stokes Sr.

The elder Stokes accused police of being overzealous in their use of the weapons.

''Ever since they got these toys, they don't want to use the skills they were given in law enforcement school,'' he said.

Stokes was charged with grand theft and resisting arrest without violence. Akebo Lover, 19, of Florida City, and an unidentified 17-year-old were also arrested.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8868 Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8868
Miami-Dade's police director defended the decision to shock a 6-year-old boy in October, saying the boy was threatening to hurt himself with a shard of glass.

But he said he can't defend the second incident in which a veteran officer used a 50,000-volt shock to subdue an apparently drunken 12-year-old girl who was playing hooky from school Nov. 5.

The officer said he fired the Taser gun after Silvana Gomez refused to stop, and began heading into traffic. In a statement, the officer said he fired for his safety and the girl's safety.

The electric probes hit the girl in the neck and lower back. She was treated and released into the custody of her mother.

"I felt like I couldn't breathe," Gomez said. "I'm underage, I haven't done nothing wrong, except skip school, which is something that everyone has done."

Some experts credit Taser guns with helping to cut down on incidents of police shootings.

The company that makes the stun guns claim they are safe for anyone over 60 pounds.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8871 Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8871
Ricardo Zaragoza and Gordon Rauch each were shot at least twice with 50,000 volt Tasers after they fought with Sacramento County sheriff's deputies. Zaragoza died last Monday and Rauch last year, but they are among a growing list of suspects taking medication or other drugs whose encounters with the weapons proved fatal.

Experts say the incidents prove the need for studying the effect of Tasers on sensitive people, including those taking prescription or illegal drugs.

"There's really almost no medical research examining this issue," Dr. Kathy Glatter told The Sacramento Bee. She is a University of California, Davis, Medical Center electrophysiologist, a cardiologist who specializes in heart rhythm disorders and sudden death.

"Many of those medicines can cause life-threatening heart rhythms, although it's rare, and they are generally considered safe," Glatter said. "But the combination perhaps in the wrong person could be lethal."

At least 76 people have died in the United States and Canada since 2001 after being shot with Tasers, says Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Colorado. Many were using stimulants, and at least six coroner's reports found Tasers were a contributing factor.

"The more deaths that are associated, the more that someone needs to be questioning and doing a very serious study," Silverstein said.

Officials at Arizona-based Taser International said the weapon has been vindicated.

"Several studies have stated the Taser is most likely not a contributing factor during the custody deaths," said spokesman Steve Tuttle.

But two September studies, one by the U.S. Department of Defense and the other by the British Columbia Office of Police Complaints, said more research and training are needed.

Amnesty International plans to release on Nov. 30 a report on Taser-related deaths in the U.S. The Canadian Police Research Center in Ottawa plans to release the results of its own study next spring.

"It's so important for the police to be tracking Taser use to show why they are using it and document the number of uses and certainly compare information on any tragic circumstances," said Jim Cessford, chairman of the advisory committee to the Canadian center and the chief constable of Delta, a city in British Columbia.

The U.S. National Institute of Justice is paying the International Association of Chiefs of Police to review law enforcement "use of force" policies, including the use of Tasers.

The two Sacramento County deaths won't change policies there, said a department spokesman. The department has purchased at least 584 Tasers since 2001. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8822 Sat, 06 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8822
Jon Merkle, 40, of Hallandale Beach, died on Sept. 20 after Officer Alfredo Matias used a Taser to subdue him. Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said the medical examiner told investigators Merkle had significant levels of cocaine in his system. The ME's report is expected to be released early next week.

Police say they are sure the Taser was not to blame.

''Based on all the information we have, we are very confident that the Taser was not the cause,'' said Sgt. Richard Gentry, who reviewed the case because he trains officers to use the Tasers. ``It was other medical factors.'']]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8680 Tue, 21 Sep 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8680
Glowczenski's sister Jean Griffin says her brother was tortured by the police who beat him and stunned him numerous times before he stopped breathing on February Fourth.

The family says it is suing Suffolk County and Southampton Village Police for 550 (M) million dollars. And they are launching a separate lawsuit for 570 (M) million dollars against Taser International Incorporated of Scottsdale, Arizona, which makes the stun gun.

The lawsuits were filed yesterday in U-S District Court in Central Islip.

The cout papers say the 35-year-old Glowczenski was shocked nine times with the 50-thousand volt Taser gun and he was beaten and hit with pepper spray before he died.

Attorney Thomas Spellman, who represents Southampton Village, says the death was not due to excessive force. Police say they were responding to a call about Glowczenski being irrational. Officers found him yelling on North Main Street, and in the attempt to quiet him he pushed down a female officer. That's when he was subdued.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8501 Thu, 09 Sep 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8501
The lawsuit, ammended Aug. 27 by Steve Borden, James' brother, charges 13 defendants in the wrongful death of James Borden.

James Borden died while being processed in the Monroe County jail Nov. 6, 2003 after he was arrested for violating the conditions of his probation.

James Borden was incoherent and disoriented when he was taken into custody against advice from EMS, which urged officers to seek medical attention for James Borden, according to police and EMS reports.

James Borden was then shocked three times by Officer David Shaw for being "uncombative and uncooperative," according to police reports.

In April, Sgt. Chuck Cohen, an Indiana State Police detective who investigated the case read testimony regarding Monroe County Sheriff's Corrections Officers Shaw and Chris Hutton.

Cohen testified that he concluded Borden was not a threat to himself or anyone else the evening of Nov. 6. Shaw shocked James Borden with an M26 taser gun that has 50,000 volts in each shock.

Steve Borden is seeking compensation "for the wrongful death of James Borden, who died as a direct result of being deprived of emergency medical attention and the defendants' use of excessive force against him," the suit alleges.

Steve Borden said the excessive force and the conflicting reports of how many shocks were administered to his brother don't add up.

"They reported that the taser gun trigger was used 11 times," Steve Borden said at a hearing in April. "I guess that is from that night. Shaw pulled the trigger 11 times, but the autopsy only shows three marks. But then it came out Thursday the trigger had been pulled 11 times."

John Potter, a Lawrence County Sheriff's deputy, who witnessed James Borden's death, told police Shaw seemed to be enjoying pulling the trigger on the taser.

"I think he was enjoying it," Potter told police during the investigation.

The suit claims "defendant Potter has said that when defendant Shaw tasered Mr. Borden that Shaw appeared to be smiling."

Hutton, who was also named in the suit, is recorded as having said "Defendant Shaw's use of force against Mr. Borden was excessive."

Steve Borden hopes the lawsuit will bring restrictions to taser guns and the excessive force they are used with. Steve Borden believes by naming TASER International Inc., in the suit, other people will not be subjected to the same fate as his brother.

"Taser international is selling lethal weapons, we think they need to be used in the right way for the right reasons," Steve Borden said. "They ought to have some set rule on tasers."

Borden cited two other recent taser-related lawsuits -- one in Indianapolis and one in South Bend.

"Tasers aren't good," said Troy Borden, James Borden's younger brother. "Tasers have cost our family a member. Tasers need to be put away until we look into it... we're still waiting to find out what happened."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8459 Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8459
Louis M. Powell filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greenville against the city, the police department and Chief Willie Johnson. He's seeking $750,000 in damages.

The defendants have denied that officers used excessive force.

The suit alleges that officers acted maliciously when they repeatedly used the stun gun on Powell, leaving seven permanent scars on his back and neck.

The defendants said officers used a Taser because Powell resisted attempts to arrest him on charges of public drunkenness, malicious damage and resisting arrest.

Their response to the lawsuit doesn't say how many times the Taser was used, but it says Powell refused medical attention.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8460 Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8460
Deputy Jennifer Sanderson found the man walking in the roadway on U.S. 92 about 10 p.m. Thursday, a sheriff's report said. He appeared to be intoxicated, and the deputy tried to guide him off the road.

The man, Jason Yeagley, attacked the deputy, striking her at least once and throwing away her handcuffs, the report said.

She shocked him once with her Taser, which is designed to subdue a suspect, but it had little effect. She shocked him a second time and managed to get him handcuffed.

When backup deputies arrived, they noticed that he was ''going into some type of medical distress,'' the report said.

An ambulance took him to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy Friday found no signs of medical problems or injuries to Yeagley's body, but the cause of death is pending toxicology tests, which can take several weeks, officials said.

Col. Gary Hester of the Sheriff's Office said that Sanderson's use of the Taser was justified, and that the final autopsy results will probably show that it was not the cause of death.

There have been other instances of people dying after being hit with a stun gun, but Hester told The News Chief newspaper in nearby Winter Haven that ``what you find in almost all of those cases is what precipitates their death has nothing to do with pepper spray or Tasers or restraining them. It's some pre-existing condition or it's drug-induced.'']]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8440 Wed, 25 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8440
The unidentified 27-year-old man was pronounced dead less than an hour after the incident, which started about 2:30 p.m. when the man jumped atop a police patrol car parked near Illini and 18th streets, Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force said.

Authorities have not determined how the man died, but a witness told investigators he may have been using cocaine, Force said.

"He was cognizant, yelling and struggling at the scene, and there was no indication there was anything wrong with him," Force said. "We have to let the Medical Examiner's Office do the autopsy, but we have no idea whether it was drugs or a pre-existing medical condition or a technique used during the arrest process."

Force gave the following account of the incident:

A sergeant and three officers in two separate vehicles were conducting surveillance for a drug investigation when the man, who was unrelated to the case, threw himself on the windshield of a patrol car and began yelling incoherently.

Officers followed the man as he walked away from the car and rounded a corner. When he spotted police, the man again ran toward the vehicle and jumped on the bumper before officers attempted to detain him.

The man pushed the officers and began to struggle, prompting an officer to deploy his stun gun.

Investigators believe the Taser was ineffective because one of the two probes missed the man, who was described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and 220 pounds.

Police then brought the struggling suspect to the ground and used a Taser twice on the man's leg.

The stun-gun shots apparently had no effect on the man, so a sergeant used a choke hold to temporarily knock the man unconscious and allow officers to handcuff him.

Seconds later, the man regained consciousness and continued struggling with officers, who summoned paramedics to evaluate him.

Paramedics took the man to Phoenix Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:15 p.m. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8410 Thu, 19 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8410
Dr. Brett Woodard said Teasley's heart and spleen were enlarged and his liver weighed twice as much as a normal one. The pathologist said Teasley also had hardening of the arteries and a constricted airway.

Teasley was arrested for disorderly conduct Monday afternoon.

"When [officers] uncuffed him, he became violent and attacked officers. To subdue him, they used the Taser," detention center director Bob Daly said.

Teasley stopped breathing a short time later. He was transported to Anderson Area Medical Center, where deputy coroner Charlie Bozeman said a preliminary autopsy showed Teasley died of cardiac arrest.

The Taser sends 50,000 volts through a person's body.

Woodard said the Taser's shock alone did not cause Teasley's death.

"We don't carry firearms in a correction facility because we're always outnumbered and the inmates would take the firearms from officers," Daly said.

Officers at the detention center have carried the Taser for four years, and said they have not had any problems previously.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8318 Fri, 06 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8318
It is the sixth death that an Arizona Republic investigation has linked to the stun gun. The Scottsdale manufacturer claims that Tasers have never caused a death or injury.

LeRoy Riddick, Alabama regional medical examiner, reported in a June 28, 2002, autopsy that Clever Craig Jr., 46, died of a heart attack during an episode of delirium "following electrical shock from Taser while resisting arrest."

It marks the fourth case in which a medical examiner has cited Taser as a cause or a contributing factor in the death of a suspect in police custody. In two other cases, medical examiners said the stun gun could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

Officials with Taser International Inc. said other medical experts who reviewed Craig's case this week found Taser played no part in his death.

"We haven't seen anything that fits electrical death," Taser Chief Executive Officer Rick Smith said. The report, he said, "is more descriptive in nature than causal."

The Taser stun gun is marketed as an alternative to deadly force and is used by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies, including every major police department in the Valley.

For years, Taser has cited autopsy reports and medical examiner findings as proof that the gun never caused an injury or death.

The Republic found that Taser did not possess those autopsy reports. Instead, it relied on anecdotal information from police and media accounts.

In a report on Craig's death, Taser officials stated that he died of heart disease.

"Oral discussions with (police) departmental personnel indicate cause of death was cardiovascular bivalve heart disease," Taser reported. "One valve was bad. With the struggle, the cardiovascular collapse caused the death. No final report available."

Smith has rejected the findings in each of the cases linking Taser to a death, saying medical examiners are generalists who don't have the expertise to examine fatalities following a shock from a stun gun. He said deaths would have occurred with or without the stun gun, a result of pre-existing health conditions and drug intoxication. Unlike the other five cases, Craig's autopsy revealed no traces of opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines or cocaine.

Taser did not have a copy of Craig's autopsy until The Republic provided it this week.

The newspaper has identified 44 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike from September 1999 to March 2004. Using public-records laws, the newspaper has requested autopsy reports for each case and has obtained 23.

Riddick wrote that when Craig was shocked, the man was suffering from excited delirium, a state in which suspects work themselves into a frenzy during confrontations with police. Riddick concluded that the death was a homicide. He could not be reached for comment this week.

Craig, a paranoid schizophrenic, died June 28, 2002.

Relatives called 911 around 4 a.m. to report that Craig was acting strangely. When police arrived, they found the 6-foot, 200-pound Craig holding a barbell. Officers ordered him to drop the weight. He refused, and they shocked him twice in about 40 seconds. According to police, Craig struggled for five minutes after being shocked. When officers handcuffed him, he was unresponsive.

Two months ago, a Mobile, Ala., grand jury determined officers were justified in firing their Tasers.

Doctors asked to review the case by Taser said the fact that Craig struggled after being shocked shows the stun gun did not contribute to his death.

"This is conclusive evidence that he was not in ventricular fibrillation after receiving the Taser discharge," Wayne McDaniel and Robert Stratbucker wrote in an Aug. 4 report.

Edward Freelander, department of pathology chairman at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, questioned Riddick's autopsy.

"Dr. Riddick's lack of attention to the existing, extremely serious heart disease is very strange," Freelander wrote in an Aug. 3 report. "Despite some strange language, there is nothing to suggest that the Taser fragmented the heart or that the current went anywhere near it to cause a rhythm problem."

Craig's relatives and friends are convinced that the Taser is to blame.

"It triggered a heart attack," said Lee Pease of Mobile, who is married to Craig's ex-wife.

An Alabama state trooper for 26 years, Pease knows Tasers are popular with law enforcement officers. But he doesn't trust the stun gun.

"I don't think there has been enough training on it," he said. "I certainly support the police but this I don't know."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8292 Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8292
Authorities are investigating the death of the man who collapsed after being handcuffed following a scuffle with a roommate and officers at a home southeast of Las Vegas.

Police say they were called to a report of someone acting crazy, and shocked the man with a Taser to try to incapacitate him during a struggle.

The death reopens debate about the use of the weapon, which police say provides an alternate to more lethal force.

In June, the Clark County Coroner ruled the use of a Taser was a contributing factor in the death of a 26-year-old man in police custody.

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young has promised an investigation of the use of Tasers, which the department began using in April 2003.

Tasers two small barbs that are connected to wires that send 50,000 volts of electricity into the body. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8319 Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8319 Tasers are an electrical stun gun that give off a sudden charge of 50-thousand volts. Considered a non-lethal weapon, they are becoming a standard for law agencies across the country.
However, nationwide more than 50 deaths have been linked to Tasers.

A Jacksonville man said he suffered serious injury Sunday night, after a Jacksonville police officer stunned him with a Taser.

"I blacked out and next thing I know I was on the ground with blood everywhere," said 21-year-old LaDonald Alexander. LaDonald was pulled over Sunday night after driving on the wrong side of the road. His car was searched and then the police said an altercation began on a side street near Lincoln Park in Jacksonville.

LaDonald said he was grabbed by an officer and jerked away, as he turned to walk away from the scene, he said he was tased from behind by an officer less than 4 feet away.

"It was just a shock, everything just went through my body and my body just locked up," he said.

LaDonald said his body went airborne before falling and hitting the ground. He suffered severe cuts and scrapes to his face and hands. The most serious of his injuries was a punctured kidney. He said his doctor told him that was the direct result of a taser barb that landed on his lower back.

"They took me back to the police station and I went to the restroom I was urinating blood so they brought me back up here," he said.

In a statement to KLTV, Bill Tackett, the Jacksonville City Manager said, "...(the officer) had no alternative but to use the Taser. The community should feel proud that officers are out on the streets making them safe for the rest of us."

KLTV spoke to the Jacksonville Police Chief, Mark Johnson, who also said the officer was forced to use the Taser on Mr. Alexander.

LaDonald said the force of the Taser gun is more powerful than most people think.
"It's very serious, cause to do some damage like that, it was very painful, I can tell you that right now," he said.
LaDonald said his doctor told him the puncture to his kidney could heal on its own or last for the rest of the life. Now, he and his family have contacted an attorney. They plan to file a lawsuit against the Jacksonville Police Department.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8259 Mon, 26 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8259
As 47-year-old James Borden hits the ground, officer David Shaw is shocking him with a 50,000-volt Taser stun gun.

According to medical records, Shaw used the Taser at least six times before Borden died.

This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The coroner, Dr. Roland Kohr, called the Taser shock partly responsible for Borden's death. He found that Borden had heart disease and toxic levels of two drugs, but that the stress from the Taser is what pushed him off edge.

"The application of the Taser was the trigger factor which stressed an already damaged heart to the point that it went into cardiac arrest," says Kohr. "The Taser is what triggered his heart attack."

Kohr's autopsy has sent its own shockwaves because it directly contradicts safety claims made by the company.

"The Taser is not involved and has not caused a death," says Taser CEO Rick Smith.

Smith remains adamant the weapon has never been blamed for a death, even in the face of Kohr's ruling and even as the number of Taser-related fatalities has now passed 50.

"I rely on the advice of medical experts who have told me there is absolutely no basis to conclude the Taser contributed to this man's death," says Smith.

In all its public statements, Taser Corp. tells investors and the police agencies that buy the weapon that Taser has never caused a death. However, CBS News first reported more than three months ago how an Indiana autopsy found that Taser was a contributing factor in the Borden death.

Yet, on Taser's Web site, where the company keeps a list of the fatalities and all the official findings that exonerate the weapon, you won't find the opinion from Kohr.

Every other time a medical examiner has ruled in its favor, the company includes it in a grid on its Web site. But Kohr's findings were left out.

Asked why, Smith says, "They were disputed by our medical experts who read them and thought they were inaccurate."

Nationwide, the Taser is more popular than ever. Police believe it saves lives by ending confrontations short of gunfire. But Kohr, who agrees the Taser is generally safe, believes that on the wrong person, it's more deadly than the company claims. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8236 Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8236
That assertion has generated record sales for Scottsdale's Taser International Inc., which markets its guns as alternatives to deadly force and says its goal is to arm every police officer in America.

But an Arizona Republic investigation reveals that Taser's claims are based on autopsy reports the company never possessed.

For years, Taser officials cited these reports as proof that the stun guns never caused "injury or death to another human being." Now, officials acknowledge they never had those autopsy reports and didn't start collecting them until April.

The Republic's review of autopsies and interviews with medical examiners found Tasers have been linked to at least five deaths.

Medical examiners in three cases involving suspects who died in police custody cited Tasers as a cause or a factor in the deaths. In two other cases, Tasers could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

These deaths raise questions about a weapon police routinely use on drunks, shoplifters, mentally ill people and others who refuse to obey commands. In South Tucson in May, one was used to subdue a 9-year-old girl who police feared might harm herself.

To promote the guns' safety, Taser officials created a report detailing 42 cases of people who died after being shot by a Taser. They say the stun guns were cleared each and every time.

"It is not Taser International that says Taser is not to blame," Taser Chief Executive Officer Rick Smith said in an April news release. "It is the medical examiner's opinion in every single case across the country."

Taser is the outgrowth of a device called the Air Taser, developed by Rick and Tom Smith, working out of the Tucson garage of Jack Cover, developer of the original Taser in the 1970s.

The company said its special report is based on medical examiners' findings and includes "a summary of all the autopsy reports." The company actually relied on media accounts and anecdotal information from police for most of its analysis.

The company's report does not include details suggesting a Taser could have played a role in someone's death. The report also omits published findings of a medical examiner who concluded that electrical shocks from a Taser contributed directly to the death of a man in an Indiana jail.

When presented with cases linking Tasers to deaths, Smith said the medical examiners got it wrong and dismissed their reports.

Smith said medical examiners are generalists who don't have the expertise needed to analyze deaths involving the stun gun. And they often "throw everything" into autopsy reports as a way to cover themselves so they can't be accused of missing something later on.

"There is no penalty for a coroner to be overly broad," Smith said. "These guys deal with the whole broad spectrum of what can go wrong in the human body. Am I going to expect that they are going to be right 100 percent of the time? No."

Smith said his company's report presents the "big picture" of Taser-related deaths. He said it proves that Tasers are not to blame and that actual autopsies are not needed to summarize each case.

"I know in my heart what the truth is," Smith said. "Taser hasn't killed any of these people."

Taser zealously guards its nonlethal reputation. From the moment someone dies after being shot with a Taser, company officials respond with prepared statements, statistical research, medical reports and assurances that the stun gun is not to blame. They said Tasers have saved more than 4,000 lives since 1999.

Often, company officials point to a person's pre-existing conditions and insist the person would have died with or without being shocked by a Taser.

But relatives of those who have died in Taser-related incidents said the company rushes its defense, predicting the outcome of cases before investigations are finished.

Kelly Deitrich, whose brother, Raymond Siegler, died in February after being shot by police with a Taser in a Minneapolis group home for mentally ill people, said Taser's explanations are misleading.

"That is the polite way to say it," she said. "The other way to say it is they are full of you-know-what."

Fatal police shootings in major cities have sent many departments scrambling for alternatives to deadly force.

Stun guns had been around for decades but were distrusted or dismissed by police because they lacked stopping power.

But in 1999, Taser introduced the Advanced M26, promising instant incapacitation without injury; its 50,000-volt charge overrides the central nervous system, forces muscle contraction and is virtually impossible to shrug off.

Officers who volunteered to get zapped by the new guns became instant believers and instant buyers. By 2002, annual sales jumped 44 percent.
Demand for Tasers has sent the company's stock price soaring. The shares, which traded for less than $2 just two years ago, reached $60 in April. The stock took a drubbing later in April after safety questions were raised by media reports, falling back into the mid-20s. It has climbed to $40 since as the company has announced new contracts with law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military.

Medical examiners in different parts of the country have linked Tasers to at least five deaths.

The Republic, using computer searches, media accounts, police reports and Taser's own records, identified 44 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike from September 1999 to March 2004.

Using public-records laws, the Republic requested autopsy reports for those 44 cases and has received 22.

The autopsy of James Borden, who died Nov. 6 after being shot with a Taser for initially refusing to pull up his pants in an Indiana county jail, listed electrical shock as one of three causes of death.

Forensic pathologist Roland Kohr said Borden, 47, died of a heart attack due to an enlarged heart, pharmacologic intoxication and electrical shocks.

Taser included Borden's case in its report on the 42 deaths, but the company left out the part about electrical shock.

Under the heading "medical examiners report," Taser said the coroner ruled Borden's death accidental, "the result of his enlarged heart, drug intoxication and a heart attack."

Rather than the actual Nov. 7 autopsy report, Taser took its description of Borden's death from a February article in the Indiana University student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student.

Smith said it was a mistake not to include the electrical-shock finding in Taser's report. He promised to immediately correct the company's Web site to reflect all of the medical examiner's findings. But weeks later, the reference remains unchanged.

Smith still challenges the autopsy's validity.

"(The medical examiner) threw in the kitchen sink. He threw it all in there. We think, frankly, that was irresponsible," Smith said. "I don't believe the autopsy is legitimate."

Dr. William Anderson, a former deputy chief medical examiner in Orange County, Fla., reported that Taser shocks and cocaine contributed to the death of a man in 2002.

"We were looking at positional asphyxia," said pathologist William Anderson, who now works as a private forensic consultant in Orlando. "Taser probably got him in that situation."

Positional asphyxia refers to suffocation after being restrained. Anderson said Taser strikes likely made it hard for Jones to breathe.

Nine months after the death, county officials sought a second opinion. Dr. Cyril Wecht concluded the man died primarily of a cocaine overdose.

Anderson said he still thinks the Taser played a part in Jones' death. And he thinks the stun guns have contributed to other deaths.

"I can't for the life of me figure out why the company is resisting that (admission)," he said, adding that Taser officials go too far by insisting the gun has never killed.

Anderson said the guns can interrupt normal heart activity, especially in people prone to cardiac arrhythmia or who have low blood oxygen and are struggling to breathe.

Anderson acknowledged that Tasers are a valuable tool.

"It is safer than shooting someone with a gun," he said. "But you have 40 to 50 cases where people were shot with Taser and died. That's a little too much just to be coincidental."

Smith dismissed each of these cases as inconclusive. He said his company did not have a responsibility to include the entire medical examiners' findings in its report.

He said the only apparent pattern involves drugged suspects exerting all of their strength to fight police. At the end of the fight, the suspect's pulse goes weak and he dies.

"That's unfortunately the pattern of death, and we just don't see any correlation with Taser."

If anything, Smith said, Taser extends the life of those fighting with police because it instantly ends the struggle.

"It is safer to the person than allowing them to fight for another five minutes," he said. "Taser (prevents) people from exerting themselves to that point where they otherwise would have died."

Smith defends with statistics. He said 70,000 people have been voluntarily zapped with Tasers and 45,000 suspects have been shot by police, all without incident.

Some police departments have put Taser purchases on hold because of reports that the gun might be linked to deaths.

"We delayed until we can see what surfaces from some investigations," Fort Valley (Ga.) Police Chief Jan Cary said. "I want to get the smoke cleared and get a clean bill of health for Taser."

Cary said he was looking for a weapon more effective than pepper spray and less physical than a baton.

"Taser would meet the bill. But as we started to firm it up, then we started to get these unexplained deaths," he said.

Police officials in cities across America said there is little evidence that Tasers cause deaths.

They said the stun guns reduce injuries to suspects and officers, save cities millions in worker's compensation claims and liability lawsuits, and drastically reduce the number of officer-involved shootings.

In Phoenix, police report that a year after issuing Tasers to all patrol officers, police shootings dropped 54 percent, from 28 in 2002 to 13 last year, the lowest total since 1990.

Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force said Tasers have saved the lives of officers and suspects. He called it one of the best additions to the police arsenal in decades.

"It has been a very effective tool for us," he said. "When you look at options officers have, every one of them has a likelihood of causing serious injury or death. Taser is a tool that allows reliable incapacitation without physical injury or death."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8235 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8235
Medical examiners in three cases involving suspects who died in police custody cited Tasers as a cause or a contributing factor in the deaths, The Arizona Republic reported. In two other cases, Tasers could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

A small number of independent studies, including one issued by the British government in 2002, found that the weapon's safety has not been proven. According to The New York Times, the report in Britain, which has not approved Tasers for general police use, concluded that "the high-powered Tasers cannot be classed, in the vernacular, as 'safe.'"

Taser International has defended its product, which thousands of law enforcement agencies have issued to their officers to help subdue people who refuse to obey commands.

The Scottsdale-based company created a report detailing 42 cases of people who died after being shot by a Taser. The company claims the stun guns were cleared every time.

"It is not Taser International that says Taser is not to blame," Taser chief executive Rick Smith said in an April news release. "It is the medical examiner's opinion in every single case across the country."

The company, however, didn't have the autopsy reports at the time, and relied on media accounts and anecdotal information from police for most of its analysis, the Republic found.

The Republic reported that Taser's report omitted details that contradict its claims, such as the published findings of a medical examiner who concluded that electrical shocks from a Taser contributed directly to the death of a man in an Indiana jail.

When presented with cases linking Tasers to deaths, Smith told the newspaper the medical examiners were wrong, and lack the expertise needed to analyze stun-gun deaths.

"There is no penalty for a coroner to be overly broad," Smith said. "These guys deal with the whole broad spectrum of what can go wrong in the human body. Am I going to expect that they are going to be right 100 percent of the time? No."

Smith said the report didn't need actual autopsies to prove Tasers are not lethal.

"I know in my heart what the truth is," Smith says. "Taser hasn't killed any of these people." ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8261 Tue, 06 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8261
A neighbor found 37-year-old Glen Leyba in his apartment, trashing so violently, the paramedics couldn't get close.

Then a police officer, hoping to restrain him, fired her 50,000-volt stun gun four times.

"It's been awful thinking about what he went through," says his mother Connie Leyba.

While the coroner ruled Leyba died from a cocaine overdose, CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports the family believes that can't be the whole story.

"The only thing we know for a fact is that he died immediately after the last Taser," says his sister Shelly Leyba.

In fact, at least 40 people have died after being hit with stun guns. James Borden was shocked three times and died while tussling with jailers in Indiana. David Glowczenki died in his New York neighborhood just after being stunned. So did William Lomax of Las Vegas.

"In none of these cases has the person died while being hit with the Taser," says Rick Smith, CEO of Taser International.

At Taser Headquarters, Smith says every one of the 40 people who died, died of something else and not the Taser. He adds that no coroner has ever listed the Taser as the sole cause of someone's death.

However, CBS News has found several cases, like James Borden, where the shock from a stun gun is listed as one of the causes.

"In the cases I've done, there's usually some underlying problem," says forensic pathologist Dr. William Anderson.

Anderson says for some people already agitated or on drugs - some of the people most likely to get hit with a Taser - the jolt can depress breathing and turn lethal.

"There may be a small group of people that once it's used, may develop difficulties that may result in death," says Anderson.

The company insists, after 100,000 uses, the Taser is safe, and police rely on that claim.

In Glen Leyba's case, the officer who responded said she used the Taser specifically because of her training training that taught her there are no documented cases of injury or death due to the Taser.

"It was absolutely wrong," says Shelly Leyba. "Glen was in a medical emergency,"

But the Leyba family thinks all those shocks to Glen had to make a difference.

"After the last Taser it was reported in the police officers report (that) he immediately became unconscious, and he never moved again," says Shelly Leyba. "They are using it excessively and in any situation that doesn't warrant that use of force."

Of the 40 who died after being stunned, almost every one was already high on drugs or in an agitated state, which raises the question: Did the shock of a stun gun push some of these victims off the edge? ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8262 Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/8262
Asked what he thinks of it, an officer says, "I love it."

"It stops officers from having to go hands-on and fight with suspects," says Sgt. Lauri Williams.

Williams says the Taser reduces deadly force because police no longer draw their guns on suspects with bricks or knives. In Phoenix last year, gun shootings by police went down by half, and fatal shootings dropped by a third.

In fact, as CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports, almost every police agency using Taser reports fewer shootings, fewer deaths, fewer injuries.

"To go out there and have this tool that doesn't cause injuries at all to the suspects, it's really just a great thing," says Williams.

When police are trained on Tasers, they are taught the stun gun is safe to use in any circumstance and that the weapon immobilizes but does not injure.

"Instead of causing pain or injury, we are like a remote control plugged into your body, telling your body not to move," says Rick Smith, Taser International CEO.

Thanks to its reputation there is a 12-week backlog in demand.

"We can't keep up with demand," says Smith.

He says 4,300 agencies have ordered it.

For Smith, sales and profits are skyrocketing. But so is another statistic: Taser-related deaths.

A CBS news investigation, confirmed by the company, shows some 40 people have died after being stunned. The company says the Taser is not to blame, because most of the victims were fighting with police, delirious or on drugs.

"If the Taser had not been used, all 40 of those people would still be dead today," says Smith. "In every single case these people would have died anyway."

And now some of the victims' families have begun to question why Taser is so certain the weapon never kills.

The sister of one man killed by a Taser challenges the company's assertion that the person was going to die anyway.

"There's no way to know that," says Shelly Leyba. ]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/taser_stun_guns Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/taser_stun_guns Taser Stun Guns Thousands of police departments buy Tasers on a claim that the electric stun guns will instantly take down suspects without inflicting harm. That assertion of safety has generated record sales for Taser International Inc., which markets its guns as alternatives to deadly force and says its goal is to arm every police officer in America.

But an Arizona Republic investigation has revealed that Taser's claims are based on autopsy reports the company never possessed. For years, Taser officials cited these reports as proof that the stun guns never caused "injury or death to another human being." Now, officials acknowledge they never had those autopsy reports and didn't start collecting them until April.

The Republic's review of autopsies and interviews with medical examiners found Tasers have been linked to at least five deaths. Medical examiners in three cases involving suspects who died in police custody cited Tasers as a cause or a contributing factor in the deaths. In two other cases, Tasers could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

These deaths raise questions about a weapon police routinely use on those who refuse to obey commands. Kelly Deitrich, whose brother, Raymond Siegler, died in February after being shot by police with a Taser in a Minneapolis group home for mentally ill people, said Taser's explanations are misleading. "That is the polite way to say it," she says. "The other way to say it is they are full of you-know-what."

The Republic, using computer searches, media accounts, police reports and Taser's own records, identified 44 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike from September 1999 to March 2004. In its special report, Taser cited 42 deaths. The Republic began with those 42 cases and eliminated two because suspects were fatally shot by police with a regular gun after being shot with a Taser. The Republic then identified four additional cases not included in Taser's report.

If you or a loved one have been injured by the use of a Taser Stun gun, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified attorney.]]>