RCMP watchdog won't be reappointed

November 27, 2009
CBC News

The federal government will not be reappointing Paul Kennedy as the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, CBC News has learned.

Kennedy, whose last day on the job will be Dec. 31, reportedly would have accepted another term. He was interested in seeing through anticipated new legislation to bring in a civilian oversight agency for the RCMP.

Kennedy recently completed an investigation into the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport and has investigated in-custody deaths, Taser use and how Mounties investigate themselves.

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the public interest would be better served if Kennedy remained in his post.

"I believe this government is not interested in anyone with any degree of independence. They want servile public servants," he said.

"Whenever someone is doing a tremendous job in the public interest they want to shut them down. They did this with the military police complaints commissioner, Peter Tinsley."

Tinsley, whose term also expires next month and will not be renewed, also wanted to stay on because of his ongoing inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees.

A statement from the office of Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan thanked Kennedy for his "distinguished and professional service," adding he has "provided guidance that will be considered as the RCMP continues to make progress on its transformation agenda."

"The government will be moving to reform oversight of the RCMP in the months ahead to strengthen accountability," the statement said. "It will seek to ensure independent investigation of incidents, so that the force does not lead investigations into itself."

RCMP Complaints Commission Launches Probe into Clay Willey Death

November 24, 2009
By 250 News BC

Ottawa, Ont. – Acting on a request by the Solicitor General of British Columbia, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC) is expanding its Chair-initiated complaint and public interest investigation into all Taser-related in-custody deaths and to look specifically into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Clay Alvin Willey in Prince George, B.C.on July 22, 2003.

CPC Chair Paul E. Kennedy initiated a public complaint on 15 January, 2009 into all incidents where individuals in the custody of the RCMP died following the use of a conducted energy weapon (CEW), which incidents have taken place anywhere in Canada between January 1, 2001 and January 1, 2009.

The arrest and subsequent death of Mr. Clay Alvin Willey in Prince George, is one of the incidents referred to in the complaint.

Mr. Willey's death was the subject of a Coroner's inquest conducted by the British Columbia Coroner's Service in October 2004. One of the pieces of evidence considered at the Coroner's inquest was a compilation of video footage from a number of security cameras located throughout the Prince George RCMP Detachment.

The Solicitor General of British Columbia has on behalf of the residents of British Columbia, raised concerns directly with the CPC regarding this incident and in particular with respect to the integrity of the video evidence relating to the arrest and detention of Mr. Willey. In correspondence to the CPC, the Solicitor General commented that members of the media have "raised concerns with the in-custody treatment of Mr. Willey and have expressed concern that the video in question has not been released to the public. Allegations have also been made in the media that further video evidence exists beyond that contained in the compilation video." Consequently, the Solicitor General requested that the CPC "review the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Willey so that British Columbians can have continued confidence in the RCMP."

The original complaint was initiated to examine:

•whether the RCMP officers involved in the aforementioned events, from the moment of initial contact with the individual until the time of each individual's death, complied with all appropriate training, policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements relating to the use of force; and
•whether existing RCMP policies, procedures and guidelines applicable to such incidents are adequate.

Specific to Mr. Willey's death, the CPC will now also examine:

•whether the RCMP members involved in the investigation of Mr. Willey's arrest and subsequent death conducted an investigation that was adequate, and free of actual or perceived conflict of interest; and
•whether any other video evidence (other than the compilation video referred to above) exists and whether any RCMP member concealed, tampered with or otherwise inappropriately modified in any way, any evidence, in particular any video evidence, relating to the arrest of Mr. Willey.

The CPC has retained the services of a former chief of police from a large Ontario municipality to conduct this public interest investigation.

WORLD-WIDE BAN ON THE TASER, anyone?

A guestbook message received here today deserves its own post:

We are the group that placed the 388 crosses in the front yard of the Harlan household, where Stanley Harlan was murdered in front of his home & mother. There is not a day that goes by that he is not thought of and missed.

We are still willing and able to help in the world-wide BAN on the taser!

PLEASE, if there is anyway that all the "groups" that are working in their towns to try to ban these "non lethal weapons", if there is anyway we can all work together and fight Taser International as a bigger group, maybe we would have a better chance!! My thoughts & prayers are with all family, friends of loved ones that have lost their lives to the Taser affects.

Donna
tdfainter@yahoo.com

TASER International's 100th Lawsuit Dismissal Won on Summary Judgment

Comments received on this post as follows:

Notice the case was thrown out, "without prejudice", meaning that it can be re-filed in the future. And it was all "based on available evidence in 2003", a time when the company probably claimed it had no idea that their products could cause death.

The above comment is inaccurate. The case was dismissed with prejudice; summary judgment was granted; it cannot be refiled.

It is important to note that despite Taser's inference to the contrary, the Court said that the ruling was not inconsistent with any of the rulings in the prior Heston case where Taser lost. Specifically, here the Court did not rule against the Plaintiffs based on their theory of how Rosa died, but only as to the knowability of their theory at the time he died.

November 23, 2009
CNN

Landmark Ruling in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in the Ninth Circuit

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Nov. 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a leading provider of technology solutions and the market leader in electronic control devices (ECDs), announced that on November 20, 2009, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order and judgment for TASER International in the arrest-related-death lawsuit entitled Rosa v. TASER International, et al. granting TASER International's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs were represented in the Rosa case by California attorneys: John C. Burton, Peter M. Williamson, John F. Baker, and Peter T. Cathcart. Plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in 2005, and aggressively litigated their case for 4 years. The medical examiner had determined cause of death was from the methamphetamine Mr. Rosa ingested.

The Court noted that "California courts require that plaintiffs present evidence of 'general recogni[tion] and prevailing best scientific and medical knowledge' to meet the 'known or knowable' element of a strict liability claim." In addition, the court noted that the "evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to raise a triable issue as to 'knowability' of the risk,... [and] insufficient to create a triable issue as to whether TASER should have known of the risk."

The Court also noted that "TASER has developed a comprehensive warning system in which every ECD sold or distributed is accompanied by a training CD/DVD and operating manual to be used by TASER-certified instructors," and that Defendant's expert Dr. Raymond Fish "unequivocally rejects the theory that ECDs on humans decrease respiration and cause dangerous acidosis."

In granting TASER's motion for summary judgment, the Court stated that TASER International's assertions "are well-taken" that there are no genuine issues of material fact with regard to whether, "the alleged propensity of ECDs to cause metabolic acidosis was known or knowable on December 30, 2003, when the ECDs in question were shipped from TASER to its distributor; [and]... TASER's warnings with respect to the dangers posed by application of its ECDs were adequate..."

"It is important to note that this case was brought by the same plaintiff's counsel, using fundamentally the same liability theory as the Heston case in 2008," and "it is ironic that this case is won in the same week as TASER filed its opening appellate brief in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Heston case," said Doug Klint, President and General Counsel of TASER International. "Studies published since the Heston trial have largely disproven the acidosis theory, demonstrating that the exertion effects associated with TASER(R) ECD discharges are lower than several other physical force tactics. We believe the findings from the court in this most recent case is an important landmark for both law enforcement and the Company. TASER International will continue to aggressively defend all litigation filed against the Company and will seek all recoverable costs from plaintiffs."

New Jersey Attorney General set rules to police stun-gun use

November 23, 2009
The Associated Press

Police officers in New Jersey can use stun guns under limited circumstances, according to rules issued by Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Milgram said trained officers can use them on armed, emotionally disturbed persons who refuse to surrender. The prohibit officers from using stun guns to get people to move, get on the ground or exit a vehicle.

Police also can't use the guns on handcuffed suspects or against a person on an elevated surface.

Milgram said it's prudent to have "adequate controls, training and accountability."

The size of the police department will determine the number of officers authorized to carry the weapons.

Taser death raises claims of a 'cowboy Mountie'

November 21, 2009
Brian Hutchinson in Vancouver, National Post

A B.C.-based RCMP officer who figures in a controversial in-custody death involving Tasers had a prior assault conviction from an incident that left his victim with broken facial bones and missing teeth, the National Post has learned.

Subsequent to those two events, Corporal John Graham was accused in B.C. provincial court of striking a Prince George man at least 21 times with a Taser. A judge in that case noted concerns had been raised about Cpl. Graham's "propensity for violence." Reference was made to still another incident, when Cpl. Graham shot and killed a mentally ill man in Newfoundland.

Robert Buckingham, a lawyer for a man in Newfoundland who is suing Cpl. Graham over an unrelated, allegedly wrongful arrest, calls the stocky officer a "rogue cowboy Mountie who is moved from place to place and [who] thinks he can do whatever he wants."

In-custody deaths and the use of Tasers are a particularly sensitive topic in B.C., where Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died following a confrontation with the RCMP in 2007. He was jolted by a Taser five times.

New concerns -- including suggestions of a police cover-up -- arising from an earlier case were raised this week at a news conference convened by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and a former chief medical examiner for two provinces.

Cpl. Graham was one of the officers who wrestled with a deranged Clayton Alvin Willey prior to his arrest in Prince George in July 2003, the civil rights group explained. Cpl. Graham bound Mr. Willey's feet and hands behind his back in a "hog-tie," a restraint position that contravened RCMP policy.

Mr. Willey was dragged on his stomach into an RCMP detachment where he was Tasered multiple times by two other officers. He went into cardiac arrest while being transported to hospital, where he died the next morning. His cause of death was determined to be cocaine overdose.

One question raised this week is whether police disclosed a complete set of videotapes showing Mr. Willey in custody at the Prince George detachment.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, claims the tapes were "edited into a narrative" that was helpful to police at a 2004 coroner's inquest into Mr. Willey's death.

"The most important piece [of video] is missing," he said in an interview. Members of Mr. Willey's family claim to have seen video that shows his head smacking the ground as RCMP officers pulled him from a police vehicle inside the Prince George detachment garage.

Sergeant Tim Shields, the RCMP's head of strategic communications in B.C., said this week that as far as he knows, "not one second of the video recorded to tape was withheld" from the Willey inquest. "In order to confirm that total and complete disclosure has been made, the original videotape is presently being examined by a forensic video analyst," he added yesterday.

The video footage might be made public next month, said Sgt. Shields, once Mr. Willey's family has had an opportunity to review it.

RCMP Constable Glenn Caston, one of the arresting officers, testified at the 2004 coroner's inquest that he and another officer "pulled Mr. Willey from the vehicle through the side rear seat door by the rope that had been used to tie Mr. Willey's feet together."

"You weren’t spanking me, you were fighting me" or Parents at their wits' end

November 21, 2009
Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA

The part of the story we were privy to ended with a 10-year-old Ozark, Ark., girl being Tasered (with her mother’s permission — if not at the mother’s request) and taken to a juvenile facility in handcuffs.

According to subsequent reports, however, the girl’s father, Anthony Medlock, said his daughter had emotional issues and since she didn’t have a weapon he doesn’t think a stun gun should have been used on his daughter.

Police were reportedly called to the troubled household Nov. 11 after the mother couldn’t get her daughter to take a shower.

According to a copy of his police report on thesmokinggun.com, the girl was curled up on the floor crying and screaming when Officer Dustin Bradshaw arrived.

The girl was violently kicking and verbally combative when Bradshaw tried to take her into custody, according to the report, and she kicked Bradshaw in the groin. He delivered “a very brief drive stun to her back,” he said.

“Her mother told me to Taser her if I needed to,” Bradshaw wrote in the report.

Some family service and juvenile offender workers tell gut-wrenching tales of family situations they have encountered. In such situations, children who frequently have problems behaving have their treatment escalated to levels better suited to adults.

Before the Ozark incident, how many instances of children being Tasered had we heard of?

People who deal with families, including mental health professionals, say stress and frustration play a big role in some parental decisions.

In families where corporal punishment is administered, spankings can turn into fights. When a frustrated parent feels like he or she is at wit’s end, it’s not difficult for a child to be viewed as an enemy.

I remember talking to a mother who said her daughter “didn’t treat me any better than she would treat a stranger. So that’s the way I treated her.”

The two of them had a physical fight. Names were called. Hair was pulled. Faces were slapped.

Their issues were not resolved, but at least for the moment, the mother said she was somewhat relieved — if only for a moment.

In another situation, a parent told of spanking a child for some misdeed. But when the child said “you weren’t spanking me, you were fighting me,” the parent’s head dropped in shame.

God only knows what went on in the Ozark household before police were called. We can only hope the mother — since the parents are divorced and the father doesn’t have custody — finds a way to help her little girl that doesn’t involve the police and stun guns.

Contact Kaffie Sledge at sledgekh@yahoo.com

The Taser Attorney

Woodland Hills, CA: California attorney Peter Williamson is fast becoming Taser International’s worst nightmare. Over the last decade and more, the makers of the controversial handheld electroshock gun have been the target of dozens of lawsuits, ranging from product liability to police misconduct and wrongful death. However, Williamson and his co-counsel John Burton are the first attorneys to obtain a favorable verdict on behalf of a plaintiff.

In a David and Goliath case suit against Taser International this September, a jury ordered to the company to pay $153,000 to the family of Robert Heston. Heston, who was high on methamphetamine at the time, died after police fired at him 25 times with taser-electroshocks in an attempt to subdue him.

The Heston jury found that Taser International failed to warn police about the potential cardiac arrest risks associated with the use of the weapon.

As many as 70 other taser victims have attempted to sue Taser International, but few, if any, even came to trial before the Heston case.

The Taser International legal team frequently employed the Daubert Challenge, which essentially gives a judge the power to determine who may or may not be considered an expert witness. Because there was so little scientific data available regarding tasers, the tactic successfully eliminated the vast majority of potential plaintiff experts.

Attorney Williamson says that Taser International, once apparently immune from civil suits, is beginning to show cracks in its once-impenetrable walls. He spent thousands of hours preparing for the Heston case.

“We are totally attuned to all the research that is coming out,” says Williamson. “I actually have my Google news alert set to ‘taser’. So everyday I get a compendium of stories from all over the country – every death case, every incident of taser firing so we really keep tabs on what is going on.”

Williamson now focuses the largest part of his practice on taser complaints. Since he began working on the Heston case in 2005 he has built a considerable and formidable body of knowledge on everything from ventricular defibrillation to metabolic acidosis. Perhaps most important of all, he has a rolodex full of expert contacts.

“I don’t want to sound immodest, and I really think we are at the forefront of this litigation,” says Williamson. “I know who most of the players are in this country. I know most of the scientists are. I know the medical doctors, I know the experts.”

Taser International called the Heston verdict a fluke and claimed that the jury’s decision was a sympathy vote. “That’s comical,” says Williamson. “This guy was high on methamphetamine and acting crazy. But obviously we didn’t think he should have been tasered 25 times.”

Peter Williamson is a name partner with the firm of Williamson & Krauss in Woodland Hills, California. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and his Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.

Pennsylvania man dies days after being tasered

Ronald Petruney, 49, Washington County, Pennsylvania

Death linked to 'excited delirium': coroner

November 20, 2009
CBC News

The death of a man who was stunned with a Taser several times during his arrest two year ago in Chilliwack was not the fault of police actions, a coroner's inquest has determined.

In his report, coroner Vincent Stancato concludes that Robert Knipstrom, 36, died from acute ecstasy intoxication and excited delirium.

A coroner's inquest into Knipstrom's death began Monday and the conclusions were released Thursday night.

The jury has recommended police and paramedics change how they handle cases where individuals show symptoms of excited delirium, which can include paranoia, agitation, aggression and extraordinary strength. It was also recommended that police request an advanced life support team when dealing with such patients.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen welcomed the jury's findings.

"It validates in the officers' minds — it certainly validates in my mind — what was it that they were dealing with in the first instance," Thiessen said.

Rental shop takedown
The incident that led to Knipstrom's arrest took place at a Chilliwack rental shop on Nov. 19, 2007, where he had gone to return a wood chipper. After clipping another car in the parking lot, Knipstrom entered the store and began acting strangely, the inquest heard.

Knipstrom aggressively confronted the police officers who were called in by staff at the shop, located east of Vancouver. The inquest was told that police used pepper spray, a metal baton and finally a Taser to subdue and restrain him.

The only contradictory evidence came from a former store employee who said Knipstrom was backing away from the first police officer at the time of his arrest, while other witnesses said it was the officer who was retreating.

The same witness said he thought the officer struck Knipstrom in the head deliberately with his baton, but the officer testified any blows that hit Knipstrom's head would have glanced off his body first.

Witnesses testified that after Knipstrom was taken down he continued to thrash around on the ground and resist officers. He was eventually loaded into an ambulance face down — a violation of policy — because he refused to turn over.

Knipstrom's heart stopped beating a short time later, and while doctors managed to resuscitate him, he never recovered and died five days later in Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Death blamed on drugs and delirium
It was later determined that Knipstrom had acute levels of the illegal drug ecstasy in his system.

Excited delirium has been blamed for a number of deaths in police custody and critics have dismissed the that conclusion as a way to excuse overly aggressive police actions.

But Dr. Christine Hall, an emergency medicine specialist, said Knipstrom was a textbook example of the condition: high, strong as an ox, and impervious to pain.

Hall said the condition is real and medical understanding of it is evolving.

"The controversy and the evolution has actually occurred in other illnesses — sudden infant death syndrome for example," said Hall.

"For years and years there was a huge debate about does this exist. Is it really a syndrome? What are the symptoms? Why is it only happening that children are dying? And now we know that medical textbooks and lists of diagnoses have evolved to include that," said Hall.

Michigan man dies after he is tasered

November 19, 2009: Jesus Gillard, 61, Bloomfield Township, Michigan

Man Goes Into Cardiac Arrest After Police Use Taser

November 19, 2009
ThePittsburghChannel.com

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A man is in the hospital after a confrontation with Washington police, who said he had a seizure and became combative, forcing them to use a Taser on him.

Washington city police said 49-year-old Ronald Petruney was walking in the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue when he had a seizure. A police officer noticed the seizure and stopped and came over to Petruney.

According to police, the officer tried to help Petruney and keep him from moving into the middle of the street. That's when, police say, the man became violent.

"Mr. Petruney actually charged the officer, swinging at him. And at that point the struggle ensued between the officer and Mr. Petruney," said Lt. Dan Stanek of the Washington Police Department. "The officer had requested additional officers and medics to arrive. As they were arriving, the officer was still involved in the struggle on the ground. Mr. Petruney was biting the officer several times. The officer sustained at least three, possibly four bite marks that he received medical attention for. As Mr. Petruney was being subdued, trying to get him under control, the officers employed the tasers."

Police said they used a Taser on Petruney twice -- once in the leg and once in the back. Police said that's when Petruney went into cardiac arrest and was taken to Washington Hospital.

Petruney remains in the hospital. Police said they plan to charge him with resisting arrest and aggravated assault.

The police officer was treated for his bite wounds and released from the hospital.

Excited delirium not Taser killed Gordon Bowe

"It is not helpful to blame resulting deaths on “excited delirium,” since this conveniently avoids having to examine the underlying medical condition or conditions that actually caused death, let alone examining whether use of the conducted energy weapon and/or subsequent measures to physically restrain the subject contributed to those causes of death." - Braidwood Report, July 2009

November 19, 2009
Canwest News

A Castlegar man who died after a fight with Calgary police was high on cocaine and died of excited delirium -- not as the result of a Taser or police actions -- a review has concluded.

Gordon Bowe's common-law wife, however, said Thursday that she's not convinced and is still blaming police officers for the incident in November.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which examines complaints about police use of force, deemed that police actions were justified in the death of Bowe, 30, who travelled to Calgary for work.

Clifton Purvis, head of the response team, said he came to his conclusions after reviewing the investigation, consulting with the medical examiner and considering the prosecution's opinion.

Excited delirium is a controversial term recognized by some medical examiners that has been used to explain deaths of individuals in police custody. Most doctors and psychologists do not acknowledge the condition.

Autopsy links Taser to Cardall's death - Coroner cites being stunned near the heart as a key factor

November 19, 2009
Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune

A Taser that twice shocked Brian Cardall contributed to or caused heart irregularities in the 32-year-old man that led to his death on the side of a southern Utah highway in June, the Utah Medical Examiner's Office has ruled.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Erik Christensen cited "ventricular fibrillation following conducted energy weapon deployment during a manic episode with psychotic features" as Cardall's cause of death.

The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a copy of the autopsy report Thursday from the Cardalls' attorney. The family chose to release it after Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said he will not prosecute the officer who deployed a Taser on Cardall.

Belnap said Hurricane police Officer Ken Thompson legally used a Taser on Cardall as the man suffered a bipolar manic episode June 9.

The Cardall family disagrees with Belnap's decision, said Karra Porter, who is advising the Cardalls on their legal options.

Christensen's report states that prongs from a Taser a Hurricane police officer deployed struck Cardall over his heart. While Christensen acknowledged other factors could have contributed to Cardall's death, he pointed out factors that indicate a Taser electrocuted a naked, unarmed Cardall.

"While it is generally acknowledged that [Taser] use is safe and represents an extremely low risk due to the electrical activity of the weapon, the circumstances in this case represent a combination of the factors that are believed to increase the risk of a potential electrical death," Christensen's report reads.

"These include the placement of the barbs over the cardiac axis, the penetration of the barbs deeply into a thin chest wall directly over the heart, absence of intervening clothing and more than one cycle of electrical stimulation.

"Additionally, the initial cardiac rhythm of ventricular fibrillation is consistent with findings seen in cases of electrocution."

Christensen's conclusion that the X-26 Taser, made by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International, played a significant role in Cardall's death is bold.

While Taser International has claimed its products are not risk free, it has publicly stated its products do not cause cardiac arrest. It has filed numerous lawsuits against medical examiners who have cited Tasers as a cause of death.

Christensen noted that because Cardall, a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, was in a manic state, he was at risk for a heart attack before the Taser struck him.

Christensen said Cardall did not die from excited delirium, a syndrome often cited as a cause of death when someone is agitated or delirious and then dies after forcefully being taken into custody.

Thompson twice deployed a Taser on Cardall on the side of State Road 59 near Hurricane after Anna Cardall called 911 to report her husband was behaving erratically.

Thompson, one of multiple officers on the scene, waited 42 seconds after arriving before he deployed a Taser on a manic and confused Cardall, according to 911 recordings.

The 156-pound Cardall is heard screaming for about five seconds after Thompson first deploys a Taser on him. After a two-second pause, Thompson deploys the Taser on Cardall again. He says in the recordings Cardall had tried to get up.

Mental health history

Christensen's report details Cardall's struggle with bipolar disorder, which surfaced with depression in high school. Doctors diagnosed him as bipolar in 2005 after a manic episode that required brief hospitalization.

Cardall suffered manic episodes in 2006 and 2007, which he believed was due to a lack of sleep and stress, the report states. Cardall had been on and off medication for his disorder; he had scaled back medication in January.

Christensen wrote that Seroquel, the medication Cardall took for bipolar disorder, likely didn't contribute to his reaction after being shocked. He detected trace amounts of marijuana in Cardall's system, but Cardall tested negative for other illicit drugs.

Cardall's family told Christensen that Cardall occasionally used marijuana, according to the report.

Taser International had not yet seen Christensen's report, company spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

"We have not been provided a copy of the autopsy for our medical advisory board to review the details of this tragic incident. Our hearts continue to go out to the Cardall family during this difficult time," Tuttle told The Tribune .

Peter Stirba, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the Hurricane Police Department, said only that Belnap's decision vindicates Thompson and was correct based on evidence.

Possible lawsuit?

The Cardall family is disappointed Belnap didn't hand off the case to another county, said Porter, of Salt Lake City-based law firm Christensen and Jensen.

"It would be awkward for a county attorney in a relatively rural area to prosecute people he works with every day," she said.

Utah law, however, says county attorneys handle use of force investigations.

Any lawsuit filed by the Cardall family will face fierce contention from Taser International, which has only lost one case in the 97 lawsuits filed against the company since its inception in 1993, Tuttle said.

But the tide is beginning to turn, said California attorney Peter Williamson, who, along with co-counsel John Burton, recently won the first suit against Taser International.

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California ordered Taser to pay $1.4 million in attorney fees to Williamson and Burton, who represented the family of Robert Heston, who was killed in 2005 after he was shocked multiple times while high on methamphetamine.

The 40-year-old man's father had called police for help to restrain his combative son. Five officers shocked Heston 25 times.

Judge James Ware ordered the company to pay attorney fees following a decision by a jury to award Heston's family $153,000 in damages. The jury found that Taser International didn't properly educate the police who stunned Heston about cardiac risks associated with the weapon.

In an explanation of why he awarded attorneys fees in the case, Ware wrote: "The notoriety of ... the first-of-its-kind verdict, in some circumstances, has prompted a number of Taser customers and prospective customers to consider the risk of repeated and prolonged Taser electric charges on individuals in an excited or delirious state."

Williamson said the company considers the verdict in the Heston case "a fluke."

"The only way we can get Taser to change its warnings and training is to sue them enough times that they finally capitulate," said Williamson, who believes the Cardalls have a strong case against Taser.

Changing targets

In an Oct. 12 bulletin, Taser told police not to aim a Taser at a suspect's chest. Shooting the device lower will incapacitate a suspect more effectively, it said. The bulletin notes police still can shoot at a chest lacking a better option.

Taser critics say the bulletin is the company's first admission that the weapons pose a cardiac risk --- an allegation the company denies. The company based its decision on best practices research and will help police avoid lawsuits from those who claim the devices cause injuries and other health problems, Taser's Rick Guilbault said in the bulletin.

Taser's bulletin states the risk of cardiac arrest when a Taser is deployed on a suspect is low, but notes reactions can't be predicted, particularly when other underlying medical conditions or drugs are added to the equation.

"We have not stated that Taser causes [cardiac] events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic," Tuttle said.

He added changes "specifically had nothing to do with the Cardall incident."

But Williamson is skeptical.

"It's interesting to note within the last 30 days, Taser has issued its [new training bulletin]," Williamson said, adding that in addition to the Cardall case, Taser is dealing with another pending California trial where a man died after being shocked in 2004.

Taser as a cause of death

Medical examiners nationwide have been sued for citing Tasers as a cause of death.

Last year, an Ohio judge ordered a medical examiner to remove Taser's name from three autopsies. The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office "offered no medical, scientific or electrical evidence to justify finding the stun gun was a factor in the deaths of two men in 2005 and another in 2006," The Arizona Republic reported in May 2008. Taser and the City of Akron had sued the medical examiner, claiming the examiners didn't have the proper education to decide whether Tasers contributed to the death.

The county's chief medical examiner contested the ruling, according to The Arizona Republic.

Taser also sued Indiana coroner Roland Kohr, who found the weapon contributed to a man's death in 2004.

Taser International dismisses what it calls misconceptions that the company targets medical examiners who make unflattering reports.

"This is simply not true," Tuttle said. "In the two instances that Taser has brought legal action regarding medical examiners, the lawsuits were to correct scientifically baseless opinions that resulted in very negative consequences to numerous entities and people."

Williamson disagrees. He said Taser intimidates medical examiners who find the stun guns lead to death.

"Very few medical examiners will stick their necks out on the line," he said.

Excited delirium theory nixed

Christensen's finding that Cardall did not die of excited delirium in Cardall is noteworthy. Speculation that the controversial syndrome killed Cardall has been widespread among law enforcement since he died. In a letter to the editor The Tribune published in June, University of Minnesota biomedical engineering professor Mark Kroll suggested excited delirium killed Cardall.

Kroll, a member of Taser's scientific and medical advisory board, wrote that: "Excited delirium is a widely accepted entity in forensic pathology and is cited by medical examiners to explain the sudden in-custody deaths of individuals who are combative and in a highly agitated state."

"The fundamentals of an excited delirium death are not that difficult to understand," Kroll wrote. "Our bodies have limits to exertion... If these limits are sufficiently exceeded, we will die."

Christensen's report states that Cardall displayed some symptoms of excited delirium, but he did not show signs of hyperthermia, a condition where the body produces more heat than it can expend. He wasn't involved in a physical struggle and didn't show "feats of superhuman strength," which is common in excited delirium cases.

"His initial cardiac rhythm is also different from the usual rhythm in cases of [excited delirium]," the report states.

Porter said Christensen's findings support the Cardall family's efforts to expose Brian Cardall's mistreatment. The family may file a lawsuit so that "the full truth emerges regarding Brian's death."

"They also want to feel reassured that steps are being taken to prevent other senseless deaths in the future," she said.

Arkansas cop suspended after using Taser on girl, 10

See also Ozark police taser 10-year-old little girl
See also Police report about tasering the 10-year-old little girl

November 19, 2009
The Associated Press

OZARK, Ark. — A police officer who used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission has been suspended — not for using the Taser but for not having a video camera attached when he used it.

Mayor Vernon McDaniel said officer Dustin Bradshaw was suspended Wednesday for seven days with pay. McDaniel said the suspension is for not following department procedures because he didn't have the camera on.

McDaniel wants Arkansas State Police or the FBI to look into whether the use of the Taser was proper. The girl, who hasn't been identified, wasn't injured and is now at the Western Arkansas Youth Shelter in Cecil.

Police were called to the home Nov. 11 after the girl's mother couldn't get her to take a shower.

Bradshaw's report says the girl was "violently kicking and verbally combative" when Bradshaw tried to take her into custody, and she kicked him in the groin. He said he delivered "a very brief drive stun to her back."

"Her mother told me to tase her if I needed to," Bradshaw wrote.

Kim Brunell, a spokeswoman with the FBI in Little Rock, said her office neither confirms nor denies when it's involved an investigation and declined to comment Wednesday. State police have declined McDaniel's request to investigate.

Police Chief Jim Noggle said Wednesday that Tasers are a safe way to subdue people who are a danger to themselves or others.

"We didn't use the Taser to punish the child — just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else," Noggle said.

If the officer tried to forcefully put the girl in handcuffs, he could have accidentally broken her arm or leg, Noggle said.

He said a touch of the stun gun — "less than a second" — stopped the girl from being unruly, and she was handcuffed.

"She got up immediately and they put her in the patrol car," McDaniel said.

Noggle said the girl will face disorderly conduct charges as a juvenile in the incident.

The girl's father, Anthony Medlock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his daughter has emotional problems, but that she didn't have a weapon and shouldn't have been Tasered.

"My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal," said Medlock, who is divorced from the girl's mother and does not have custody.

Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International, said it's up to individual law enforcement agencies to decide when Taser use is appropriate.

In some cases, a Taser "presents the safer response to resistance compared with the alternatives such as fists, kicks, baton strikes, bean bag guns, chemical agents, or canine response," Tuttle said in a statement.

The police chief, who has been Tasered twice himself during training sessions, said his department has never had to use a stun gun on a child or elderly person before, but that in some instances, that could be necessary to ensure safety.

"We don't want to do things like this," Noggle said. "This is something we have to do. We're required to maintain order and keep the peace."

RCMP may release 2003 Tasering tape

November 18, 2009
Canwest News Service

The RCMP is considering publicly releasing a police video showing a Metis man, Clayton Alvin Willey, being stunned by a Taser in 2003, hours before he died of a heart attack in a Prince George jail.

Critics of the RCMP's handling of Willey say disclosure of the video could provoke the kind of public outrage that followed release of a video of the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

"It [the video] is very disturbing, very brutal and very ugly," said Grand Chief Stewart Philip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who has seen a version of the tape.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields said Tuesday the force is willing to discuss the release of the video with Willey's family later this month. The RCMP wants to show the family the video and other information about the case before a decision is made, he said.

"A decision hasn't been made yet [on release of the video] but we want to ensure that the family is aware of all privacy concerns involving this video," Shields said.

The RCMP statement followed a public call for the release of the video Monday by Philip and BC Civil Liberties Association executive director David Eby.

Police used a Taser on Willey while he was tied and dragged face down from a police vehicle into the Prince George detachment.

Phillip and Eby believe the version of the video they and family members saw was edited. The RCMP has insisted that there was no editing. "This is the full and complete version," Shields said.

Tasered B.C. man taken to hospital facedown, handcuffed

November 18, 2009
Suzanne Fournier, Vancouver Province

A Chilliwack man who died after being Tasered by RCMP was taken to hospital in handcuffs facedown, contrary to B.C. Ambulance Service policy, an inquest heard Wednesday.

Although Robert Knipstrom had been pepper-sprayed, Tasered and "beaten on the head by a metal police baton" his "chief complaint was shortness of breath," paramedic Rick Simon told a coroner's inquest Wednesday morning.

Simon admitted the 36-year-old was not turned onto his back until he began to turn blue in the face in a hospital emergency ward.

The inquest heard that when Simon arrived at the EZE Rent-it Centre in Chilliwack on Nov. 19, 2007, he had difficulty communicating with Knipstrom, who was thrashing around violently and shouting.

Simon admitted to lawyer Rodrick MacKenzie that it is B.C. Ambulance Service policy never to transport a restrained patient facedown and to warn police that the position can cause difficulty breathing or even be fatal.

But Simon said he decided to get Knipstrom into an ambulance and to hospital as quickly as possible because the man was so agitated.

Knipstrom developed a fear of Tasers after an RCMP officer used the weapon on him six months earlier.

Simon said he was concerned that turning Knipstrom onto his back could cause more injuries if he was dropped.

The paramedic and two RCMP officers stayed with Knipstrom at Chilliwack General Hospital, where he waited for 27 minutes to be seen by medical staff.

At 4:28 p.m. Simon and the officers noticed Knipstrom's face turning blue. Nurses and doctors rushed in to try to revive Knipstrom, who regained a heartbeat at 4:55 p.m., but never regained consciousness.

He was later transported to Surrey Memorial Hospital when his kidneys began to fail and died there five days later.

Earlier Wednesday, toxicologist Dr. Walter Martz said Knipstrom's blood had traces of the drug ecstasy.

He told the inquiry the drug can cause "psychosis, paranoia and rapidly changing behaviour."

Martz said Knipstrom had no alcohol, prescription drugs or opiates in his system but had tiny traces of cannabis and possibly cocaine, which could have been consistent with casual contact with someone who used the drugs.

Drugs, not Tasers, main cause of Chilliwack man's death, inquest told

November 18, 2009
BCLocalNews

A lethal dose of the "feel good" drug Ecstasy - not repeated jolts of electricity from Tasers in the hands of Chilliwack RCMP officers - was the main cause of Robert Knipstrom's death, a forensic pathologist told a coroner's jury Wednesday.

But the decision to handcuff the 36-year-old Chilliwack man with his hands behind his back, and then transporting him to hospital lying on his belly in a prone position was "possibly" a contributing factor to his death, Dr. Dan Straathof said.

However, Chilliwack RCMP officers, fire department officials and BC ambulance paramedics testifying at the coroner's inquest have all insisted there was no other way to safely get Knipstrom to hospital after a violent confrontation with police on Nov. 19, 2007.

Knipstrom was returning a wood-chipper to the EZE-Rent-It Centre that day at about 3 p.m. when he started acting strangely, and refused to stay out of an area reserved for employees.

When police were called and two officers arrived from the RCMP detachment across the street, a fight erupted in which Knipstrom was tasered, pepper-sprayed and struck with a metal baton before he was finally subdued by several additional police officers who arrived on the scene.

But even after he was handcuffed, Knipstrom continued to struggle and kick, howling unintelligibly at anyone who approached him, including paramedics trying to treat his wounds.

Paramedic Rick Simon told the inquest Wednesday that he was aware of the ambulance service policy that no patients are to be transported in a prone position while their hands are secured behind their back.

But he said there was no other way to get Knipstrom to hospital, without causing him further injury.

"Every time we tried to move him, he was quite agitated," Simon said. "I was afraid we'd cause him further injury."

So Knipstrom made the 12-minute trip to Chilliwack General Hospital lying on his belly with his hands cuffed behind his back, in violation of the policy.

Shortly after his arrival at CGH at 4:01 p.m., still in a prone position, Knipstrom went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing for about 28 minutes.

Straathof said "acute intoxication" with Ecstasy was the main cause of Knipstrom's death four days later on Nov. 24 at Surrey Memorial Hospital, where he had been transferred for treatment.

Straathof said the physical restraint that Knipstrom was held under at CGH was "a component" of the events which led up to his cardiac arrest, and to the resulting brain and organ damage due to the lack of oxygen.

But he could not say how much of a role the physical restraint played in Knipstrom's death, nor whether the prone position in particular added to the harm.

"There has been some suggestion that physical restraint, especially face-down restraint, can result in reduced lung function," he said.

However, he said it's also possible that Knipstrom could have gone into cardiac arrest from the effect of the Ecstasy alone, without any kind of physical restraints present.

The Tasers did not contribute to the cardiac arrest, Straathof suggested, because it occurred much later after the confrontation with the RCMP. He also found no evidence during an autopsy that the Taser probes actually made contact with Knipstrom's body.

Dr. Walter Martz, a toxicologist at the Provincial Toxicology Centre, said

6.1 mg of Ecstasy per litre of blood was found in a sample taken from Knipstrom when he was admitted to CGH on Nov. 19.

Martz said 150 mg of Ecstasy will produce about 0.5 mg/litre in the blood of a user. The 6 mg found in Knipstrom's blood sample is "within the range" of a lethal dose, he said.

But Martz warned that some people are more sensitive to the drug than others, and instead of the expected euphoria can experience a psychotic episode.

He said a recent animal study also suggests that pepper spray enhances the stimulant effect of Ecstasy, increasing the need for oxygen as the heart rate increases, while at the same time making breathing more difficult.

"The outcome might be fatal," he said.

The inquest is scheduled to end Friday after experts in police use of force and a condition known as "Excited Delirium" are heard.

Arkansas officer Tasers 10-year-old girl who resisted bedtime shower

November 18, 2009
USA Today

Last week a 10-year-old Arkansas girl who refused to shower before bedtime and threw a fit was zapped with a police Taser after her mother gave the officer permission. The girl was then handcuffed and taken to a youth shelter, accused of disorderly conduct. She apparently was not injured.

Today, the mayor of tiny Ozark called on the state police or the FBI to investigate whether the electronic weapon should have been used on someone so young, the Associated Press reports.

"People here feel like that he made a mistake in using a Taser, and maybe he did, but we will not know until we get an impartial investigation," said Mayor Vernon McDaniel.

The state police declined, saying it only investigates criminal, not policy, matters. The FBI also demurred.

Police Chief Jim Noggle said no disciplinary action was taken against Officer Dustin Bradshaw for the Nov. 11 incident. He said Tasers can safely subdue people who are a danger to themselves or others.

"We didn't use the Taser to punish the child — just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else," Noggle said, adding that she was zapped for "less than a second."

He explained that had the officer tried to forcefully handcuff the girl he could have broken one of her arms or legs.

The girl's father, Anthony Medlock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his daughter has emotional problems, but that she didn't have a weapon and shouldn't have been Tasered.

"My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal," said Medlock, who is divorced from the girl's mother and does not have custody.

Keep reading for the details from the police report, which blacked out the identifies of the girl and her mother. Then it's your turn to start kicking and screaming about this.

According Bradshaw's report, police were called to a home because of a domestic disturbance. When he arrived, the girl was curled up on the floor, "screaming, kicking, and resisting every time her mother tried to touch her." Her mother told the officer he could "tase her" if needed, and they then carried the girl into the shower. The girl continued to defy her mother's orders.

"At this point I decided that there was not going to be a peaceful resolution to the issue," Bradshaw wrote. "I moved her into the living room and told her she was going to jail. She continued kicking and crying and I began to try to place her under arrest. She was jerking her arms away from me violently while I was trying to cuff her and thrashing about wildly.

"While she was violently kicking and verbally combative, [the girl] struck me with her legs and feet in the groin. The subject was actively resisting arrest at this time. I was having a difficult time placing the cuffs on her and administered a very very brief drive stun to her back with my taser. She immediately stopped resisting and was placed into handcuffs. She would not walk on her own and I had to carry her to my police car. ..."

Taser inquest delayed

November 18, 2009
BC Local News

An inquest into the death of a man Tasered by police has been delayed.

A preliminary hearing began on Monday to determine whether charges of robbery against Trina Toffan, 36, warrant going to trial. Four days have been set aside in Provincial Court in Surrey to hear evidence. Toffan has chosen a Supreme Court judge and jury, if the case goes to trial.

Toffan was charged in connection with an armed robbery of the Royal Bank in Brookswood on Sept. 30, 2008 that led to a bizarre and tragic chain of events.

Less than 10 minutes after the armed robbery, police descended on a Brookswood home. Toffan’s boyfriend, Frank Frachette, 49, who police say robbed the the bank, was seen minutes later jumping from his second-storey window naked and bleeding from stab wounds to his chest. He was then Tasered by police after he made an attempt to get back into the house. He died on the way to hospital. He had no criminal history when the robbery was committed.

Toffan has been free on bail. Evidence given in the preliminary hearing cannot be published until after a trial has concluded.

At the time of Frachette’s death, police indicated there would be a full investigation by Vancouver Police and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team because he was Tasered.

Whenever there is an “in custody death,” a coroner’s inquiry is mandatory, said Jeff Dolan, director for the coroner’s service.

The cause of death wasn’t revealed after Frachette died because an inquest was going to take place by a coroner and jury.

But the inquiry could be a year or more away, depending when, or if, Toffan’s trial goes ahead.

“Due to the fact there is a criminal investigation going on, we can’t compromise that investigation and we would be interviewing the same witnesses,” said Dolan.

He said a coroner’s jury is made up of the same pool of people used in criminal trials.

Coroner's inquest into Chilliwack taser death gets under way

November 18, 2009
Robert Freeman - Chilliwack Progress

Robert Knipstrom's father fought back tears yesterday as he described his son to a coroner's jury that's looking into his death two years ago after he was tasered, pepper-sprayed and hit with a metal baton by Chilliwack RCMP officers.

"He was a lovable kid," Knipstrom said. "Everybody loved him."

He said his 36-year-old son called him from the EZE-Rent-It Centre in Chilliwack at about 3 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2007, saying the truck he was using to return a wood-chipper wouldn't start.

"He sounded normal. He wasn't excited or anything," Knipstrom told the coroner's jury.

But something set off Robert Knipstrom in the next few minutes, first turning him into a customer cowering inside the rental shop afraid to go outside, and then into a raging madman fighting off the two police officers who came to help him.

Twice Knipstrom begged the officers, who were unaware he'd been tasered before, not to turn their tasers on him again.

An expert in "excited delirium" - a disputed medical condition allegedly brought on by cocaine abuse that renders the victim resistant to pain while bestowing extra-ordinary strength - is expected to testify at the inquest later this week.

An autopsy report cites a lack of oxygen and "illicit drugs" as the official causes of death, inquest counsel Rod MacKenzie said Monday at the start of the hearings.

A toxicologist and legal counsel for the doctor who treated Knipstrom at Chilliwack General Hospital are also expected to testify at the inquest.

Knipstrom's father allegedly told police at the scene that his son smoked marijuana "regularly" and used cocaine, but he did not know if his son had used any that day. Knipstrom made no mention of his son's drug use during his testimony Tuesday.

Knipstrom was eventually tasered at least five times by police officers, but it appears only one had any effect. It's unclear whether that's because the probes did not make proper contact, or because Knipstrom was feeling no pain because of the "excited delirium" syndrome.

RCMP Cpl. Bruce Abbott finally took Knipstrom down by grabbing him with his hands and "gently" rolling him to the ground while other officers grabbed his arms and legs.

But Abbott agreed he was able to take that action only because he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"(He) was coming at me quickly, and I didn't want to be fumbling with my pepper spray," Abbott said.

If Knipstrom had been armed, the 39-year veteran agreed, he would have been forced to consider other options to keep him from leaving the shop and harming himself or others.

"Yes, the options would have changed," Abbott said.

Knipstrom remained lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back even after he was taken to hospital because he continued to struggle and scream unintelligible "jibberish."

Coroner Vincent Stancato asked several witnesses whether they had ever been advised about the risk of leaving a patient in a prone or face-down position.

Chilliwack Fire Captain Jim Clarke said a patient can breathe while lying on their stomach, if they are conscious, "but if they lose consciousness the airway can become restricted."

But Knipstrom was very conscious and did not appear to have any difficulty breathing, despite his prone position.

Clarke said if he felt the police handcuffs were affecting Knipstrom's breathing, he would have cut them off himself, if need be, because the patient's medical condition takes priority.

At the hospital, RCMP Const. Cynthia Kershaw said Knipstrom was strapped "face-down" into a bed in a "quiet room" because he was "showing signs he was still ready to fight."

But at about 4:28 p.m. he suddenly stopped breathing, she said.

"He wasn't screaming anymore. He wasn't responding. Obviously something was not OK," she said.

Doctors and nurses were able to get Knipstrom's heart beating again at 4:55 p.m. He was then transferred to Surrey Memorial Hospital where he was put on life support until he died shortly after midnight on Nov. 24.

RCMP Const. Pam Skelton said she thought about turning Knipstrom onto his back that first night at Chilliwack General Hospital, but a paramedic advised her to wait for a nurse to administer a sedative first.

She said Knipstrom's apparent pain, not any difficulty breathing, prompted her to think about turning him onto his back.

"No, I didn't see he was having difficulty breathing," she said. "It's more that he was in pain."

Skelton broke into tears when she recalled the only intelligible words she heard Knipstrom utter during his noisy struggles that night.

"I love my family, I love my family, he said it twice," she said.

The inquest continues.

Video of man who died after Tasering may be released

November 18, 2009
By Katie Mercer, Vancouver Province

VANCOUVER — The video footage of an aboriginal man who died in custody after being Tasered while hog-tied is one step closer to being released.

Clayton Alvin Willey died shortly after being arrested in July 2003 for creating a disturbance at a strip mall in Prince George, B.C.

The RCMP security footage shows Willey being Tasered repeatedly while hog-tied, falling headfirst out of a police cruiser and dragged facedown through the Prince George detachment.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said Tuesday that the RCMP will be meeting with the family on Nov. 30 to discuss the full video’s release.

“I got a phone call from the family’s lawyer saying that he talked to the RCMP and that . . . they would discuss the full contents of the investigative file, as well as all the video they have, and if the family agreed, they would release the videotape,” said Eby.

Willey’s sister, Bryna Willey, said she was unaware of the particulars surrounding the release and forwarded all questions to her lawyer, Simon Wagstaffe. He could not be reached for comment.

The family had previously provided the RCMP with a notarized release supporting a freedom of information request to release the video. The request was denied, with Mounties citing privacy concerns.

Grand Chief Stewart Philip, of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who viewed what he called the “sickening” video himself, said the family has turned down an offer to view the video solely in private.

“What the family is saying is they want a complete publication of the video in its entirety,” said Phillip. “They want full disclosure.”

Eby said he believes the release of the video will put pressure on politicians to reform police investigations.

“It’s an embarrassing video, it’s a deeply disturbing video and I think it’s one that will really compromise the image of the RCMP in the eyes of the public,” said Eby. “I think it’s something they don’t need right now, and I don’t blame them for not wanting to release it, but its their legal obligation to.”

Provincial Solicitor-General Kash Heed told reporters he was confident the RCMP will respect the family’s wishes to release the footage.

Death raises questions about taser safety AKA Rick Jones you're an ASSHOLE

Since the beginning of November, THREE American citizens have DROPPED DEAD after they were tasered. But US State Representative Rick Jones INSISTS tasers are SAFE. This guy definitely qualifies for a TASER BADGE OF IGNORANCE.

November 17, 2009 5:20 PM
(NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Just how safe are tasers, in the hands of police or anyone else? It's a question that has gained new ground after the death of a man in police custody Monday night.

State Representative Rick Jones has been a passionate advocate for tasers, in particular, making them available for ordinary citizens to carry. Rep. Jones went as far as to allow himself to be tasered in the State House in 2008.

The East Grand Rapids neighborhood where Matthew Bolick was tasered by police on Monday night was calming down Tuesday after a night many will remember. Newschannel 3 spoke with members of Bolick's family who told us that there is another side to the story and are horrified by what happened.

While Bolick's death has raised question on the issue of tasers, one lawmaker says what officers did on Monday night was the right thing.

Rep. Rick Jones allowed himself to be tasered in the State House in 2008, and now the former Eaton County Sheriff is speaking out again in the wake of Bolick's death.

"Certainly I think the taser is a good instrument for a police officer to use," said Rep. Jones. "I wouldn't call it a non-lethal weapon, I would call it a less than lethal weapon."

While the investigation continues into whether the three or four taser shots he took had anything to do with Bolick's death, there's long been a push to not only put tasers into the hands of police officers, but to put a single-shot taser into the hands of just about anybody.

So far, a pair of deaths involving tasers in Michigan have put a temporary halt to the legislation.

"I believe using a taser is much safer than striking somebody with a baton and that's what was used many, many years ago," said Jones.

In the case of Matthew Bolick, he was tasered multiple times, and an investigation has begun to see if those actions were warranted.

A citizen taser has been approved in nearly all 50 states, but in the big picture, the human rights group Amnesty International says it has documented more than 350 cases in which people have died after being shocked with tasers. Leaders at that organization believe more research needs to be done to see how effective the less than lethal weapon is for law enforcement.

Rep. Jones is standing steadfast in his belief that tasers work, and when they do kill, there are usually other factors contributing to the death.

"It's normally when they have a heart full of cocaine and some illicit drugs," said Jones, "they have damaged their body and they don't react like a normal human being."

Robert Knipstrom's father tells coroner's inquest about son's death

November 17, 2009
Suzanne Fournier, The Province

The father of Robert Knipstrom broke down in tears as he unexpectedly took the stand at a coroner's inquest Tuesday.

RCMP were called to control Knipstrom at the EZE Rent-it Centre in Chilliwack on Nov. 19, 2007 after the man became distraught and refused to leave and employee-only area.

Knipstrom was pepper sprayed, struck with batons and tasered at least six times by Chilliwack RCMP. He died in Surrey Memorial Hospital five days later.

At least eight RCMP officers were handling Knipstrom when his father, also named Robert Knipstrom, responded to his son's telephone call for help and arrived at the Chilliwack business.

Three young officers, who have testified at the coroner's inquest, said they tried pepper spray and Tasers to control Knipstrom, with little effect.

An RCMP officer, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, said he emptied his pepper-spray can into Knipstrom's face and also struck him repeatedly with a baton, although he said the blows to the head that badly bloodied Knipstrom were "accidentally" inflicted.

When Knipstrom's father arrived at the EZE rent-it centre, his son was lying facedown in handcuffs, covered in blood, howling and did not respond to his father's attempts to speak to him.

Knipstrom Sr. said his son, 36 when he died, was very "sports-minded" and played baseball, soccer and even basketball, although he was "a small kid, short."

He said his son became a skilled tree-topper who had his own business for 10 years.

"He was very generous, bringing his mother flowers and was very close to all his family," Knipstrom's father said.

After his son was taken away by ambulance, Knipstrom Sr. said he prepared to drive his son's abandoned pickup away but was called immediately to hospital.

There, he and wife Jo were astonished to learn "he'd gone into cardiac arrest" and resuscitation was attempted for 28 minutes before his heart restarted.

"He was on life support," said Knipstrom's stricken father.

"He was brain-damaged. His heart wouldn't run on its own. He stayed on life support and kidney dialysis and then he died," he said, breaking down again.

Two members of Chilliwack Fire and Rescue also gave evidence Tuesday morning.

Fire Capt. Jim Clarke testified he would have taken off Knipstrom's handcuffs himself if he thought help was urgently needed, but Clarke said the man appeared to be breathing well and had "a clear airway."

Firefighter Andy Brown said that he offered Knipstrom oxygen twice but that the man became more agitated and refused help. Brown said he helped clean some of the blood off Knipstrom's head, which appeared to have minor lacerations.

RCMP lawyer Helen Roberts argued against the release of the video, which was given to reporters Monday, saying it should be released only after police, ambulance and fire officials have completed their testimony at the inquest.

The inquest is slated to continue until friday.

Knipstrom taser video released

November 17, 2009
Suzanne Fournier, The Province

A disturbing video of the arrest of a blood-covered, screaming man was screened in a coroner's court on Monday. The video of the RCMP arrest of Robert Thurston Knipstrom, who died in hospital on Nov. 24, 2007, five days after he was Tasered, pepper-sprayed and struck by police batons, was taken by the RCMP.

See the video here.

RCMP lawyer Helen Roberts opposed its release to the media, but coroner's counsel Rodrick MacKenzie noted the parents were not opposed to making the video public and coroner Vincent Stancato released it. Knipstrom, 36, is shown in the video handcuffed face-down on the floor of a Chilliwack rental shop, his face and head completely covered with blood, howling in pain, while several RCMP officers restrain him and paramedics try to help him.

The video was so disturbing that Knipstrom's parents, Bob and Jo Knipstrom, left the courtroom while it was screened. Russ Walsh, owner of the Chilliwack EZE Rent-it Centre where Knipstrom was Tasered, pepper-sprayed and struck with batons, testified Knipstrom was aggressive, although another witness said he was frightened. Walsh testified that Knipstrom, whom he knew slightly as a customer, appeared agitated, as though he had taken drugs, and tried to climb the stairs to the store's office despite repeated warnings not to do so.

"I believe the most relevant thing to Robert's reaction was that six months before, he'd been walking innocently in Rosedale with a can of gas, and police responding to a break-and-enter talked to him," said Walsh. "That didn't go well and he was Tasered at that time." Walsh said he thought Knipstrom was terrified of Tasers.

Walsh said Knipstrom was "scaring the ladies here" with erratic and aggressive behaviour that day. Knipstrom was seen by the inquest's first witness, Sherry Kassian, driving erratically in his pickup truck. Kassian, who worked in a nearby shop, phoned Walsh to warn him about the odd driving behaviour.

Walsh testified he called police after Knipstrom refused to get off the stairs and leave, and that when two RCMP officers walked over from their detachment across the road, Knipstrom was combative and aggressive. The male RCMP officer, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified that Knipstrom pursued him and that he emptied his pepper-spray can and fired his Taser once into Knipstrom's jacket, all with no effect.

The officer testified that he struck Knipstrom with his baton but only "accidentally" on the head. "He got up and came at [RCMP] almost zombie-like," said the officer, adding that by the time backup officers arrived, "I was totally done. I was tapped out."

Another RCMP officer then hit Knipstrom again with a Taser. B.C. Civil Liberties' executive director David Eby called the Knipstrom video "shocking and really disturbing" after viewing it in The Province newsroom, noting the video underscores the need for independent investigation of police.

"They admit they need an external body to do investigations ... the public doesn't trust them any more," noted Eby. "I don't put any stock in their accounts - it's hard to believe they did everything properly, given the blood and extent of injuries involved.

Michigan man dies after he is tasered

November 16, 2009: Matthew Bolick, 30, East Grand Rapids, Michigan

RCMP urged to release arrest tape of man who died

November 17, 2009
Mark Hume, Globe and Mail

Clayton Alvin Willey died of a heart attack several hours after police knocked him to the ground, hog-tied him, kicked him in the chest, pepper sprayed him and used a taser on him repeatedly.

Although the incident took place in 2003 and the arresting officers were cleared of any wrongdoing, an aboriginal leader and civil rights critics called yesterday for the release of an RCMP video they say shows police used excessive force.

“I had an opportunity to see an edited version of the video and I can tell you it was sickening, it was very, very difficult to watch and it stirred a deep anger within myself,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said at a news conference.

Mr. Phillip said the video shows Mr. Willey, a Métis, with his hands cuffed behind his back and tied to his feet, being dragged into the police station while RCMP officers repeatedly taser him.

“I was very disturbed, very emotional … in many ways it was worse than watching the Dziekanski tape,” he said, referring to a video shot at Vancouver International Airport in 2007, when RCMP officers used a taser on Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died while being arrested after making a disturbance in the arrivals area.

The Dziekanski video generated worldwide media coverage and led to a public inquiry that recommended police adopt tougher rules on the use of tasers.

“The point of this press conference is to draw public attention to this horrific incident,” said Mr. Phillip, who hopes to trigger an “outcry across this country similar to the Dziekanski case.”

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, and John Butt, a forensic pathologist, echoed Mr. Phillip's views, and said there will be public anger if people get to see the video.

The video was entered in evidence in an October, 2004, coroner's inquest, which did not find fault with the police officers. The video was brought to the attention of Mr. Phillip recently by Leonard Cler-Cunningham, a writer researching aboriginal deaths in custody.

Mr. Cler-Cunningham said Mr. Willey's family has signed an authorization asking the RCMP to release the video, but the police have declined to do so.

“The reason the RCMP in Ottawa refused to release it is because it would be a violation of Clay Willey's right to personal privacy. I've encountered this in every single aboriginal death in custody under investigation. It's insulting. It's disgusting. Do not use an individual's right to personal privacy to shield yourself from investigation,” he said, directing his comments to police.

Mr. Cler-Cunningham said Mr. Willey was treated brutally.

“I believe it meets the standard of torture,” he said. “Do you need to taser a man who is handcuffed and hog-tied, seemingly immobile and prone?”

RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields said the video is not being released because of privacy concerns, but he said police are “more than happy to share all file details with the family and first nations leaders.” The RCMP could not be reached later for comment on Mr. Cler-Cunningham's remarks.

The findings of the coroner's inquest state that several people made 911 calls to the RCMP in Prince George in July, 2003, after frightening encounters with Mr. Willey, who was reportedly armed with a knife.

The coroner's report states that when police confronted Mr. Willey, he refused to lie on the ground and, with blood and foam coming from his mouth, advanced on a female officer.

One officer drew his handgun, but put it away when he saw Mr. Willey was not armed. Police tackled Mr. Willey and one officer kicked him “in an attempt to gain ‘pain compliance.'”

Police testified they also used pepper spray and that even after he was hog-tied, Mr. Willey “continued to thrash around and attempt to free himself.”

Police said they used tasers at the cellblock in an attempt to subdue Mr. Willey.

A pathologist's report found evidence of two apparent taser burns, numerous abrasions, contusions, six broken ribs and brain swelling from a head injury.

The pathologist, D.J. McNaughton, testified that Mr. Willey died of a heart attack brought on by a cocaine overdose and said that “in his opinion the use of the taser did not contribute to Mr. Willey's death.”

Mr. Willey was arrested at about 5:15 p.m. Police called an ambulance at 5:36, after he was “touch stunned” by a taser at the jail cell. He had a heart attack in the ambulance, and was pronounced dead the next morning at 9:05.

Inquest begins into 2007 Taser death of Robert Knipstrom

November 16, 2009
CTV News BC

A coroner's inquest began Monday into the November 2007 death of Robert Knipstrom, who was Tasered during a struggle with a rookie RCMP officer.

Knipstrom, a 36-year-old arbourist, was taken to hospital but died four days later.

Knipstrom had gone to EZ Rental in Chilliwack to return a wood chipper. The store's owner, Russ Walsh, told the inquest that Knipstrom was twitchy and erratic.

When Knipstrom refused to leave the store, police were called.

The officer who tried to arrest Knipstrom testified that Knipstrom lunged at him.

He said that he used his pepper spray, his baton and his Taser to get him under control.

"I was trying to get away from him ... he was chasing me around the store ... I was getting tired," the officer testified.

"This guy seemed bound and determined to hurt me ...I was running out of options."

The officer cannot be identified because he now works undercover.

Mike Berube, a former worker at the store, said Knipstrom did not appear aggressive to him.

"From what I saw he just wanted to get away. And the two officers just wanted to hold him down," Berube told reporters outside the hearing. "It didn't look like they were rushing him. It didn't look like he was rushing them. They were just trying to corral him."

Knipstrom was Tasered twice. Police pulled the Taser probes from his back after taking him down.

Knipstrom's father later arrived to calm his son down.

An autopsy showed the cause of death to be lack of oxygen and the drug Ecstasy.

The role the Taser played will be examined later in the inquest.

Police taser video 'worse than Dziekanski' says chief

These images were borrowed from a Facebook site set up by Clay Willey's family in his honour - see the Facebook Group "PLEASE HELP THE WILLEY FAMILY PUT A STOP TO TAZER DEATHS IN OUR COUNTRY".

November 16, 2009
By Colleen Kimmett, The Tyee

Aboriginal and civil rights groups are demanding RCMP release a video of man who died after being tasered in a police holding cell in 2003.

The video reportedly shows Clay Willey, an aboriginal man, being tasered while hog-tied on the floor of the cell at a Prince George RCMP detachment. The officers involved in the incident have not been identified.

At a press conference this morning, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said the four-minute long clip was "sickening" and "very, very difficult to watch."

"Clearly, they were trying to shut him up by using a taser."

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said he hopes media attention will pressure RCMP to release the video. "We believe it will cause an outcry," Eby said.

Writer Leonard Cler-Cunningham, who uncovered the video during the course of a five-year investigation on aboriginal deaths in custody, brought it to the attention of Eby and Phillip about six months ago. He thanked the RCMP for making the video available to him, but said police refuse to release to the public in order to protect Willey's privacy.

"They're using the right to privacy to protect themselves," he said.

A coroner's inquest into Willey’s death conducted in October of 2004 determined that he died of a cocaine overdose. According to the report, Willey had been acting erratically in the parking lot of a Prince George mall when police picked him up. He was handcuffed and taken to the local detachment, where police said they "touch stunned" him with a Taser after he continued to struggle and kick. Less than 45 minutes passed between the time he was picked up at the mall and the time an ambulance arrived at the detachment. Willey died en route to the hospital.

Dr. John C. Butt, a specialist in forensic pathology, noted that touch stun is a less debilitating mode on the Taser gun and said it wasn't clear how many times it was deployed. He questioned why police would taser a man who was already tied up and face down, and called it a "cruel and unnecessary act."

A media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP detachment said he was not aware of any internal investigation into the officers' actions.

Community demands release of videotape of in-custody death

Union of BC Indian Chiefs and BC Civil Liberties Association

Nov 16, 2009 14:32 ET

Attention: Assignment Editor, News Editor, World News Editor, Government/Political Affairs Editor

VANCOUVER, BC, PRESS RELEASE--(Marketwire - Nov. 16, 2009) - Representatives of a leading aboriginal and civil society group, along with a forensic pathologist and a journalist gathered yesterday to demand the release of security footage taken in an RCMP lockup that shows the Taser-related death of Clayton Alvin Willie, an aboriginal man.

Willie was arrested in 2003 for creating a public disturbance in Prince George, British Columbia, and died that same day following his interaction with police with a head injury and multiple broken ribs. RCMP officials acknowledge he was repeatedly Tasered while hog tied at the Prince George RCMP detachment.

Security camera footage from the jail of the incident was edited by the RCMP, and the RCMP retains a copy of the edited footage. Representatives of the UBCIC and BCCLA, along with Dr. John Butt and Leonard Cler-Cunningham, the independent journalist who uncovered the existence of the video, have viewed the edited footage.

"Even the edited footage shows Mr. Willie hog tied and being dragged around the Prince George RCMP detachment and being Tasered while lying helpless on his stomach," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of Union of BC Indian Chiefs. "If you treated any animal the way Mr. Willie was treated, there is little doubt that you would be facing criminal cruelty charges. Astonishingly, the officers involved here are still on active duty."

The original footage may be lost, or may be in the custody of the RCMP or Coroner's Office. Both offices have refused to release the edited or the full video to the public citing privacy concerns, despite receiving a notarized release from Clayton Willie's family.

"This video must get out to the public, in the same way that the Dziekanski video was released, so that there can be some justice for Clayton Alvin Willie," said David Eby, Executive Director of the BCCLA.

=================

Backgrounder

Who was involved in this incident?
In January, 2009, two of the RCMP officers involved in the Willie case were found by Provincial Court Judge Micheal Brecknell to have taken deliberate steps to ensure the loss of Prince George detachment videotape of another Taser abuse allegation. RCMP will not confirm whether those officers are still on active duty, but media reports indicate that investigative action was taken by the RCMP into that finding.

What is the content of the video?
* There are no date or time codes in the edited videotape.
* The video shows an RCMP SUV arriving at the Prince George Detachment garage.
* The video cuts away before RCMP say Clayton is pulled, hog tied, from the back seat of the SUV and allowed to drop, full weight, on his chest and possibly on his face.
* Clayton is then dragged down a hallway, with his hands bound behind his back and tethered to his feet, into an elevator. His head hits the doorway on his way into the elevator and he does not register any response.
* In the elevator, an RCMP officer can be seen targeting his Taser on Clayton's back and kneeling down and applying the device to Clayton's back.
* Clayton is then dragged out of the elevator into the booking area of the detachment. A number of RCMP officers, including senior officers are seen observing while the two male officers handling Mr. Willie Taser him at least twice more.
* Mr. Willie appears to lose consciousness, and an ambulance attends the scene.
* The RCMP advise that ambulance attendants ask the officers present to loosen Mr. Willie's handcuffs because his hands are "black". The video shows officers loosening his handcuffs.
* Still hog tied, Mr. Willie is loaded onto the stretcher, wrapped in blankets, and taken to the local hospital.
* He has a massive heart attack en route to the hospital and dies, which is not shown on the video.

What is the video?
The video reviewed by the representatives at the press conference is an edited compilation of the surveillance videotape taken at the RCMP Prince George detachment. It, and possibly the full, unedited footage, is in the possession of the RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service.

What were the consequences of these actions?
The RCMP investigation found that all interactions with Mr. Willie were "routine" and there was no discipline as a result.

=================

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).
Grand Chief Phillip has been married for twenty-two years to his wife Joan. They have four grown sons, two daughters, four granddaughters and four grandsons. Grand Chief Phillip was elected to a fourth consecutive term as Chief of the Penticton Indian Band and is Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance.
Office: (604) 684-0231
Cell: (250) 490-5314
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/

David Eby, Executive Director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA)
David Eby is the 33-year-old Executive Director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. An adjunct professor of law at the University of British Columbia, David is also the President of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Phone:778.865.7997
Email: david@bccla.org
Website: http://www.bccla.org/

Dr. John C. Butt is a highly-qualified specialist in forensic medicine and pathology, having served as Chief Medical Examiner for the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia, and also as president of the National Association of Medical Examiners in the United States.
Office: 604.738.0878
Email: pathfinderforum@gmail.com
Website: www.pathfinderforum.com

Leonard Cler-Cunningham is a writer. He lives with his daughter Hailey in Vancouver BC. His book and documentary on Aboriginal deaths in custody is due out next year.
Phone: 604.298.7585
Email: lencler@gmail.com

/For further information: Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the UBCIC - (250) 490-5314; David Eby, Executive Director of the BCCLA – (778) 865-7997; Dr. John C. Butt, Forensic Pathologist – (604) 738-0878; Leonard Cler-Cunningham, writer - (604) 298-7585/

Trial date set for officer in Winnfield Taser death

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former Winnfield police officer accused of repeatedly jolting a handcuffed man with a Taser before he died is scheduled to be tried on manslaughter and malfeasance in office charges in February.

Former police officer Scott Nugent's trial originally was scheduled to start July 13, but it was postponed so a key witness, Winn Parish Coroner Randolph Williams, could recover from an accidental gunshot wound.

A spokesman for Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Thursday that Nugent's trial now is scheduled to start Feb. 9 and last about a week.
In January 2008, Nugent allegedly shocked 21-year-old Baron Pikes nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser while arresting him.

New York man dies

November 14, 2009: Darryl Bain, 43, Long Island, New York

Texas man dead after police use taser

November 13, 2009: Herman George Knabe, 58, Corpus Christi, Texas

Winnipeg Police Service following taser recommendations, Council told

November 9, 2009
By: Bartley Kives, Winnipeg Free Press

The Winnipeg Police Service is already following most of the recommendations of B.C.'s Braidwood Inquiry into taser use, city councillors were told this morning.

Earlier this year, Winnipeg's police were asked to respond to 19 recommendations made by the Braidwood Inquiry, which issued a report following its examination of the death of Polish airport visitor Robert Dziekanski following multiple taser discharges by RCMP officers.

Const. Hank Bergen, a Winnipeg police use-of-force expert, appeared before council's protection and community services committee to dissect all 19 Braidwood recommendations and said most but not all are already followed by a police service that's highly trained in protocols governing taser use.

That said, recommendations to only use tasers to enforce criminal-code offences or when officers are certain bodily harm will take place will not be implemented, Bergen said, because police need to have all enforcement options at their disposal and could place themselves or others in danger if they stop and consider too many variables in emergency situations.

Another recommendation -- to stop deploying taser probes on police trainees during testing -- was put into place several months ago, police Chief Keith McCaskill said. Trainees are now zapped in stun-drive mode -- that is, without the projectile probes -- instead.

Yet another recommendation to place defibrillators in all police vehicles may not be feasible, but Winnipeg's police will explore the idea anyway because the devices could prove useful in a variety of medical situations, McCaskill said.

TASER TORTURE - Blogging for Justice Day - December 4, 2009

Register your blog for this year’s 2nd annual “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on December 4, 2009 via email: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com

Who's Participating (as of today) - This page is updated daily.

Pam’s House Blend
Excited-Delirium
Electronic Village
Police Brutality Blog
African American Political Pundit
BlackPerspective.net
Francis Holland Blog
Tasered While Black
TheDuckShoot.com/blog
From My Brown Eyed View
All About Race
Black Women In Europe. blog
Antoinette’s “Point of View”
Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo
HateCrimeWatch
MyBlackView
A Lovely Promise
The Unapologetic Mexican
Truth ... not tasers

H/T to stoptasertorture

Excited-Delirium.com said...
I'm averaging almost two posts per day (672 in 2008, 689 in 2009 to date) on the issue of tasers and their overuse, misuse and abuse, and their purported "safety". So I guess for some of us, Friday 4 December 2009 will be just another day.

Media advisory from the Canadian Civil Rights Movement

Vancouver, November 4, 2009
Canadian Civil Rights Movement

The Canadian Civil Rights Movement suggests that the suit being brought by Cst. Kwesi Millington, against the CBC, is a desperate and cynical ploy similar to the legal action and current appeal challenging the authority of the Braidwood Commission. It is not uncommon for an individual attempting to escape responsibility for his actions and discredit the source of the evidence against him.

A democratic society demands that its law enforcement agencies be transparent and accountable. An unfettered media is the key to a well informed public. The suit against the national public broadcaster and a major media source is an attempt to send a message and threaten other media outlets and broadcasters. It is intended to intimidate and silence the media which has been pursuing the truth and reporting it to Canadians.

The public and the media should view this action also as nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt at avoiding accountability and transparency of an RCMP culture and a waste of resources and taxpayers money, at diversionary tactics.

Zygmunt Riddle
www.civilrightsmovement.ca

RCMP defend Taser use on girl, 16

November 5, 2009
CBC News

A Selkirk, Man., RCMP officer denies any wrongdoing in the case of a teenage girl who says she was injured with a Taser while in police custody two years ago.

The incident, and a resulting lawsuit by the girl against the RCMP, the City of Selkirk, the province and the federal justice minister, have raised concerns about the use of Tasers by police on minors.

In a statement of defence obtained by CBC News on Wednesday, Const. Roger Gavel asks Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench to throw out the lawsuit, saying the use of the stun gun on the girl was legitimate.

"The actions of the RCMP members … were justified, and necessary, in the circumstances," the documents said.

Gavel's defence — written by a lawyer from the federal Department of Justice — was filed on Oct. 14.

The girl, who was 16 when taken to the Selkirk RCMP detachment on Nov. 3, 2007, is seeking an unspecified amount of financial damages for physical and emotional trauma. She cannot be named because of provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The teenager was taken into custody after she and some friends were found drunk in her parents' van, which her mother had reported stolen.

In her statement of claim, the girl says she was put in a cell by several officers, and after punching or shoving one of them, was allegedly shoved onto the floor, knelt on by four officers, and hit with a stun gun in her thighs three times.

In the documents, Gavel admits that a stun gun was used, but only after "it became necessary to physically restrain [the girl, and] fit her with a spit mask."

Contrary to the girl's claims of being shocked numerous times, the documents said the Taser was "successfully applied" only once to the inside of the girl's thigh.

"[She] neither requested, nor presented as requiring, medical attention," the documents said.

The girl was only being held at the detachment at the request of her mother, who refused to come and take her home, the documents said.

No criminal charges were ever laid in connection to the stolen vehicle complaint, and no trial date for the lawsuit to be heard in court has been set.

Gavel and the attorney general claim powers granted them under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act afforded them the authority to use force in this case.

Taser use on kids
After the lawsuit was filed, the teen's lawyer, Katherine Dunn, called for a moratorium on the use of stun guns on minors.

"There doesn’t seem to be any reason being brought forward why they’re not placing a moratorium on the use of Tasers against anyone, and particular, young people," Dunn told CBC News. "Because there has been incidents of deaths as a result of the use of Tasers," she said.

In early February, Ontario's child advocate called for the Ontario Provincial Police to stop using the devices after a 14-year-old girl with fetal alcohol syndrome was shocked while in police custody in Sioux Lookout, Ont.

Youth and justice advocates in the Northwest Territories quickly followed suit in their criticism of the practice.

In July, 2008, 17-year-old Michael Langan died after police used a stun gun on him in a central Winnipeg alleyway.

RCMP officer who fired Taser at Robert Dziekanski sues CBC for libel

November 4, 2009
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The RCMP officer who fired his Taser at Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport the night the Polish immigrant died has filed a libel lawsuit against the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In a writ of summons filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Const. Kwesi Millington asks for damages from the CBC and claims the network's publications and broadcasts have defamed him.

Millington was one of four officers who confronted Dziekanski at the airport in October 2007, and he fired his Taser within seconds of arriving on the scene.

The incident gained worldwide attention after amateur video of the altercation was released, which appeared to contradict official accounts from the RCMP.

In the writ, which doesn't specify what the CBC published or broadcast that was defamatory, Millington says his reputation has been seriously injured, he has suffered embarrassment and distress, and has been brought into public ridicule.

The writ contains allegations that haven't been proven in court and the CBC could not immediately be reached for comment.

A public inquiry examining Dziekanski's death wrapped up last month.

www.excited-delirium.com

MUST READ: www.excited-delirium.com.

Tasers: Deadly or useful devices?

November 1, 2009
Jerry Mitchell, Clarion Ledger

Hundreds of Americans, including several in Mississippi, have died after being shocked with high-voltage stun guns touted as a nonlethal way to subdue suspects.

But world-renowned pathologist Michael Baden of New York City warns these high-voltage devices "can be a deadly weapon - just like a gun."

Since 2001, more than 351 people have died after being shocked with stun guns, according to information gathered by Amnesty International. The group has called for these weapons to be restricted or suspended until further research can be done.

As recently as June, officials from Taser International, the largest manufacturer of these stun guns, declared the Taser incapable of causing death, saying just because the devices were used on people who later died doesn't prove the Tasers caused the deaths.

But earlier this month, Taser officials advised law enforcement officers for the first time to avoid shooting the weapons at a suspect's chest because of the controversy over whether they affect the heart.

The company has never said Tasers are risk-free, said Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle. "But we've found the Taser is the safer response to resistance when compared to traditional use of force, such as batons, nightsticks, punches and kicks."

Yet at least five people have died in Mississippi after law enforcement officers used Tasers on the suspects reportedly resisting arrest or causing a disturbance.

Tuttle notes in these and other such cases authorities have concluded the devices weren't to blame.

In a number of wrongful death lawsuits, pathologists testifying on behalf of Taser have said people died of "excited delirium" - a term popularized in the 1980s to explain sudden deaths associated with cocaine.

A 2006 report co-published by the Justice Department described this state as one of extreme excitement and agitation, hostility and exceptional strength, along with a life-threatening rise in body temperature.

Tuttle cited a case involving a man in Philadelphia who was naked and high when he was shocked with a Taser. The man later died. "He was overheating, overdosing on cocaine," he said.

But last year, Taser lost its first case at trial when a California jury ordered the company to pay the family of Robert Heston $1 million in actual damages and $5.2 million in punitive damages after Salinas police shocked him multiple times with the weapon on Feb. 20, 2005.

The jury cleared the officers of any liability and concluded Heston, who was high on meth, was 85 percent responsible for his own death. That means Taser will have to pay 15 percent of the $1 million but all the punitive damages.

Baden said to accept the Taser industry's contention these more than 351 deaths "are really the result of excited delirium that occurs independent of Taser use and coincidentally at the same time as Taser use requires the willing suspension of disbelief. Many of my colleagues do accept this contention. I do not."

Excited delirium isn't recognized by the medical community in general or the psychiatric community in particular, he said. "It is a diagnosis that remains limited to deaths in official custody."

He recently examined a case in which 21-year-old Baron Pikes was stunned by a Taser after he tried to run from police in Winnfield, La., in January 2008. Pikes' death was ruled a homicide, and then-officer Scott Nugent is charged with manslaughter.

Baden concluded Pikes' death "was directly caused by the cumulative effects of approximately nine 50,000-volt electroshocks from a conductive electric weapon administered during an approximately 30-minute time period after he had been handcuffed."

According to the coroner's report, Pikes stopped twitching after the seventh time he was shocked.

Winnfield police said Taser officials had told them multiple shocks didn't affect a person.

Tuttle said that while "Taser International stands behind the safety of its life-saving technology," there needs to be "clear use-of-force policies, stringent oversight and recurrent certified training."

Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel, who has equipped all 41 of his deputies with Tasers, said proper training is critical. "It's a tool. You don't just give a gun to an officer and say, 'Go fight crime.'"

Rigel keeps four Taser instructors on his staff.

Training includes getting shocked - something he said he also went through. "It lets you know what the effects are," Rigel said.

Tasers now record the time, date and duration of the use of the device, Tuttle said.

Mississippi has seen cases where authorities tortured people with stun guns.

In April, William and Jeffrey Rogers - a father and son who were Tippah County sheriff's deputies - went to federal prison for shocking inmate Jimmy Hunsucker Jr. repeatedly with a Taser.

Hunsucker, who had been arrested on a DUI charge in June 2007, had allegedly cursed and threatened deputies. Deputies used the Taser on him until he lost control of his bowels.

In another case in February 2006, 40-year-old suspect Jessie Lee Williams Jr. was beaten to death in the booking room of the Harrison County jail. Several burns caused by a Taser were found on his body, according to testimony.

Former jailer Ryan Teel is serving a life sentence in federal prison for charges related to Williams' killing.

Seven states have banned the weapons, but in Mississippi civilians can obtain one without a permit or background check.

"To the extent it has become a potentially deadly device, I think it's something the Legislature may look at placing restrictions on," said state Rep. Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg.

Justice Department officials have warned against multiple shocks by the Taser but found "no conclusive medical evidence within the state of current research that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of (Taser) exposure."

Tuttle pointed to several studies showing the use of Tasers reduced the number of the shootings by officers.

Rigel said he can vouch for the fact the devices save lives.

"I know of three different instances where we prevented 'suicide-by-cop,'" said Rigel, who took office in 2004. "We were able to take each subject into custody with no harm to him."

Tasers have reduced the number of brutality claims as well as workers' compensation claims, too, Rigel said, "because you don't have to fight people to take them into custody."

Editorial: Heart-stopping

November 1, 2009
The Frederick News-Post

The Taser people have always focused on not having their Neuromuscular Incapacitation Electronic Control Device resemble a gun. They don't want it to have to be registered as a firearm. Hence, the idea of using compressed air instead of gunpowder to deliver its incapacitating "probes," causing involuntary muscle contractions in recipients and "freezing" them "safely."

It turns out that it's not that easy.

A midmonth advisory issued by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International acknowledged that, depending on your aim, Tasers can freeze someone permanently. Researchers at the company determined that if police taser a person in the chest and near the heart, it can cause serious injury if that person is on drugs.

Apparently it can also cause death, even in people who are not on drugs. Take a cursory look at Amnesty International's List of Deaths Following Use of Stun Weapons in U.S. Law Enforcement June 2001 to August 2008. It logs 351 fatalities during that time. The word "cardiac" as in "cardiac arrest," "cardiac arrhythmia," etc., repeatedly jumps from the pages. It also reigns supreme in a main measurement category that lists the "Time between Taser use and death or cardiac arrest/loss of consciousness" for every incident.

Details read like this: "Died 72 hours later. Shocked twice in chest with darts; struggled (after shocked once in mid-chest) then collapsed and unresponsive. Pronounced dead at hospital; collapsed shortly after shocked in chest. Went into cardiac arrest; was hit by four darts at once including one in face, neck and chest. Suffered cardiac dysrhythmia at scene. Pronounced dead in hospital about an hour later."

In Maryland, as in almost every other state in the nation, the Taser is receiving closer scrutiny. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler formed a Task Force on Electronic Weapons that held two public hearings in April and is expected to issue a report by the end of this year. After the 2007 Taser-related death of 20-year-old Jarrel Gray of Frederick at the hands of a Frederick County Sheriff's Office deputy, the local and state chapters of the NAACP and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union petitioned for an independent investigation of Taser use.

Gray's parents have filed a $145 million wrongful-death lawsuit. It is unclear exactly where the Taser involved in this incident was aimed. Maryland's medical examiner's office said the young man's cause of death was sudden death connected to alcohol intoxication and restraint.

Therein lies the rub. How do we begin to unpack the many variables and mitigating circumstances that can come into play during police altercations that more often than not are fast-moving, dynamic scenarios wherein exact shot placement to a "preferred target zone" cannot be guaranteed.

We now know that something else cannot be guaranteed: the less-than-lethal-force promise once embodied by the Taser.

This latest move by Taser International to educate users via its "Taser Training Bulletin 15.0 Regarding Medical Research Update and Revised Warnings" is well-taken. But all of the training bulletins, updated and revised warnings, and resultant law enforcement policy, procedures and practice revisions can't change one all-too-evident fact.

The Taser is a lethal weapon.

Taser played role in man's death, report states

November 1, 2009
By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise

An Inland coroner's office has ruled for the first time that Taser shocks contributed to a person's death.

Marlon Acevedo, 35, was high on PCP when he clashed with Riverside police one year ago on Halloween, according to the coroner's report. He was in the street screaming at passing cars, and officers struck him with batons and shocked him several times, the report said. He died at a hospital less than an hour later.

PCP intoxication is listed in the Riverside County sheriff-coroner's office report as the primary cause of death, but an enlarged heart, Taser shocks and the physical confrontation with police are cited as significant factors.

Tasers deliver an electric shock by shooting a pair of wires tipped with sharp barbs that pierce the skin and are widely used by Inland law enforcement agencies, including the Riverside County and San Bernardino County sheriff's departments, as an alternative to lethal force.

Some critics, such as the ACLU and Amnesty International, say Tasers can lead to fatal heart problems, and that people who are mentally impaired or who are on drugs are at a higher risk of dying, especially when receiving multiple or prolonged shocks. Coroners and medical examiners elsewhere in the United States have, on occasion, determined that Tasers played a role in deaths.

Tasers have been used hundreds of time around the Inland area in recent years, and people have died after the shocks in a handful of cases. In those few deaths, coroner's officials typically have cited drug use or serious heart problems, not the Taser, as factors.

Dr. Scott McCormick, who performed the autopsy on Acevedo, said, in that case too, the Taser was one factor among many, the most important of which was PCP intoxication. Weighing all factors, including the proximity of Taser shocks to his time of death, McCormick decided the Taser should be listed as a factor.

"Absent the use of the Taser, he most likely still would have died. I don't think this is a reason to demonize the use of the Taser," McCormick said.

Riverside Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Jaybee Brennan declined to comment on the case. Acevedo's family has sued in federal court, alleging wrongful death and excessive force.

Deputy Chief Boris Robinson of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said this is the only case in which the coroner's office has cited Taser shocks as a contributing factor. Sandy Fatland, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County coroner's office, said her office has never cited them as a factor.

One of the Inland people dying after being shocked was a 19-year-old at a mental health facility in San Bernardino. He appeared agitated and was wearing a gas mask when police tried to restrain him last month. Two others died in Riverside County in July and August after encounters with sheriff's deputies near Hemet and in Moreno Valley. Authorities said the men behaved as if they had mental problems or were under the influence of drugs. Details about the causes of death in all three cases have not been released.

TASER International, the company that manufactures Taser stun guns, says the vast majority of Taser deployments have resulted in minor or no injuries.

According to a recent Taser training bulletin, the company does not agree that Tasers cause heart problems.

"Arrest scenarios often involve individuals who are in crisis and are at heightened risk of serious injury or death, regardless of actions taken by law enforcement," the bulletin says.

lawsuit filed

Acevedo was in the street outside his home on Cypress Avenue the night of Oct. 31, 2008, yelling at passing cars and screaming that he wanted to die, the report said. Two officers approached Acevedo and he "assumed a fighting stance," the coroner's report said.

When the officers tried to take him into custody, Acevedo resisted, and both officers used their batons to strike him in the arms and legs, the report says. Police officials have said Acevedo punched an officer in the eye. One officer shocked Acevedo with a Taser, which appeared to have no effect, the report said, so the officer delivered four more shocks. Finally, the officers handcuffed him.

Police officials have said Acevedo began kicking, and a third officer helped restrain him using a device called a "hobble" that controls the legs.

When paramedics arrived, Acevedo was still breathing, but soon his heart stopped, the report said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital less than an hour after the confrontation began.

According to the report, Acevedo had numerous blunt-impact injuries to his limbs, head, face and abdomen. A Taser barb was still embedded in the upper-left part of his abdomen and there were three other puncture wounds that appeared to be from Taser barbs.

Toxicology tests showed evidence of PCP and marijuana use, and Acevedo had a history of heroin use, the report said.

Samer Habbas, the attorney representing Acevedo's relatives, said they have sued the Police Department, Chief Russ Leach, officers Daniel Koehler, Jeffrey Ratkovich and James Heiting, and others. The complaint alleges the officers violated Acevedo's civil rights, wrongfully caused his death and used excessive force -- with batons and the Taser -- among other accusations.

"We're talking about a mentally incapacitated person," Habbas said. "They immediately took an aggressive approach."

"Because he has PCP in his system, he no longer is going to be considered a human being?" Habbas said.

Acevedo had two children, then ages 2 and 4. Family members could not be reached for comment.

In cases where a suspect dies in police custody, it is routine for the district attorney's office to review the case, but criminal charges rarely are filed against officers. District attorney's office spokesman John Hall said the Acevedo case is under investigation.

Saskatchewan Police Commission to review research on Tasers

October 31, 2009
Regina Leader-Post

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Police Commission is expected to meet in December to review its research on Tasers as a use-of-force option for front-line police.

“The work that we are doing by way of research — pulling materials together — will be taken to the commission in December. They will then review that and make some decisions on how they will move forward on approval or not approval of the usage of Tasers,’’ said commission executive director Murray Sawatsky.

In July of 2008, the commission, which oversees and regulates the province’s 14 municipal and First Nation police forces, placed a moratorium on the general use of CEDs by front-line officers in response to the controversies surrounding several high-profile Taser-related deaths and the lack of technical and medical information tied to their usage.

The commission, which has been tasked with developing policy and protocol on the usage of the conducted energy devices (CEDs), is expected to make its decision by the end of the year or early 2010.

Currently, under existing rules Tasers can only be utilized by special weapons and tactics team (SWAT) members in Saskatchewan.

As part of its research, the commission will be examining the recommendations in the Braidwood Report, which was released in July and setting up stringent standards for the use of CEDs by British Columbia police, and will be looking at independent medical information and submissions by interested parties.

Tennessee man dies after police taser him

Jeffrey C. Woodward, 33 arrested for filing a false police report "fell ill and died of undetermined causes"

Paul Pritchard: one man's bid to show the truth

October 29, 2009
Times Colonist

If not for Paul Pritchard, the world would likely never have known what really happened to Robert Dziekanski when he landed at Vancouver International Airport two years ago.

There would have been no Braidwood inquiry. No changes to the rules around police Taser use. No answers for the Polish immigrant's family.

It is a remarkable series of events set in motion by one man with a camera. That makes Pritchard, of Victoria, an entirely appropriate recipient of the first citizen journalism award given by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression this week.

It's not just that Pritchard grabbed his digital camera and began recording. Or that he continued when four RCMP officers arrived, even after security staff, for no legitimate reason, told him to stop.

Pritchard also gave the recording to the RCMP that night to help them with their investigation. They promised to return it in 48 hours. And when they refused to return or release the recording, Pritchard hired a lawyer and successfully fought the secrecy. Three weeks after Dziekanski's death, people could watch the horrifying images and form their own judgments.

If not for that evidence, the four officers' statements -- that they tried to calm Dziekanski; that he came at them screaming, swinging an object; that the Taser didn't knock him down so they had to wrestle him to the ground -- might have been believed. None was true.

It's appropriate that the first citizen journalism award has been bestowed by members of the mainstream media, the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

There are some who suggest that citizen journalism -- which occurs when ordinary citizens collect and disseminate information -- and traditional journalism are mutually exclusive. That is not true.

Traditional journalists are generally trained in ethical issues and screened before being hired. Decisions are made by several experienced people. Stories are edited, facts questioned. And there is accountability, through the newspaper's own checks and balances and institutions such as the B.C. Press Council.

Citizen journalists operate in a different world. Anyone can report anything, and can likely find a credulous audience, as the bizarre online misinformation floating from e-mail inbox to inbox around the world shows.

On the positive side, there are more citizens than there are journalists in even the largest news organization. Instead of 100 reporters trying to cover events in a community, there are thousands. Citizen journalists can focus on neighbourhood issues and bring expertise to specific topics. And increasingly, mainstream journalists look to citizen journalists for eyewitness reporting or specialized knowledge on topics in the news.

Most important, both are predicated on the assumption that there is an involved public, interested in information and capable of forming judgments on what is reported.

Pritchard was interviewed about the award by CBC Radio. He wonders whether, instead of grabbing his camera, he could have found a way into the secure area to talk to Dziekanski before the RCMP arrived.

"If I feel I did something wrong, or feel I didn't do enough, I think the effort I put in afterwards is enough for me to live with that," Pritchard said. It is a thoughtful response from an ethical man. And a fine recipient of a citizen journalism award, whose actions provided Canadians -- and the world -- with important truths.

24th Annual Gemini Awards

And the Gemini for Best News Magazine Segment goes to...

Frédéric Zalac, Kris Fleerackers, Doug Husby, Georges Laszuk, Alex Shprintsen
CBC News: The National

The Taser Test

Guard's memory scrutinized at Hyde inquiry

October 28, 2009
CBC News/Canadian Press

A corrections officer who helped restrain a mentally ill man moments before he died in a Halifax jail cell says his memory of what he did that morning two years ago is better today than it was when he gave a statement to the RCMP in the hours after Howard Hyde died.

Michael Green testified Wednesday at an inquiry which is trying to determine why the man never received the psychiatric help he needed and how to prevent similar deaths.

The probe has heard that the 45-year-old, who had not been taking his medication to deal with schizophrenia, was arrested for an alleged assault and taken into custody at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility on Nov. 21, 2007.

Hyde died the next morning after two struggles with guards, about 30 hours after police repeatedly stunned him with a Taser as he tried to escape from a downtown Halifax police station.

Green told the inquiry that when he gave his statement to the RCMP in 2007, he was "very emotional" after he learned of Hyde's death and he wasn't certain that he described the events he witnessed in the right order.

Green said he now has a more "vivid recollection" of the moment during the second struggle when Hyde's body went limp and he stopped responding to the officers trying to subdue him on the floor of the cell.

"I do not recall certain events in my mind today occurring in the same order that they did in my statement," he told lawyer Kevin MacDonald, who represents Hyde's sister and brother-in-law.

"I've been playing my role in this incident inside my head since the incident."

Hyde unconscious
Green testified that Hyde was on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back when he suddenly went limp and officers immediately decided to remove the cuffs and roll him on his side.

Evidence presented at the inquiry shows Hyde was unconscious and his face quickly turned from red to blue, indicating he wasn't getting enough oxygen.

When Green was shown a surveillance video recorded inside the cell, he couldn't pinpoint when Hyde went limp.

The chain of events is important because it could shed new light on what caused Hyde's death.

A medical examiner concluded Hyde died from a condition known as excited delirium stemming from paranoid schizophrenia.

Hyde's mental state is also a key issue because the doctor who observed Hyde after he was stunned by the Taser had included a note on his health transfer form that said police should bring him back to the hospital if he did not receive a court-ordered psychiatric assessment.

Hyde never received an assessment and he wasn't returned to the hospital, mainly because of confusion over the form and questions over who had jurisdiction over Hyde as he moved from police custody into the court system and then to the correctional facility.

Green recalled that Hyde was yelling as he struggled with corrections officers. He said Hyde was shouting something about needing a haircut to get into the RCMP.

Another officer has told the inquiry Hyde started struggling with the guards after he said he didn't want to walk down a hallway in the jail because there were "demons" there.

Physical struggle
Before Hyde lost consciousness, Green recalled that he was focused on controlling Hyde's legs, which he eventually locked together by forcing Hyde's left ankle behind his right knee while raising the right leg.

"His legs were very difficult to control," Green testified, stressing that he couldn't remember what other officers were doing to Hyde.

The video shows there were at least three other officers crouched over Hyde as they struggled in the cell.

"I do not recall anything anyone had said inside the cell, nor do I recall what each person was doing inside the cell, other than myself," Green said.

Other corrections officers have testified that at no time did any of them place their entire body weight on Hyde.

Green said he didn't release Hyde from the leg hold until he was told to do so by the corrections officer in charge, Todd Henwood. He said he couldn't recall when the handcuffs were removed.

The officer said his memory of what happened was limited because of the intense focus he placed on controlling Hyde's legs.

"Your focus becomes very narrow to the point that, I guess you could say, tunnel vision. You are only focused on what you are doing."

Police in Taser case cleared in fatal Edmonton arrest

October 28, 2009
CBC News

Two Edmonton police officers who used a Taser in an altercation with an agitated man who later died will not face criminal charges, the civilian agency that investigates serious police incidents announced Wednesday.

"In my determination, their actions were justified when considering all of the circumstances," said Clifton Purvis, executive director of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT).

"In this incident, I must defer to the office of the chief medical examiner and I conclude that in this incident, the use of the Taser did not cause or contribute to the death of Trevor Grimolfson."

Grimolfson, 38, a tattoo artist originally from Selkirk, Man., died in hospital after police responded to reports about a man assaulting someone at a tattoo parlour on Stony Plain Road.

Although a Taser was used on Grimolfson three times during the arrest, the medical examiner found he died from "excited delirium" that was brought on by the amount of drugs he had taken.

According to Purvis, Grimolfson had taken a potentially lethal combination of ecstasy and ketamine, an animal tranquillizer better known by its street name of special K.

Grimolfson agitated on police arrival
When the police arrived at the scene, they found Grimolfson smashing articles at a pawn shop next door to the tattoo parlour. Officers could detect the strong scent of bear spray in the air. Grimolfson had assaulted the 70-year-old owner of the store, Purvis said, and bear spray had been used on Grimolfson in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue him.

Grimolfson was highly agitated, covered in blood, was breathing heavily and had clenched teeth, Purvis said.

The officers used the Taser on Grimolfson when he didn't obey a command to get on the ground and stop his rampage. Instead, the stun gun appeared to have no effect. Grimolfson continued moving towards the officers, prompting them to use the Taser a second time.

When that didn't work, they both tried to bring him to the ground and got him in handcuffs after a long struggle. That's when officers used the Taser a third time, this time in stun mode, Purvis said.

Grimolfson had been spitting, so officers had placed a spit mask on his face. The officers then noticed he was having problems breathing, Purvis said. Both the mask and the handcuffs were removed, and paramedics took Grimolfson to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

During the 11-month investigation, 50 civilian witnesses were interviewed, including seven who witnessed the use of the Taser or portions of it, Purvis said. A number of police witnesses were also interviewed.

No criminal charges against Edmonton officers in taser incident

October 28, 2009
The Canadian Press

There will be no criminal charges against two Edmonton policemen in the death of a man who was hit with a stun gun as he rampaged through a pawn shop.

The executive director of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says an 11-month investigation showed the constables were justified in their actions.

Thirty-eight-year-old Trevor Grimolfson died last October after police used a taser twice to restrain him.

They had responded to a call of a violent agitated man, who they say did not respond to their verbal commands to calm down.

The chief medical examiner determined Mr. Grimolfson was on drugs and died of excited delirium.

The U.S. company that makes Tasers points out that it has never been proven that the stun guns have directly caused a death in Canada.

No psychiatrist to help officer, inquiry hears

October 27, 2009
CBC/The Canadian Press

The corrections officer in charge of the scene when a Nova Scotia man died in custody almost two years ago says he could have used the help of a psychiatrist that morning, had he known the inmate was mentally ill.

Capt. Todd Henwood testified Tuesday at an inquiry into the death of Howard Hyde, who died after twice struggling with guards at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside on Nov. 22, 2007.

The inquiry, which started in July, is trying to determine why Hyde, who was under arrest for an alleged assault, never received the psychiatric help he needed and what can be done to prevent similar deaths in the future.

Henwood, a corrections officer for 18 years and a sergeant at the time of Hyde's death, told the inquiry he was unaware that Hyde had long suffered from schizophrenia and hadn't been taking his medication.

Like most of the corrections officers who have testified at the inquiry, Henwood confirmed he hadn't been trained to deal with the mentally ill even though he dealt with them almost every day.

As well, he said he wasn't told that Halifax police had stunned the 45-year-old with a Taser up to five times the day before, when he tried to escape from a downtown police station.

Lawyer Kevin MacDonald, who represents Hyde's sister and brother-in-law, pointed out that another corrections officer, Chris Dixon, had testified that he told Henwood about the Taser incident and about Hyde's mental illness.

But Henwood told the inquiry he didn't recall that conversation.

Hallway struggle
Asked to describe what happened the day Hyde died, Henwood testified he rushed to a hallway near the jail's admitting area when he received word that other corrections officers needed help.

When he arrived, Hyde was on the floor, face down, surrounded by several officers and handcuffed behind his back. The inmate was then lifted to his feet and pulled backward down the hallway to a nearby cell.

Henwood said Hyde was making "odd" comments about his hair and being a Mountie after the first struggle, but the officer said he didn't consider sending Hyde to the jail's health-care unit.

He said it would have been unsafe to bring Hyde to the unit because he was "rebellious," and it wasn't clear to him that the man was having a psychotic episode.

However, shortly after Hyde's death, Henwood gave a statement to the RCMP in which he said Hyde "wasn't in a mental state that was normal."

Even if he knew Hyde was mentally ill, Henwood said he wouldn't have had the proper resources to deal with his condition, mainly because there was no psychiatrist on duty that early in the morning.

When asked what resources would have helped, Henwood said he probably would have sought the help of a psychiatrist had one been working.

Once inside the cell, Hyde continued to struggle with the guards, the inquiry was told.

Henwood said he grabbed the man's legs and pulled them out from under him, forcing Hyde to the floor. He said Hyde's landing was "as soft as it could have been."

The senior officer said he recalled Hyde bucking his hips back and forth as he lay on his side. To gain control, he said he used a hold called a wrist-lock to force Hyde onto his stomach.

Images from a surveillance camera inside the cell show at least four officers crouched over Hyde, but it is difficult to determine what is happening because most of Hyde's body can't be seen.

Hyde's final moments
Henwood insisted he didn't place his weight on Hyde's body, though he said he couldn't speak for the other officers in the room. The officer said he weighed about 290 pounds at the time.

"I was bridged over the top of him," he told the inquiry, explaining that he was in a squatting position next to Hyde with one hand on the chain linking the cuffs on the man's wrists.

Henwood testified that he thought Hyde had held his breath for a few seconds before his body went limp and he stopped responding to the officers.

"Mr. Hyde was not responding verbally," Henwood said, noting there was blood coming from his nose.

At that point, Henwood recalled taking off the cuffs and saying to the other officers, "Boys, we have a problem here."

He said he was monitoring Hyde's breathing and detected a pulse just before health-care staff arrived a few minutes later.

However, Henwood also admitted that shortly after he learned Hyde had died, he had told the RCMP that he wasn't sure if Hyde had a pulse. Henwood said Tuesday the stress of that day had taken its toll and he was second-guessing himself.

"But upon reflection, I'm confident … that I had a pulse."

He said Hyde's face turned purple just as health-care staff arrived in the cell and a nurse quickly determined that Hyde did not have a pulse. They started CPR, but Hyde never regained consciousness.

A medical examiner later concluded that Hyde died of excited delirium stemming from paranoid schizophrenia.