Coroners must be free to cite Taser use

March 24, 2006
Mercury News

Tasers may or may not cause or contribute to the deaths of hyper-tense, psychotic or drug-addicted individuals -- The evidence is inconclusive.

That's all the more reason for the coroner's offices in Santa Clara County and elsewhere to consider Tasers among the factors they study when doing autopsies. Their statistics will help scientists and guide police departments' policies on Taser use.

But to get to the truth on Tasers, coroners must be able to do their work without political interference. Their autonomy must be sacrosanct.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith raised red flags last week when she charged that the San Jose police had tried to pressure the coroner not to cite Tasers as a factor in deaths in custody. The police denied that's what they tried to do.

Mercury News writer Sean Webby reported the disagreement, which occurred at an apparently prickly meeting that the police requested after the coroner listed Tasers as a contributing factor in a death.

We weren't there, so we don't know whether the coroner and the sheriff's officers were too defensive or whether San Jose police officers were too pushy. Smith has not brought up the issue with San Jose Chief Rob Davis.

The case involved the death of Angel Rios, a 330-pound man who violently fought the police after a domestic dispute. In subduing him, the police used batons and pepper spray, then twice stunned him with Tasers. He died shortly afterward.

Dr. Christopher Happy, a pathologist, ruled that heart failure was the main cause of death. But he also listed the use of Tasers and pepper spray as contributory causes, along with obesity, heart disease and chronic drug abuse: Rios, 38, had cocaine in his system.

Happy acknowledged in the autopsy that there is no scientific evidence showing that Tasers cause death, so the San Jose police had reason to ask him to explain his ruling. But Happy is not alone is suspecting a link between Taser strikes and arrhythmia leading to death, especially in the presence of other danger factors. Studies cited as proving that Tasers are safe have not taken these factors into account.

The Arizona Republic reported last month that medical examiners in the United States and Canada formally cited Tasers as a cause, a contributing factor or possible factor in 27 deaths since 1999 -- out of 167 instances in which people have died after being struck by Tasers. That's about 16 percent.

Tasers, which emit 50,000 volts for five-second bursts, can be an effective means of restraint with no lasting effects. As an alternative to undeniably lethal force, such as gunfire, Tasers can save lives.

But Tasers appear to be hazardous for some high-risk individuals. Rios fit that profile. The coroner's job is to point that out and to keep records that could provide a definitive answer.