Multiple use of stun gun 'inappropriate'

July 11, 2011
Miranda Forster, Sydney Morning Herald

A Queensland police officer was wrong to keep using a Taser on a man after initial blasts from the weapon failed to subdue him, a former police tactician has told a coronial inquest.

William Turner gave evidence in the Brisbane Coroners Court on Monday at the inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano, who was tasered multiple times by police.

The 39-year-old died on the floor of his girlfriend's home in Brandon, north Queensland, in June 2009.

Senior Constable Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times in an attempt to subdue him, although the Taser he used registered 28 applications of 50,000 volts.

The court was told at one stage the Taser was deployed continuously for 40 seconds.

Mr Turner, who was in charge of police tactical training in Queensland in 2009, said it was incorrect to use the weapon multiple times to no effect. "If it's not deploying properly he should have moved to another use of force option," Mr Turner said. "If it was a conscious decision to cycle (the Taser) it was inappropriate.

"To keep recycling the Taser and for him not to achieve control of Mr Galeano, I would have said that he'd really need to change his tactics because it wasn't operating for him in the correct manner."

He suggested in the heat of the moment Snr Const Myles may not have heard the Taser deploying or seen the effect on Mr Galeano.

Mr Turner said the initial decision to use the Taser was appropriate, given Mr Galeano was a known violent offender and appeared mentally unstable and under the influence of drugs.

"I think taking those things into account the decision for Myles to deploy the Taser was tactically sound," he said.

Mr Turner also defended the decision by Snr Const Myles and his partner not to call for backup before they arrived at the scene.

As they were the only officers on duty it would have taken up to 40 minutes for help to arrive, he told the court.

He admitted the officers could have called for medical help before they arrived at the scene as they knew Mr Galeano had been injured.

"A call for an ambulance at that time would have been a good thing," he said.

The inquest continues.

Queensland Police "quietly" lift freeze to order more Tasers

April 27, 2011
Michael McKenna, The Australian

QUEENSLAND police are moving to double their Taser armoury after quietly lifting a freeze on the rollout of the stun guns following the 2009 death of a man who was shot up to 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.

More than 1000 new Tasers have been ordered by Queensland police, which will today receive a landmark Crime and Misconduct Commission report on the overhaul of training and policy on the use of the stun guns.

The report -- to be tabled in state parliament -- is understood to call for tough controls on the use of the guns in the face of mounting evidence the weapons are being used by police as an everyday compliance tool and not as a non-lethal substitute for a standard gun in high-risk situations.

Data has been gleaned from each of the existing 1400 stun guns in use and will serve as a baseline to be compared in a future review after more operational changes are introduced in line with the CMC report's recommendations.

Moves to trial alternative stun guns -- including the emerging "Stinger" semi-automatic stun gun -- were abandoned last year after a police trial.

Queensland police confirmed last night that the new guns were expected to be delivered in several weeks. A spokesman said officers were now better trained and had a stricter policy governing the use of the stun guns following a joint police-CMC review.

"This policy ensures a high level of scrutiny is applied to all deployments and review processes are established to address identified trends," the spokesman said.

"The ratio of officers now trained in the use of a Taser compared to the number of weapons available has steadily increased due to the continued suspension of the weapon rollout.

"The QPS has recently placed an order to purchase further Tasers.

"This is to ensure all Taser-qualified officers are able to be equipped with the devices as any unavailability is considered to be an unacceptable risk to the community and Queensland police officers."

A coroner's inquest is continuing into the death of Antonio Galeano, 39, who was repeatedly tasered after he confronted police with a steel bar at his unit in Brandon, south of Townsville.

Police initially told the media he had been shot several times, but an investigation by The Australian revealed the data from the gun showed he had been tasered up to 28 times.

Taser shocks didn't kill Galeano: expert Steve Gray

March 24, 2011
Sydney Morning Herald

A man repeatedly tasered by police did not die from the shocks, an inquest into his death has been told.

Pathologists said Antonio Galeano, 39, died as a result of his drug use and advanced heart disease.

Mr Galeano died in June 2009 after police were called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's house in the town of Brandon in north Queensland.

Senior Sergeant Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times, although the Taser he used registered 28 applications.

Professor David Williams said he did not believe the Taser had caused Mr Galeano's death. He said the man had an enlarged heart, severe coronary heart disease and was in a state of "excited delirium" caused by his methamphetamine use. Mr Galeano was "a man walking a tightrope", Prof Williams said. He was at risk of dying at any time, particularly when in a state of excitement or after blood loss, he said. He said Mr Galeano's heart weighed 500 grams, compared with 350-390 grams expected in a man of his size.

Prof Williams told the inquest he had no previous experience of Taser post mortems and little experience of people who died in a state of excited delirium.

"I felt there was no connection between the tasering and the death, because tasering is an external event and shouldn't affect the heart," he said.

"Tasers are not a threat to life, that's my bottom line," Prof Williams said.

Questioning of the professor about an Amnesty International report into 334 deaths attributed to Tasers was delayed after objections from some of the 13 lawyers attending the inquest.

World-renowned cardio-pathology expert Professor Steven Karch agreed that excited delirium or the condition of Mr Galeano's heart were the likely causes of death, but it could not be confirmed.

While he could not prove excited delirium could be fatal, he said he was "pretty sure" it was.

He said one study showed a 10 per cent mortality rate from excited delirium but "in anecdotal discussion with emergency department doctors they say it's common as dirt".

The San Francisco-based professor said he believed Mr Galeano was "stimulated maximally" and would have been impervious to pain, with a brain "short-circuited" from dopamine release.

"They could have tasered him all day long ... it wouldn't have made any difference."

Prof Karch said he believed heart failure or drug use were the likely causes of death.

The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements.

Trigger memory can be faulty - "critical stress amnesia"???

March 23, 2011
Sydney Morning Herald

A type of amnesia can cause police to forget how many times they fire their weapons, a death in custody inquest has been told by a US Taser expert.

Richard Wyant on Wednesday gave evidence at an inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano after he was tasered multiple times by police.

The 39-year-old died on the floor of his girlfriend's home at Brandon, in north Queensland, in June 2009, after police were called to a disturbance.

Advertisement: Story continues below Senior Constable Craig Myles has admitted tasering Galeano eight times.

But the Taser gun he used recorded that Galeano had been tasered 28 times with a 50,000 volt shock.

Mr Wyant, giving video testimony from Baltimore, Maryland, said it was not uncommon for a police officer to forget the number of times he pulled the trigger of a Taser or a gun.

He said the phenomenon was described as critical stress amnesia.

Mr Wyant, who holds a licence to use a Taser in the US, said the only time he had cause to use a Taser he was affected by critical stress amnesia.

"I'd swear I pulled the trigger twice, but I really pulled it five times," he said.

He said he knew of another case where a police officer had said he fired two shots, but an empty magazine lay on the ground nearby and other shots had been fired after reloading.

The inquest continues.

"The Taser's not the be all and end all'

March 10, 2011
Evan Schwarten, Sydney Morning Herald

A Queensland police officer has admitted tasering a man eight times shortly before he died in custody, but has questioned the effectiveness of the device.

Senior Constable Craig Myles told the inquest into the 2009 death of Antonio Galeano he recalled activating the device eight times as he struggled to subdue the 39-year-old.

Told that data recorded by the device indicated it had been activated 28 times, Sen Const Myles said it was possible he'd used it against Mr Galeano that many times but doubted it.

"It's possible but I don't believe it, I did it eight times," he told the inquest.

However, following Mr Galeano's death, a short time after the last activation of the Taser, Sen Const Myles told other officers the device wasn't as effective as he'd been led to believe.

"I said `the Taser's not the be all and end all'," he told the court.

"It didn't seem to be as good as they say it does in the training."

The inquest heard Sen Const Myles and his partner Constable Marina Cross were called to Mr Galeano's girlfriend's home at Brandon, south of Townsville, after she reported he was "off his head" and destroying the property.

Sen Const Myles said they arrived to find Mr Galeano in the bathroom covered with blood and chanting phrases similar to "one, two, three, you're dead" out the window at the officers who were standing in the backyard.

He said he tasered Mr Galeano through the window, causing him to fall to the floor, and then asked Const Cross to go inside and handcuff him.

However, he said Mr Galeano continued to struggle so he activated the device twice inside, before going inside where he would ultimately activate it another five times.

He said some of the activations appeared to have little or no effect on Mr Galeano who resisted attempts to put him in handcuffs until after the eighth activation.

Mr Galeano, he said, was able to get up off the ground after the first few activations and was threatening to kill the officers throughout the ordeal.

However, his evidence contradicted the testimony of Const Cross who earlier this week told the inquest she saw the device activated only five times.

The officer's accounts also differ on claims Mr Galeano was armed - Const Cross said he was armed with a metal rod while inside the bathroom, and Sen Const Myles gave evidence he was armed with the cord from a hair dryer.

The inquest continues.

Australia: Police training warned of Taser dangers

November 11, 2010
Evan Schwarten, Sydney Morning Herald

Queensland police had been warned of the potentially fatal consequences of repeated Taser use prior to an incident in which a north Queensland man died, an inquest has heard.

Taser expert Patrick Burrell told the inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano that officers were cautioned against using a Taser multiple times against one person when they were trained in the use of the device.

"The training at the time cautioned against multiple use," he told the inquest.

He said a 2005 bulletin issued by Taser International stated that repeated or prolonged exposure to the electrical charge generated by a Taser could impair breathing. .

Mr Galeano died on the floor of his girlfriend's home at Brandon, south of Townsville, after being tasered multiple times by Senior Constable Craig Myles.

The inquest has previously heard Senior Constable Myles had been trained in the use of the device, which was rolled out to Queensland police in 2009, only a month before the incident.

Data recorded by the Taser showed it had been deployed 28 times against Mr Galeano but Mr Burrell said evidence from eyewitnesses suggested some of the applications had not been effective.

He said evidence of flashes of blue light between the Taser wires and a loud clicking noise suggested the device was not able to perform a complete electrical circuit.

The device was almost silent when working effectively with only a small arc of electricity visible between the metal barbs which were in contact with the subject's skin, he said.

If the device was able to generate a complete circuit, only a small arc of electricity would have been visible between the two barbs which had connected with Mr Galeano's skin, he said.

Mr Burrell also said Senior Constable Myles' initial use of the Taser, through a bathroom window, went against training guidelines.

He said Senior Constable's Myles' partner Marina Cross was not near Mr Galeano at the time and therefore unable tohandcuff him while he was incapacitated.

The inquest has been adjourned to Brisbane next month where is will hear from expert witnesses, including the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Mr Galeano.

Senior Constable Myles and Constable Cross are due to give evidence at a hearing of the inquest in March.

Australia: Taser cops not kept apart after death

November 10, 2010
Evan Schwarten, Sydney Morning Herald

Two police officers involved in the Taser death of a north Queensland man should have been separated as soon as possible after the incident, an inquest has heard.

The inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano heard on Wednesday that Senior Constable Craig Myles and Constable Marina Cross should have been kept apart to ensure the investigation into the incident was not compromised.

However, the inquest earlier heard the two officers remained at the scene for several hours following Mr Galeano's death and were not separated.

Superintendent John Sheppard, from Queensland Police Service Ethical Standards Command, said internal guidelines stipulated that officers involved in a death in custody be isolated so they could give an independent version of events.

"The policy is clear - we should take every opportunity to guard against the versions of the officers being tainted by inappropriate discussion," Supt Sheppard told the inquest.

On Monday, Inspector Dominic McHugh told the inquest he decided not to separate the officers when he arrived at the scene, an hour after Mr Galeano's death, because he did not consider it practical.

"There is a model way of doing things and a practical way of doing things," he said.

"I arrived well after the event. If they were going to concoct or discuss a story, if that's the suggestion, they would have done it well before I arrived."

Supt Sheppard was also critical of Senior Sergeant Gavin Oates, who was initially in charge of the scene, for leaving the address to get coffee for the two officers.

"It certainly wasn't what I would describe as optimal, it was a poor decision," Supt Sheppard said.

Mr Galeano died on the floor of his girlfriend's house at Brandon, south of Townsville, in June last year after being tasered multiple times by Sen Const Myles.

Last week, Mr Galeano's girlfriend Sandra Wynne told the inquest she had called police because her partner was acting erratically and destroying her house.

The inquest continues.

Sparks flew out of tasered man's chest, inquest into his death told

November 2, 2010
Peter Michael, The Courier-Mail

POLICE repeatedly fired a Taser into a man until a spark "like a piece of lightning" shot out of his chest, an inquest has heard.

Witness Sandra Wynne yesterday told an inquest into the death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano, 39, how she begged a police officer to stop firing the 50,000-volt device.

"His face turned black," she said. "I could hear the buzzing of the Taser and Tony screaming in pain. Every time I could see a little spark, like a piece of lightning, coming out of his chest. I said to them: 'How many times can you hit him with that bloody thing until you kill him?'"

...

Senior Constable Craig Myles, who fired the device [about 28 times], had never before used the Taser in the field.

Tests still out on 28-shot Taser

November 1, 2010
Sarah Elks, The Australian

A CORONER is still waiting for test results to confirm whether a man was shot by police with a Taser 28 times in seven minutes.

The device recorded that the amphetamine-affected man was shot repeatedly by police.

Stephen Keim, counsel assisting Coroner Christine Clements, told the first day of an inquest into the death of Antonio Carmelo Galeano that police at the scene were only aware of the Taser being shot seven times.

Police initially said the 39-year-old -- who died in June last year in the tiny town of Brandon, near Ayr in north Queensland -- had been shot only three times by policeman Craig Myles.

However The Australian revealed in the days following the death, information downloaded from the Taser showed it had been activated 28 times.

Mr Keim said yesterday that tests on the Taser showed it was working "within specifications", but he said the inquest was still waiting on results that would confirm whether each of the 28 shots were effective and whether the data downloaded from the device was correct.

Mr Keim told the coroner she would have to consider Galeano's heart condition, the amphetamines in his system, the impact of the Taser on his heart, the physical stress of the situation and whether being restrained by police for more than nine minutes after the tasering may have affected his breathing.

The Townsville court heard that police arrived at the small duplex in Brandon at 2.50am on June 12. Galeano's girlfriend, Sandra Wynne, had called police after he pulled some of her hair out and began destroying the unit and her furniture.

Constable Myles spotted Galeano through a broken bathroom window. Mr Keim said he was "chanting slogans" and was not responding to commands.

The police officer drew his Taser, warned Galeano, and then proceeded to shoot him at least three times. He later moved inside and shot Galeano a further three times.

The inquest continues today, when Ms Wynne is expected to give evidence.

Antonio Carmelo Galeano's face turned black after he was Tasered 28 times, says witness

June 10, 2010
Robyn Ironside, The Courier-Mail

A MAN who died after being Tasered 28 times was not given breathing assistance by police because they could not find a mask and gloves, a coronial hearing has been told.

The pre-inquest hearing in Townsville before Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements heard that Antonio Carmelo Galeano, 39, died within 50 minutes of his partner calling police to her home at Brandon, near Ayr, on June 12 last year.

The hearing was told Galeano was naked and shouting threats when Senior Constable Craig Miles and Constable Melissa Cross went to the Green St address at 2.50am.

Believing Galeano was trying to climb through a tiny bathroom window, Sen-Constable Miles deployed his Taser from the outside of the house.

Galeano slumped to the floor and Sen-Constable Miles sent his partner into the house to restrain him.

With the Taser probes still in Galeano, Sen-Constable Miles fired three more circuits of up to 16 seconds when it looked like he was getting up.

"Each of those four activations occurred within a minute," counsel assisting the Coroner Stephen Keim told Townsville District Court.

Sen-Constable Miles then changed the Taser cartridge and went inside.

Analysis of the second cartridge has revealed it was fired 24 times over 5½ minutes, with each activation lasting five seconds.

Police have alleged Galeano tried to retrieve shards of glass but was eventually overcome and handcuffed.

Sandra Winn, who had been in a relationship with Galeano and who made the initial call to police, observed Galeano to be "black in the face" at this time, the hearing was told.

Although the police administered chest compressions, they did not provide breathing assistance because there was no mask or gloves in their first aid kit.

Galeano was pronounced dead 10 minutes after paramedics arrived.

Mr Keim said analysis of the Taser had found it was in good working order.

But it is yet to undergo an "electron microscopy" which will examine the extent to which each activation period was a complete circuit.

Outside the hearing, Ms Winn said she had not moved from the address, despite the traumatic events of last year.

"I sleep where he died," she said. "There are still burn marks from the Taser on the bathroom floor."

The coronial inquest has been tentatively set down for November 1.

As well as the circumstances of his death, the inquest will examine the treatment and assessment Galeano received at the Ayr and Townsville hospitals two days before the incident.

Australia: Man died after 20 hits from stun gun

June 17, 2009
The Australian

THE north Queensland man who died last week after police used a stun gun on him was shot more than 20 times with a 50,000-volt Taser, prompting calls for an investigation into the use of the weapon and possible criminal charges against the officer involved.

Data downloaded from the officer's stun gun -- now being rolled out to police across Australia -- has revealed that amphetamines addict Antonio Galeano was shot at least 20 times, each for a duration of five seconds, before he collapsed and died while in handcuffs.

Capsicum spray had also been used on Mr Galeano during the incident, early Friday morning at a unit in Brandon, south of Townsville.

Police initially told the media that an unnamed senior constable had only used the weapon three times on Mr Galeano, 39, who earlier had allegedly assaulted a woman and was wielding a metal pipe when confronted by the officer and his partner, a first-year constable.

But The Australian can exclusively reveal that an inbuilt system in the controversial weapon -- which automatically records each time the weapon is fired -- indicated Mr Galeano was shot more than 20 times.

Mr Galeano was repeatedly shot, using the gun's "probe mode", which according to the website of US manufacturer Taser International, fires darts into the target, before a triggering delivers 19 pulses a second of about 1300 volts for five seconds.

"But the weapon also develops an open circuit arc of 50,000 volts to traverse clothing in cases where no direct contact is made," the website adds.

The Australian could find no other incident in the world where law enforcement has been reported to have deployed the gun more than five times in a single incident.

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman last night said the revelations warranted an unlawful killing investigation into the police involved. "The focus of the investigation should not be about possible disciplinary action but whether manslaughter charges should be laid," he said.

"The amount of shots using this high-voltage weapon is completely contrary to appropriate guidelines and against evidence that a Taser is not supposed to be used more than once in a given period."

The senior constable, who shot the Taser, has told investigators from police Ethical Standards Command that he only Tasered Mr Galeano several times.

Police are also investigating whether the Taser malfunctioned during the incident or if the data recorded on the gun is incorrect.

But George Hateley, the exclusive distributor of Tasers in Australia, yesterday said a malfunction was unlikely.

"It is an outside possibility," he said. "And the data taken off the weapon is very accurate."

Mr Hateley said the weapon could be shot 196 times before it needed to be recharged.

The data on the Taser sparked Police Minister Neil Roberts and Commissioner Bob Atkinson to suddenly freeze the rollout of the tasers on Monday and order a Crime and Misconduct Commission review of Taser policy and training in Queensland.

But at the time, Mr Roberts and Mr Atkinsion refused to reveal the reasons behind their decision, saying "new evidence" was the property of acting state coroner Christine Clements, who is investigating the death.

Queensland police last night said they could not comment about the death because "it is currently the subject of a coronial investigation".

At least 1200 Tasers have been distributed to police in Queensland, after former police minister Judy Spence ordered 2500 guns be rolled out to general duties officers mid-way through a year-long trial.

Amnesty International has claimed that Tasers have been linked to more than 300 deaths worldwide.