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.