EDITORIAL: Reaffirm policy on Taser use

February 27, 2011
The Town Talk

The Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office has issued its report on the death of Javon Rakestrau, 28, who died in October after being Tasered by a Lafayette Parish sheriff's deputy. The report says Rakestrau died of complications of bronchial asthma, and that the stress of his arrest and the Tasering contributed to the death.

Rakestrau's blood contained a chemical indicating that he had smoked marijuana.

The finding is consistent with coroners' findings in similar cases, although we'd note that cases in which suspects die soon after Tasering seem to dwarf the number of deaths that occur as a result of asthma, cardiac problems or other conditions in arrests that don't involve Tasers. Rakestrau's death is one of at least 15 in Louisiana among suspects subjected to Tasering since 2004.

Lafayette Parish, with less than 5 percent of the state's population, accounts for three of them.

We'd urge local law enforcement agencies to take this opportunity to make sure officers know Tasers are to be used as an alternative to deadly force. The mounting list of deaths after arrests involving Tasers makes their use too risky for any other application, at least until more data can be collected and analyzed.

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office has said the deputy involved in the Rakestrau arrest acted properly and within policy. The deputy performed first aid on Rakestrau until an ambulance arrived.

The video from the deputy's patrol car shows an arrest in a known drug trafficking area.

The deputy places Rakestrau against the hood of the patrol car, apparently to be frisked. Rakestrau reaches into his jacket pocket. He appears to try to throw something on the ground. Was it a weapon?

It doesn't seem to be, although the suspect's body shields it from the deputy. The deputy pulls Rakestrau away from the car, and they end up on the ground and mostly off camera. A few seconds later, they're both on their feet again, and the deputy shocks Rakestrau with the Taser.

If the deputy's use of a Taser was an alternative to the justifiable use of a firearm, then Rakestrau had a chance to live that he wouldn't have had otherwise, even though the suspect didn't act sensibly during the arrest.

The Taser becomes a humanitarian tool.

If the Taser is used for a lesser purpose, it becomes a tool with potentially lethal consequences that neither the law enforcement officer nor the suspect is in a position to predict.

Autopsy: Taser contributed to death of Detroit teen

June 17, 2009
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Mount Clemens -- A heart condition most likely aggravated by the use of a Taser caused the death of a Detroit teen shortly after he was shocked by Warren police in April, according to a medical examiner.

The manner of death for 16-year-old Robert Mitchell is listed as "indeterminate" in a 10-page autopsy report signed May 28 by Macomb County Chief Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz. The report was obtained by The Detroit News this morning through the Freedom of Information Act.

But the autopsy, conducted by forensic pathologist Cheryl L. Loewe on April 11, cites a diagnosis of "arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia" or ARVD, a genetic disorder that causes an arrhythmia -- or irregular heartbeat -- in the right ventricle of the heart. The condition is a relatively uncommon cause of sudden cardiac death, but accounts for up to one-fifth of sudden cardiac deaths in people younger than 35, according to Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, which has an ARVD program.

"The heart condition is the immediate cause of death," Loewe told The Detroit News this morning. "Certainly, we cannot ignore the time relationship when Robert was Tasered and then found unresponsive and went into arrhythmia, coupled with the fact that Taser probes were applied over the chest.

"In a healthy adult, it's unlikely an arrhythmia may have been precipitated by a Taser. This is a unique case because of the underlying heart disease."

Loewe said she performed the autopsy and then went over her findings with Spitz, who signed off on them. Spitz said he was unable to comment when contacted by the News this morning.

Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said he cannot comment on the autopsy findings because of a pending lawsuit filed by Mitchell's family against the city. But he stands behind his officer's actions, he said.

"We do support the officer that used the Taser. It was justified, there had been an internal investigation conducted," Dwyer said. "The (Macomb County) prosecutor's office also ruled he's exonerated. The prosecutor agrees with us -- it was justified."

Mitchell's mother, Cora Renea Mitchell, who also picked up the report this morning at the Macomb County Medical Examiner's office, said she's hoping the information will bring answers and closure to her family.

"Today is a new day," she said. "I want to go over it and really see what I find," she said, adding officials have been "giving her the runaround" in obtaining the report: "This is ridiculous."

The Detroit Kettering High School sophomore died April 10 in an abandoned home on Pelkey in Detroit following a half-block foot chase that stemmed from a traffic stop near Eight Mile and Schoenherr.

Police said for unknown reasons, Mitchell bailed out of the Dodge Stratus he was riding in during a traffic stop for an expired license plate. He was stunned one time with a Taser for resisting when officers attempted to pat him down, police said. Shortly afterward, he became unresponsive and died.

The autopsy said Mitchell suffered two Taser probe-related injuries -- above and below the nipple -- on the left side of his chest.

A chemical analysis revealed the presence of marijuana in his system at the time of death, but Loewe said the drugs did not contribute to the teen's death. It could have contributed to his behavior, though, she said.

"To this day, nobody really knows why Robert fled," Loewe said,adding in lab testing it's difficult to determine when someone is actually under the influence: The drug can be detected for days or even weeks after use.

Loewe also said the autopsy didn't reveal any other signs of injury to Mitchell's body.

"There was no additional trauma to his body. There was no type of physical compression on his body or on his chest," she said. "He was never in a choke hold, never hog-tied and basically the only thing we saw were the application of the Taser marks."

Since his death, Mitchell's family members and Detroit-based anti-brutality groups have showed up at Warren City Council meetings, held a peaceful march along the bordering cities and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Warren.

"We know the Taser contributed to his demise. We want justice," Mitchell's grandmother, Charlotte McGlory, said this morning. "We want them (police) charged with first-degree murder and prosecuted."

Relatives and their supporters are also urging the city to ban Tasers and rethink its use of force policy. They say they want Mitchell to be a catalyst for change.

Tased teen had marijuana in his system, tests show

May 11, 2009
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Warren -- Toxicology testing conducted on a Detroit teen who died shortly after being shocked with a Taser by Warren police showed marijuana in his system at the time of his death, police said today.

The final autopsy report for 16-year-old Robert Mitchell is still pending with the Macomb County Medical Examiner's office.

Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said at this point, it is unknown if the drugs found in the teen's system played a role in his death.

Police allege that on April 10, the Detroit Kettering High School sophomore bailed out of the Dodge Stratus he was riding in during a traffic stop for an expired license plate on Eight Mile near Schoenherr. Police say he discarded his jacket before leading officers on a half-block chase to a home on Pelkey.

He was stunned one time for resisting when officers attempted to pat him down.

Mitchell's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Warren April 20.

Alberta taser death report calls for more research into "excited delirium"

January 25, 2008
CBC News

A fatality report released Friday into the death of a man who police shot with a stun gun in March 2004 has recommended more research into the treatment and causes of excited delirium.

Ronald Perry died of cardiac arrest due to excited delirium after police used a Taser gun on him twice. He had been exhibiting violent and irrational behaviour, including screaming obscenities, punching people and jumping up and down on the hood of a car, the inquiry heard in December.

After being taken to hospital to be treated for a head injury, Perry still couldn't be controlled and he was shot with a Taser five more times. He later stopped breathing, suffered brain damage, and died four days later.

The report, by provincial court Judge Fern LeReverend, found that people with excited delirium need help, and need to be restrained to get that help, but that death frequently ensues after they are restrained. The condition needs more study, and there should be a central reporting system for this kind of incident, the judge said.

Taser use scrutinized

January 26, 2008
DANIEL MACISAAC, Edmonton Sun

A provincial court judge wants to see more study of the condition "excited delirium" to improve the use of police Tasers and prevent the deaths of people who are zapped. "People suffering from this condition need medical help; they need to be restrained to get that help," wrote Judge Fern LeReverend in a report on the 2004 death of Ronald Perry. "Death frequently ensues once they are restrained. This condition, although rare, arises from several different causes, including illicit drug use."

SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH

Perry, a 25-year-old Edmonton man with a history of illicit drug use, was said to have possessed superhuman strength as he struggled against as many as seven city cops trying to subdue him in March 2004, before he was hit multiple times with a stun gun, quit breathing, suffered brain damage and was taken off life support several days later.

LeReverend's report gives details of the erratic, psychotic and violent behaviour that led to Perry's arrest - including jumping off a balcony and physically attacking friends as well as cars at the intersection of 129 Avenue and 64 Street. LeReverend writes that excited delirium is a medical condition involving such "an altered level of consciousness affecting thinking and perception." And to prevent similar deaths in the future, the judge is recommending more information on the causes and treatment of excited delirium be obtained and shared - and that medical staff be funded to learn more about it.

"I recommend that when further information is obtained, it be provided to police, ambulance and emergency medical personnel so they can create suitable procedures to more successfully deal with people in this condition," he concludes.

While many experts, including Dr. Graeme Dowling from the medical examiner's office in Edmonton, have argued there's "no definitive case where Tasers have actually killed anybody," several highly publicized deaths following Taser use have had critics targeting the law-enforcement tool.

Autopsy: tasered man's heart stopped

August 22, 2007
Mike McPhee, The Denver Post

"The Denver Medical Examiner has ruled that a man who died after police Tasered him early one morning in July died because his heart stopped beating.

Albert Romero's death was aggravated by the Taser, disease in his arteries and marijuana in his blood, according to the autopsy released today.

Albert Romero, 47 [and unarmed], died after police confronted him in front of his home around 3:30 a.m., July 16. Police said they had been looking for suspects when they came upon Romero, who was alone. They said Romero became enraged with officers and attempted to pull a stop sign out of the ground, then charged a police car when they Tasered him into submission.

They handcuffed Romero and transported him to a hospital, where he died a short while later.

Medical Examiner Dr. James Wahe concluded that Romero's "manner of death is undetermined." The cause of death was "a cardiopulmonary arrest which occurred in a setting of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, probably excited delirium state, electrical restraint administration and marijuana in the blood toxicology," Dr. Wahe wrote in the autopsy report."

Albert Romero's wife, Debbie Romero, has been quoted as saying "I feel the Taser is an electric chair without a trial."

Taser sparks outrage

January 6, 2006
Sorcha McGinnis, Edmonton Sun

The death of a man who was Tasered on Christmas Eve has stirred up outrage in a city woman who is now demanding a fatality inquiry in the case of her brother. Jennifer Bosse's 28-year-old brother Ronald Perry died March 23, 2004, after suffering a massive heart attack brought on by excited delirium. He was taken to hospital four days earlier following a struggle with police that saw him Tasered. Bosse says she still has more questions than answers about Perry's death - especially in the wake of a similar incident involving another city man - and hopes a fatality inquiry will provide her family with some closure.

Alesandro Fiacco, 33, was Tasered by cops Dec. 24 after he was found behaving erratically. He was subdued by the device but died on his way to hospital.

"I was upset his family had to go through that, especially with it being Christmas time," said Bosse. "I'm angry police are still using Tasers even though there's been more than one occasion where people have gone into cardiac arrest and passed away. If cops don't know a person is on medication, (a Taser) could harm them. There are other ways to subdue a person."

Police had been responding to a complaint about a man vandalizing cars in the area of 129 Avenue and 64 Street on March 19 when Perry was Tasered. Earlier, he had injured his head in a fight. The day before his arrest, he broke his ankle jumping from a third-floor balcony near 49 Street and 113 Avenue.

The medical examiner's office later determined there was no link between the man's death and his being Tasered. A police investigation concluded the matter was non-criminal. Alberta Justice spokesman Mark Cooper said at the conclusion of his report, the medical examiner forwarded Perry's file to the Alberta Fatality Review Board which did not recommend a fatality inquiry.

The reasons for that decision have not been made public. However, Cooper said the family has the option of asking the board to reconsider its decision.

Bosse plans to get a lawyer through Legal Aid to start the process.

Taser jolts didn't lead directly to man's death

October 15, 2005
IAN DEMSKY, The Tennessean

Metro announces Patrick Lee's cause of death

October 14, 2005
By Bill Harless, Nashville City Paper

The state and Metro investigation of the Sept. 24 death of Patrick Lee has concluded, officials announced Friday.

The cause of death of Patrick Lee has been ruled as "Excited Delirium" and the manner of death could not be determined, according to a statement released jointly by the state and Metro medical examiners offices.

Lee died of cardiac arrest at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center a day after police shot him multiple times with a Taser the previous night at the Mercy Lounge music club.

Excited delirium is a condition under which "people who are under the influence of certain drugs or suffer from some types of mental illness suffer a cardiorespiratory arrest after a period of agitated and bizarre behavior," the statement said.

"This sudden cardiorespiratory arrest typically occurs after the person is subdued and restrained by either law enforcement or medical personnel, and happens with the use of many different restraint techniques."

LSD and marijuana were found in Lee's blood. "LSD intoxication is a known cause of excited delirium," the statement said.

"There is no evidence that any of the restraint techniques used that night on Mr. Lee by the Metro Police, including the Taser, directly caused Mr. Lee's cardiac arrest and death," said Davidson County medical examiner Bruce Levy in the statement.

"However, the combined effects of multiple applications of the Taser, pepper spray and physical force on someone in excited delirium are unclear and require additional research."

Police chief Ronald Serpas has directed the department to develop a "best practices" guide for officers when they encounter people with excited delirium.