Niagara police association OK with possible plan for Taser cams

April 7, 2010
RAHUL GUPTA, ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD

The head of the Niagara police association says his membership is willing to adjust to proposed legislation requiring the recording of Taser useage if it means more officers get to carry the electro-shock weapons.

Paul Di Simoni of the Niagara Region Police Association said he hopes the plan under consideration by the provincial government would mean greater access to Tasers for frontline officers in the region.

Currently, only experienced officers can use the weapons.

"I hope legislators get on the same page as the association and implement standard use of Tasers," said Di Simoni from the NRPA's office in Welland.

"It's a better, less lethal option for officers to employ."

Under the plan, any Ontario police officer who fires a Taser in the course of duty would automatically activate a small camera, or Taser cam, that can be attached to the base of the weapon's handle.

Up to 90 minutes of tamper-proof footage could then be downloaded and used as evidence.

"Is there value to documenting Taser use? I suppose," he said.

"It's a relatively new technology."

While Di Simoni said he supported the province's recently introduced training and usage guidelines for Tasers, he worried a camera would only capture one aspect of an altercation between police and a suspect.

"It's a snapshot in time," he said. "One has to look at the totality of events."

Di Simoni said he was concerned that footage obtained from a Taser Cam would lead to premature censure of Niagara police officers.

"Officers may fall into a situation where they're being criticized without all background information," he said. "The camera captures only the deployment of the Taser and nothing else."

While Taser Cams aren't used in Niagara, Ottawa police have employed them since last year, said an officer who has provided extensive training in the use of the weapons.

Sergeant Mark Barclay of the Ottawa Police Service said all 32 members of the Tactical Unit are currently using the cameras.

Barclay said the response to Taser Cams among officers with the unit has been largely positive, although there have been instances when the camera's lens has been accidentally obscured by officers used to handling guns.

"We're trained to use a two-handed grip when it comes to firearms," said Barclay from Ottawa police headquarters. "So some officers go back to what they know in moments of extreme stress, which can block the lens."

Another problem with the Taser Cams, according to Barclay, is the fixed position of the device.

"To sometimes get a good camera shot, you've got to point the Taser right at the person, which isn't always possible," he said.

Barclay said the camera's video output can often be shaky or blurry, depending on the circumstances, although a microphone can still capture available sounds.

"It's better than nothing."

Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Anthony Brown said any decision to legislate Taser Cams would be made in consultation with provincial law enforcement agencies.

Niagara Regional Police declined to comment on the issue of Taser Cams.

Taser International announced Tuesday that 2,680 Taser Cams were shipped for use in law enforcement in 2010.

Niagara Regional Police changes Taser use policy

October 13, 2009
Grant LaFleche, St. Catharine Standard

Niagara Regional Police have joined the growing ranks of police forces changing their Taser policies following a warning by the weapon’s manufacturer.

Last week, the NRP changed its use of Taser policy, instructing officers not to shoot the weapons into the chests of suspects after Taser International said it might be dangerous.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Jacquie Forgeron said Taser International sent out a bulletin to police services on Sept. 30, advising that striking the chest with the conducted electrical weapon could put the suspect’s heart at risk.

Taser International now recommends officers aim for the legs, back or abdomen.

Forgeron said the NRP made its policy change on Oct. 7.

“Our training unit will start instructing officers on the change,” she said.

The RCMP, along with the Calgary and Winnipeg police services, are among those that are also instructing officers to aim lower when firing a Taser.

The use of Tasers by police in Canada has been in the spotlight because of the hearing into the death of Robert Dziekanksi, who died after being jolted with the weapons by RCMP officers in 2007 in Vancouver.

Some of the controversy over Taser use has reached Niagara. Michael Parsons successfully sued the NRP in civil court after officers used the weapon on him. He was awarded $50,000 after suing the police service and five officers for negligence, false arrest, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The NRP had originally planned to appeal the decision, but has recently withdrawal its challenge.

In 2005, James Foldi of Beamsville died after being Tasered by NRP officers. However, an inquest found Foldi’s death was an accident, caused by acute cocaine toxicity leading to sudden cardiac death, in the setting of excited delirium.

Most NRP patrol officers are not armed with Tasers. Only NRP supervisors and members of the tactical unit are authorized to use the weapons.

In 2008, Tasers were used by NRP officers in 44 incidents, down from 98 in 2007.

Niagara Regional Police abandon thoughts of appeal in Taser case

October 6, 2009
Posted By Karena Walter, St. Catharine's Standard

Niagara Regional Police have decided not to go through with an appeal to try and overturn a civil ruling that found officers at fault for Tasering a St. Catharines man multiple times.

A notice of appeal filed by the NRP with the Ontario Court of Appeal after the July ruling claimed there were at least 15 errors made by the judge in the Michael Parsons case.

They included that the judge drew “unwarranted negative inferences against the officers.”

Thirty-year-old Parsons was awarded $50,000 after suing the police service and five officers for negligence, false arrest, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But this week, the police service said it has reached a decision not to pursue an appeal.

Sgt. Jacquie Forgeron said the NRP filed a notice of appeal in August in order to preserve the right to appeal while it carefully considered whether or not to pursue an appeal.

The service has now reached a decision, in consultation with the Region’s legal services, not to pursue an appeal, she said in an e-mail.

“After considering all of the issues both legal and financial a decision was made not to pursue the appeal.”

Parsons’ civil lawyer Margaret Hoy said she has been informed the NRP will not go ahead with the case.

Parsons was the passenger in a Jeep stopped by police on Dec. 28, 2003 on Lundy’s Lane on the outskirts of Niagara Falls. He testified he was pulled out of the vehicle, choked, pulled into a ditch and Tasered 10 to 15 times in retaliation for yelling “Hey Baby” out the window at police.

After a civil trial in Welland in March, Judge Raymond Harris sided with Parsons, saying each of the officers “abused their position of authority in a manner which cannot be condoned.”

The NRP said it has dealt with the matter internally with the involved officers and are satisfied that the matter may be considered closed.

Niagara Regional Police launch appeal in civil Taser case

October 3, 2009
KARENA WALTER, ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD

A civil judgment that found Niagara Regional Police officers abused their authority and "flouted the law" by Tasering a St. Catharines man multiple times is being appealed by police.

In documents filed with the Court of Appeal in Toronto, the police service's lawyer argues Judge Raymond Harris drew "unwarranted conclusions on factual issues" when he made his June 29 ruling awarding Michael Parsons $50,000.

The notice of appeal also claims the judge drew "unwarranted negative inferences against the officers."

It asks the judgment be set aside and the case dismissed.

Parsons sued the police service and five individual officers for negligence, false arrest, assault, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the Dec. 18, 2003 confrontation.

His trial was held in in Welland Superior Court in March.

Parsons, who was known to police, was a passenger in a Jeep driven by his fiancee on Lundy's Lane, on the outskirts of Niagara Falls. He testified he yelled "Hey Baby" out the window at an officer he recognized and police pulled the Jeep over a short time later.

Parsons testified he was unarmed when he was dragged out of the Jeep onto the ground and assaulted, choked, pulled into a ditch and Tasered 10 to 15 times.

He was charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest, but those charges were later withdrawn by the Crown.

Officers testified Parsons was hanging out of the Jeep window from the waist up, justifying the vehicle stop, but Harris questioned why none of them recorded that observation in their duty book notes.

He found there was no reason for police to stop the Jeep and that Parsons was Tasered more than three times without justification. He called the assault "offensive and egregious."

The judge awarded the 30-year-old man $50,000 in total damages and indicated he would have given Parsons more if he had asked for a greater sum.

The notice of appeal claims there were at least 15 errors made by the judge that are grounds for appeal.

It says those include the judge's finding that information not included in officers' duty book notes was inherently unreliable.

Harris also didn't make allowances for "expected differing versions of events" in officers' testimony, it said.

The judge made a mistake by concluding there was no reasonable basis to stop the vehicle, it says, and that Harris erred by concluding there were no reasonable grounds to charge Parsons with assaulting police and resisting arrest.

The notice says the judge spent almost no time in his decision "discussing the "grossly inconsistent and disparate testimony of the plaintiffs" and ignored independent evidence, such as from an emergency room doctor.

The notice says Parsons should not have been awarded damages. It argues Parsons' former fiancee Terri Lynn Ryckman, a co-plaintiff in the case, should not have received a $10,000 award for nervous shock and emotional distress or $5,000 in punitive damages.

No date for the appeal has been set.

Jury makes recommendations in Beamsville man's death

July 16, 2009
KARENA WALTER, ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD

Training for police in the use of Tasers should include courses with "judgment scenarios," a jury from a coroner's inquest has recommended to the province.

The jury, which heard evidence over seven days about the death of 39-year-old James Foldi of Beamsville, made seven recommendations Wednesday, adopting or modifying six suggestions from lawyers.

They also determined Foldi's death was an accident, caused by acute cocaine toxicity leading to sudden cardiac death, in the setting of excited delirium.

That cause was modified from a pathologist's ruling that Foldi died from excited delirium due to acute cocaine poisoning.

A lawyer for Foldi's family had argued excited delirium in itself was not a cause of death.

Foldi died July 1,2005, around 3:35 a. m. after going through a tear in his Beamsville neighbourhood. Jurors heard he seemed "out of it" and ran into three homes that night, waving his arms, calling for help and leaving a trail of blood.

Police tried using a Taser in probe mode and pepper spray to control Foldi and eventually tackled him to the ground next to a garage, where he had jumped through a window to get outside.

He was again Tasered on the ground in the stun mode several times and handcuffed, when he suddenly stopped breathing.

Juries are not obligated to make any recommendations at the end of an inquest.

Jurors in the Foldi case made recommendations directed to Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Emergency Medical Services and the ministries of Health and Community Safety and Correctional Services.

They included a suggestion to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services that Taser qualification and annual re-qualification training courses also include "judgment scenarios."

The recommendation was not suggested by any of the lawyers, but during the inquest, jurors heard that the province is currently coming up with a new training model for police using Tasers.

The ministry was also told it should promptly distribute any updated or new information from an excited delirium study to police services.

It was also recommended the ministry equip police supervisor vehicles with portable automatic external defibrillators and that other appropriate personnel receive training to properly use the defibrillators.

That recommendation, made by the lawyer for Foldi's family, was not supported by the NRP's lawyer, who argued in court that officers are not medical personnel.

The ministry was given a fourth recommendation that product warning and training materials for use of force options and equipment, including Tasers, is promptly distributed to all appropriate police members.

During the inquest, the jury heard that an e-mail bulletin from Taser International on June 28, 2005, sat in a police officer's inbox while he was on holiday and wasn't distributed to other officers until August that year.

Other jury recommendations: The Ministry of Health and Health and Welfare Canada should make sure all reasonable efforts are made to alert the public to the dangerous effects of cocaine.

NRP and EMS should continue to work together in developing communications protocols aimed at prompt ambulance response.

NRP should review its general order dealing with use of force to ensure it reflects any product warnings and training memoranda for use of force options and equipment, including Tasers.

Jurors deliberate on Beamsville Taser death

July 14, 2009
KARENA WALTER, St. Catharine's Standard

Jurors at an inquest into the death of a Beamsville man high on cocaine who was Tasered several times are being asked to recommend that police be trained to identify excited delirium.

The lawyer for James Foldi’s family told jurors Tuesday it was clear the 39- year-old man was suffering extreme distress before he was tackled, Tasered and subsequently stopped breathing in a laneway July 1, 2005.

“It’s a shame that nobody tried to calm Mr. Foldi,” Ian Brisbin said in closing submissions to the jury in St. Catharines. “There is no evidence police officers took any steps whatsoever to calm him down.”

But the lawyer representing the Niagara Regional Police Service said officers are trained to detect excited delirium and there was no evidence they require more training.

Sara Premi asked jurors to consider what was happening the night Foldi was arrested: It was dark and he was unresponsive to police commands, was covered in blood and had been involved in a home invasion.

She said it was the job of police to get Foldi under control for the safety of neighbourhood residents.

“You would expect nothing less for your safety and your family’s safety.”

Lawyers finished their arguments Tuesday. Jurors will continue to deliberate on a cause of death and potential recommendations today.

Jurors have heard police were called to the Beamsville neighbourhood of Village Park Drive and Crescent Avenue around 2:30 a.m. after reports of a man breaking into homes and calling for help.

One officer who came face-to-face with Foldi said he was covered in blood and his eyes were wide, like “something out of a horror movie.”

Police caught up with Foldi after he ran into the bungalow of strangers and began yelling in a bedroom. One officer testified he told Foldi, “We’re trying to help you. Get down on the ground” but Foldi jumped out a open window.

Police then confronted Foldi in a garage where he was pounding on a car with his fists. Again Foldi ran and jumped out a window, this time through a pane of glass.

Police tried to Taser him twice with the gun in the probe mode and used pepper spray, but said Foldi kept running.

A violent struggle between officers and Foldi ensued next to the garage, where Foldi was taken to the ground and Tasered in the stun mode as he continued to struggle. Police said soon after he was handcuffed, he stopped breathing.

A pathologist found the cause of death was excited delirium from acute cocaine poisoning.

But Brisbin asked jurors to find that the cause of death was sudden cardiac death from ventricular fibrillation.

He also asked jurors to recommend that police not allow individuals to remain in the prone position longer than necessary and that police carry defibrillators in their vehicles.

Foldi, who was a large man, was Tasered several times and was lying handcuffed, face down with an officer’s foot between his shoulder blades, Brisbin said. He said that asking jurors to accept Foldi’s breathing wasn’t compromised would be asking them to ignore common sense.

But Premi said there was no evidence that positional asphyxia played a role in Foldi’s death. There was also no evidence that defibrillators were needed in cruisers, she said, adding police are not paramedics.

Lawyer David Pickering, representing the Niagara Region Police Association, said Foldi’s use of cocaine was the driving force that night.

“Don’t criticize police for responding, when you’ve caused the need for response,” he said.

Pickering said the abuse of cocaine affected Foldi’s mental state.

“It was his abuse of cocaine that caused the struggle,” he said. “You think officers wanted to struggle?”

Four other suggested recommendations were made to jurors jointly by all the lawyers.

They included that the NRP and Emergency Medical Services continue working together to get prompt ambulance service, that the NRP quickly notify members of product warnings, such as those from Taser International, and that police review a general order dealing with use of force. They also recommended that the Ministry of Health have more public education about cocaine use.

Taser inquest resumes in Beamsville death

July 13, 2009
Posted By KARENA WALTER, Sun Media

Ontario is looking into a new training model for police officers to keep them at arm’s length from Taser International, a coroner’s inquest heard Monday.

The province’s officers use training techniques from the manufacturer of the stun gun, but that could change, said Chris Lawrence, an expert from the Canadian Police Research Centre on use of force and excited delirium.

“Smith and Wesson don’t provide training on firearms. General Motors doesn’t show officers how to drive,” he told the jury in the case of James Foldi, who was Tasered during a 2005 struggle with police.

Lawrence said the training group, put together by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and of which he is a part, met a couple of times last week and will gather again in August to design scenarios used in training.

They want to instruct Ontario officers how the Taser should be used, as opposed to it coming from instructions from the United States, he said.

Lawrence said there has been some criticism about relying on the manufacturer on how to use the Taser appropriately.

“Just to let the public know, we’re not just taking what the manufacturer said and not thinking for ourselves.”

Lawrence, a former police officer and use-of-force trainer, was the last person to testify in the Foldi case, which wrapped up evidence Monday after a six-week scheduling delay.

Foldi, 39, died July 1, 2005, after a bizarre night of breaking into houses in Beamsville, calling for help and at one point jumping through a glass window.

A pathologist ruled his death was caused by excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine posioning.

The coroner’s jury has heard from the officer who deployed the Taser that it was used twice in the probe mode when Foldi was running. It was applied another five times on stun mode to Foldi’s calves and thighs while he was struggling with officers on the ground.

Another four discharges of the Taser, recorded by the device, are unaccounted for.

Coroner’s inquests are mandatory when someone dies in police custody.

Lawrence, who wrote a report about the Foldi matter, testified he concluded the officers’ actions were consistent with prudent police practice.

He told Sara Premi, the lawyer representing the NRP, that police need to gain control of a person in an excited delirium state so the person can get medical treatment.

He said there are cases where people still die in that state without being Tasered.

{THAT LINE OF THINKING HAS BEEN SHREDDED TO PIECES MANY TIMES OVER AT WWW.EXCITED-DELIRIUM.COM}

The jurors will hear closing submissions from lawyers today and will decide whether or not to make recommendations in the case.

Lawrence said the training group has done a lot of groundwork over the last year and started an instruction manual.

When asked if the Foldi case would be used as a training scenario, Lawrence said it’s consistent with other events, but any examples will be generic.

Tony Brown, a spokesman for the ministry reached later by phone in Toronto, said the ministry is conducting a study with policing partners on the Taser. Operational and policy considerations in relation to training are being discussed, he said.

Brown said the study is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Niagara Regional Police says five officers in Taser incident will be retrained

July 3, 2009
Posted By KARENA WALTER, SUN MEDIA

The Niagara Regional Police Service says it will likely provide remedial training to officers slammed in a civil court decision for illegally arresting and Tasering a St. Catharines man.

But the five officers taken to task by a Superior Court judge won't be disciplined by the police service because too much time has passed since the Dec. 18, 2003 incident.

The NRP issued a statement Thursday, reacting to the $50,000 civil decision won by 30-year-old Michael Parsons against the service.

The service said it had the opportunity to review the decision and accepts the findings of the court.

"This civil proceeding served to provide the community with a public airing of evidence that concluded in a judgement against the officers involved," Chief Wendy Southall said in the media release.

"We respect the findings of the court and plan a comprehensive internal response."

Parsons sued the police service and five officers -- Michael Woodfine, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle, James Tallevi and Darren Forbes -- for negligence, false arrest, assault, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He was the passenger in a Jeep pulled over on the outskirts of Niagara Falls and testified he was dragged out of the vehicle by police and assaulted.

During the incident, Parsons said he was choked, pulled into a ditch and Tasered 10 to 15 times, including in his genitals and while handcuffed.

The officers claimed Parsons resisted arrest and was not cooperative.

After a civil trial in Welland in March, Justice Raymond Harris released his decision this week strongly condemning the officers involved.

"The events that unfolded at the side of the road that December evening strike me as epitomizing arbitrary and capricious conduct deserving of strong condemnation from this court," he wrote.

The judge said he believed the police engaged in an act of reprisal against Parsons for yelling, "Hey baby," out of the Jeep window at one of the offi-cers.

"This was not a situation where the officers were confronted by an aggressive and assaultive man requiring them to defend themselves," Harris wrote. "The circumstances suggest that the opposite was true."

He called the officers actions "troubling" and "offensive" and didn't find their testimony credible.

"Each of these officers abused their position of authority in a manner which cannot be condoned."

The police service said in its statement yesterday that a public complaint about the officers was not made at the time of the incident.

As a result, an investigation into potential misconduct of the officers was not conducted at the time.

Disciplinary charges against the officers involved would be problematic now, the NRP said, because of time limitations in the Police Services Act as well as "notions of fairness and natural justice."

The statement was released just after 5 p. m. and media relations officer Const. Ken Bettes said no one in the executive office was available to comment further.

Bettes did explain that a disciplinary charge must be laid within six months from the time of an infraction under the police services act.

The NRP said it will use other measures to address issues raised by the decision. It said that is expected to include remedial training for the offi-cers focusing on powers of arrest, use of force and note taking.

In his decision, Harris said that although officers justified pulling over the Jeep because Parsons was hanging out the window, none of them wrote that observation in their notes.

The NRP's policy on Tasers has changed since the time of the incident. Prior to July 2008, a Taser could be used on a suspect "actively resisting" an offi-cer.

Since that time, a suspect must be exhibiting "assaultive behaviour."

Niagara Regional Police officers must pay for ‘act of reprisal'

July 1, 2009
Kirk Makin, Globe and Mail

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered five police officers to pay $50,000 to a Niagara Falls man for dragging him from his car, repeatedly beating and tasering him, and then wrongly imprisoning him for five days.

Mr. Justice C.R. Harris included a rare punitive damages award of $20,000, saying that each of the Niagara Regional Police officers “decided to flout the law for their own purposes. The actions of the officers in this case are very troubling an offence and, I suspect, would deeply sadden and shock the community in which they were perpetrated.”

Judge Harris said that concocted testimony from the officers carried an odour of conspiracy, and that their real motive in assaulting Michael Allan Parsons was “an act of reprisal” against a local rounder whom they disliked and believed had insulted them.

“I am persuaded that their testimony was at times self-serving, often equivocal and unclear, and in some instances, pure fiction,” Judge Harris said. “Their testimony also struck me as being too pure and sanitized.”

The attack took place around 10 p.m. December 18, 2003 on a rural road near Fort Erie, Ont. Judge Harris found that Mr. Parsons yelled, “Hey, baby,” at one of the officers as he and his fiancée, Terri Lynn Ryckman, drove by a group of police gathered by the road.

Judge Harris said that the officers, Michael Woodfine, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle, James Tallevi and Darren Forbes, lied in claiming that Mr. Parsons hurled profanity at them and hung halfway out the window of his jeep.

In testimony at his trial on charges of assault and resisting arrest, Mr. Parsons described being pulled from the jeep in a chokehold, and having his hands handcuffed behind his back while the officers administered 15 taser shocks to his legs, scrotum, throat, back and buttocks.

“It felt like fire,” he testified. “It felt like it made my whole body convulse and jump.… It just burned.… Your whole body just jumps when it hits you. It's excruciating.

“I was in terror,” Mr. Parsons said. “I feared for my life afterwards because of what they had done to me.… I feel that I could have died that day on the side of that road. I'm still scared to this day.”

The officers, for their part, described a wild melee that they claimed Mr. Parsons provoked by charging out of his jeep in a rage. They said that he repeatedly attacked them, wrestling them to the ground, and gave up only after receiving a few measured jolts with the taser.

Judge Harris rejected their story almost entirely. “The events that unfolded at the side of the road that December evening strike me as epitomizing arbitrary and capricious conduct deserving of strong condemnation from this court,” he said.

Judge Harris also noted that the Crown later dropped the charges against Mr. Parsons, who subsequently sued police over his treatment.

The award was assessed at $83,000, but only $50,000 could be awarded for technical legal reasons. It includes $30,000, against officers Tallevi, Woodfine and Cirillo for the assault and tasering; $19,000 against Officer Tallevi for false arrest and false imprisonment and malicious prosecution; and $10,000 for nervous shock and emotional distress.

Judge Harris awarded $20,000 to Ms. Ryckman.

James Foldi taser death inquest to continue next month

June 16, 2009
St. Catharine's Standard

An inquest into the death of a Beamsville man who died after being Tasered by police during a bizarre night of activity is set to resume July 13.

James Foldi, 39, died July 1, 2005 after breaking into houses in his Beamsville neighbourhood, calling for help and at one point, jumping through a glass window.

A pathologist ruled his death was caused by excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

A coroner’s jury in St. Catharines heard witnesses testify during the last week of May, but the inquest was interrupted due to scheduling problems.

Lawyers will continue to question the last witness in the stand on July 13 at 9:30 a.m. in the St. Catharines courthouse, before making their closing submissions.

Jurors have heard that a Taser used in the confrontation with Foldi was discharged 12 times, but there’s no way of knowing from the device how often it made contact with his body.

A police officer testified he deployed the Taser twice in the probe mode when Foldi was running and five times in the stun mode while Foldi was struggling with officers on the ground.

Coroner’s inquests are mandatory when someone dies in police custody.

Niagara Regional Police ahead of the RCMP on Tasers

June 3, 2009
Posted By Grant LaFleche, St. Catharine's Standard

While the RCMP is pulling more than 1,000 Tasers from service across the country over safety concerns, the Niagara Regional Police says it has nothing to worry about.

The offending weapon, the M-26 Taser, is no longer part of the NRP arsenal.

“We pulled them from service in April,” NRP spokeswoman Jacquie Forgeron said Wednesday.

The NRP had six of the older model energy weapons which were used by members of its tactical unit. However, after testing them, the Tasers were replaced by the newer X-26 model.

The RCMP said this week the M-26 Taser will be removed from service after testing by the B.C government found the weapons failed to meet the manufacturer’s specifications 80 per cent of the time.

Around 1,600 weapons are being pulled after testing showed the weapon often delivered an electrical charge less than expected.

The use of Tasers by police in Canada has been in the spotlight thanks to recent hearings into the death of Robert Dziekanksi, who died after being jolted with the weapons by RCMP officers in 2007 in Vancouver.

Locally, a corner’s inquest into the 2005 death of James Foldi of Beamsville has looked at the use of tasers by the NRP officers who arrested him.

The inquest, which has been paused due to scheduling conflicts, heard that Foldi died as a result of excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

Forgeron said the NRP started looking at its older Tasers when a CBC report in 2008 showed that versions of the X-26 made before Dec. 31, 2005, were discharging more volts than they should.

The NRP took the relevant weapons out of service to be tested. During that round of testing the M-26 weapons were also looked at.

Last month, the last six M-26 Tasers the NRP had were pulled from service and replaced with newer weapons, Forgeron said.

Forgeron said the NRP presently have 44 X-26 weapons in use.

Only NRP supervisors and members of the tactical unit are authorized to use the conducted energy weapons.

In 2008, Tasers were used by NRP officers in 44 incidents, down from 98 in 2007.

No knowing how many times Taser made contact with man, inquest told

It's like a re-run. Same old dog and pony show - the taser fan club song and dance at the coroner's inquest has become the norm. Tell me, when will we hear from Christine Hall, excited-delirium expert extraordinaire?

I suppose it would be too much to hope that the sudden "intermission" in this coroner's inquest will give this corrupt process a chance to have some oversight through the newly announced STRONGER, MORE ACCOUNTABLE CORONER SYSTEM IN ONTARIO, which promises:

The establishment of an oversight council for Ontario's death investigation system
An improved complaints system under the oversight council
The establishment of an Ontario Forensic Pathology Service
A registry of pathologists authorized to conduct coroner's autopsies in Ontario
Improved death investigation services to northern and First Nations communities.

May 29, 2009
Posted By KARENA WALTER, St. Catharine's Standard

The police Taser used in a confrontation with James Foldi was discharged 12 times, but there is no way of knowing from the device how often it made contact with his body.

A coroner’s inquest was told Friday the Taser was activated over a period of three minutes and five seconds as Foldi ran from and struggled with police in a Beamsville neighbourhood.

The 39-year-old, who lived in the neighbourhood, died July 1, 2005, after a bizarre night of breaking into houses, calling for help and at one point jumping through a window.

A pathologist ruled his death was caused by excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

It will be up to a jury to make the final determination. Coroner’s inquests are mandatory when someone dies in police custody.

The Foldi inquest was supposed to continue next week, but because of a scheduling problem will continue at a later, undetermined date. The last witness was giving testimony Friday when the inquest broke for the day.

Chris Lawrence from the Canadian Police Research Centre, an expert in use of force and excited delirium, prepared a report that said police actions in the Foldi case were consistent with prudent practises.

Backing away from Foldi instead of arresting him may not have been the best option for officers because he was bleeding, Lawrence said.

“Waiting may not be in his best interest. It’s a very hard call to make.”

Lawrence presented downloaded information from the Taser used on Foldi that morning.

He told the jury Tasers are one of the few weapons that record data, such as how long it was used and when, but it cannot determine whether it made contact.

Niagara Regional Police Sgt. Richard Ciszek testified earlier in the week that he deployed the Taser twice in the probe mode when Foldi was running. He applied the Taser, set on stun mode, five times to Foldi’s calves and thighs while Foldi was struggling with officers on the ground between a garage and fence.

Ciszek, who was holding Foldi’s ankles while other officers tried to handcuff him, said he also discharged the Taser in the air to see if it was working, because it didn’t seem to have an effect.

The other four discharges have been unaccounted.

Lawrence said Friday that it’s been well-documented that while an officer is gripping a subject with one hand and a Taser in the other, he or she can inadvertently pull the trigger without touching the person.

During the time Foldi was on the ground, the Taser was discharged over a 97-second period and was only off for 13 seconds.

Jurors heard earlier in the week from the other three officers who were involved in the struggle with Foldi on the ground. One officer heard the Taser go off once and the other two officers didn’t hear it at all.

Lawrence testified that as circumstances become more intense for officers and their concern about the outcome more pertinent and focused, it’s possible for them to block out information around them.

There are a number of incidents in which officers didn’t hear a gun fire next to them or even hear their own gun, he said.

“One person can be on the legs, another at the waist and one officer doesn’t see the other there.”

Pepper spray had no effect on man, inquest told

This testimony is all too sickeningly familiar to me.

"I've had time to digest what happened and the time frame is clearer after talking to other officers." - Constable Ronald Traub (Good of Const. Traub to ADMIT he had help "remembering" by "talking to other officers".)

Was James Foldi "fighting and aggressive" or was he, as I suspect, thrashing around violently in the ultimate fight for his very life after being tasered at least 7 times, and reportedly closer to 12 times??

May 28, 2009
KARENA WALTER, St. Catharine Standard

It took four Niagara Regional Police officers to apprehend James Foldi after he went on a wild run through Beamsville in the last hour of his life, jurors at a coroner’s inquest have heard.

Foldi was blasted twice with pepper spray, hit with a baton and Tasered at least seven times.

The last of the four officers who arrested 39-year-old Foldi that July 1, 2005 morning — and who were with him when he died — testified about the arrest Thursday in St. Catharines.

Jurors have heard that Foldi broke into three houses in the Village Park Drive and Crescent Avenue area around 2:30 a.m. and called “help me.” Residents said he appeared confused and out of touch with reality and left a trail of blood.

A pathologist testified earlier this week the cause of death was excited delirium, brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

Const. Christopher Doyle testified Thursday he arrived at the scene outside a home and went up the driveway. He knew pepper spray had been deployed because it smelled and made him cough. He heard Const. Patrick Diver, already there with Sgt. Richard Ciszek, say, “Police, get down on the ground” and heard the firing of a Taser stun gun.

Doyle said he saw Foldi throw himself through a window into a garage. “Glass was shattering in every direction,” Doyle said.

Jurors have heard officers testify that inside the garage, Foldi began punching a car. Doyle said another officer pepper sprayed Foldi again, but it had no effect. Foldi continued making incoherent comments, yelling and screaming.

Const. Ronald Traub said that at one point Foldi bent down and started to bite the car’s mirror. He said officers were telling him to stop. “It was like he was looking through us, not at us,” Traub said, adding Foldi was agitated and his eyes were wide open.

Foldi then jumped backwards out the broken window, Traub said.

Outside, Foldi, who was 5-foot-11 and 243 pounds, was taken down to the ground on his back by officers, who said he continued to struggle.

Doyle testified Foldi grabbed Doyle’s right thigh in an attempt to pull himself up, so he used his baton to hit Foldi’s left forearm. He then rolled him on his side.

“He was continuing to struggle,” Doyle said. “He was thrashing around quite violently.”

At one point Foldi rolled onto his stomach and Doyle said Diver was able to handcuff a hand.

Traub said while Diver was holding one hand, Doyle was attempting to get Foldi’s other arm and Ciszek was trying to control the man’s legs.

“It appeared to me he was trying to raise his head and bite at Const. Diver and Const. Doyle,” Traub said. Traub said he put his right foot between Foldi’s shoulder blades to avoid the biting but the man was still kicking.

Traub said he heard a Taser once during the struggle on the ground. Doyle said he didn’t hear it at all.

But Ciszek testified on Wednesday he Tasered Foldi at least five times on the ground and twice when he was running.

Police eventually got both handcuffs on Foldi.

Traub testified Doyle tried to roll Foldi to his side and sit him up but when Foldi continued to fight and be aggressive, they put him back down on his side.

Shortly after the cuffs were on, police said Foldi stopped breathing.

Foldi’s family lawyer asked Traub why he told investigators five days after the incident that Foldi was placed on his side after he went limp, not before.

Traub said he’s had time to digest what happened and the time frame is clearer after talking to other officers.

Evidence in the inquest is expected to conclude today.

James Foldi inquest continues

May 28, 2009
KARENA WALTER, ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD

Sleeping soundly in bed, James Casson and his wife were suddenly awakened at 2:30 a. m. by a crash at their Beamsville home's front door.

When it was followed by a second crash and the sound of the casing breaking on the steel door, they knew it wasn't the paper carrier, James Casson told jurors Wednesday at the coroner's inquest into the death of James Foldi .

Casson got out of bed and went to the stairs, where he discovered Foldi, a Village Park Drive neighbour.

"I said, 'You don't live here. Go home!' " Casson said he told Foldi, who seemed "out of it" and wouldn't make eye contact.

"They're after me. They're after me," Foldi said, waving his arms. "Help me! Help me!"

Residents of the Beamsville neighbourhood described for jurors Wednesday the bewildering encounters they had with the 39-year-old man in the last hour of his life on July 1, 2005.

Jurors also learned from police on the third day of the inquest that Foldi was Tasered at least seven times as they attempted to arrest him.

A pathologist ruled the death was caused by excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

Excited delirium is characterized by aggressive behaviour, super-human strength, high temperature, incoherence and imperviousness to pain, the jury has heard.

Niagara Regional Police were called to the neighbourhood that morning on reports of break-ins.

Casson said he called 911 after he and his wife physically pushed Foldi out their front door. They made three attempts before they were successful.

Afterwards, they found blood on both sides of the door, which Casson said had been bent "like an accordion."

Nearby on Crescent Avenue, Jeffrey Tallman was in bed and was also about to be awakened.

"I went from sound asleep to thinking I was having a strange dream to realizing someone was in our house," Tallman told jurors.

Tallman testified he heard a call for help. He followed his dog down the stairs to the front of his house where a man was standing. The man said something about a wolf and left, Tallman said.

There was a great deal of blood on the walls and Tallman said he believed Foldi had been looking for light switches.

Amanda Philbrick was in a Crescent Avenue home watching a movie downstairs with her boyfriend when they heard a noise upstairs and the word "help."

She went up and saw a man she didn't know inside the home trying to shut the front door. "He said, 'Help!' and he say, 'Help!' " she testified. "And he also said, 'Wolf.' "

She thought the wolf comment may be in reference to a husky dog lying nearby on the dining room floor.

"I was in shock. Who is this guy? What's going on? Why is he in the house?" she testified.

Philbrick told jurors Foldi rested his hands on her arms and said "Help," but she didn't feel threatened by him.

She said Foldi seemed panicked. "He seemed very scared. He didn't know what he was doing."

Police eventually confronted Foldi in a back bedroom of the bungalow, where he jumped out the window. Philbrick said he must have opened the closed window and punched out the screen to escape.

Outside the house, Tallman was on the sidewalk and saw a lot of commotion with police swarming the area. He said he heard Foldi say, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

He also heard Taser sounds. It was the middle of the night and the action was between two buildings. "It was quite a loud electrical sound," Tallman said.

The inquest continues today.

Inquest hears Taser didn’t stop man's heart

From a June 18, 2008 Canadian Press report entitled Taser damage questioned: Dr. Paul Dorian, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, says officers need to assume they may hurt someone when they use the Taser and treat all injuries seriously.

From a June 17, 2008 CBC News report entitled One-third of people shot by Taser need medical attention: probe: Dr. Paul Dorian, a cardiologist and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, said police officers need to assume they may hurt someone when they use a Taser and treat all injuries seriously. " He conducted a study on pigs on the effects on the heart of Taser shocks and found multiple hits with a stun gun can cause heart stress. "If there is injury and illness, as a physician, I would have to say those people, even if they are accused criminals, should be taken care of," he said.

From a June 1, 2008 Toronto Star report on the inquest into the death of Jerry Knight, entitled Tasers: More questions than answers: Dr. Paul Dorian, a cardiologist at St. Michael's Hospital and the author of the most recent Taser study, would never say it's impossible to meet a deadly fate at the end of a Tom A Swift Electric Rifle (Taser). But it's rare. According to his research, an analysis of the existing literature coupled with his own observations and study, the odds of a "death by Taser" are the same as dying from, say, living next to power lines, getting breast implants, or drinking from a bisphenol-leaching plastic water bottle. "It's unlikely," he says, acknowledging these concerns are real and should be taken seriously once they are put into perspective. "But never say never." It would take a confluence of factors, Dorian says, for a Taser to force a victim's heart into fatal contractions that outlast the Taser's jolt. Pre-existing heart damage is a must, he says. So is a surge of adrenaline through a victim's blood, which could be caused by drugs, such as the cocaine found in Knight's blood, alcohol, agitation, or the stress of facing police and the crackling end of a live Taser. To turn deadly, officers must shoot at close enough range for the weapon's two metal darts, barbed like fishhooks, to land next to, or right on, each of the victim's nipples, where the electricity from the Taser is most likely to disrupt normal pulses in the heart. "They have to penetrate the skin," Dorian says. "And the charge has to be sufficiently prolonged. "And if the Taser is to blame for a death, the victim would not hang on for a few hours, Dorian says. He would be dead within minutes, like Dziekanski ... Whatever the outcome, Dorian says, research shows Tasers are a potential health hazard, no matter what the odds against them causing someone's death. While everyone is trying to figure out if they kill, or if they're safe, he says, it would be wrong to continue using them without making any changes – or at least trying to minimize the risk. What about not shooting at someone's chest? he offers. Or, reconfiguring the device? "There's a lot of possibilities, but so far none have been discussed," he says. "Nothing in the world is safe. But we haven't taken this as seriously as we should."

From a May 7, 2008 CTV British Columbia report on the Braidwood Inquiry: Canadian medical researchers are disputing the theory that stun guns do not cause irregular heart rhythms that are sometimes fatal. Tests had shown that Taser shock could cause fibrillation -- a very rapid, irregular contraction of muscles fibers -- in any muscle, except the heart. "Bottom line is we think that assumption is incorrect," said Dr. Paul Dorian, a medical researcher from the University of Toronto. "Under certain circumstances, the Taser electrical discharges can, in fact, cause the heart muscle to beat and to beat very fast." Dorian and his team shocked six pigs with stun guns looking for signs of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and other adverse heart effects. The results echo a recent Chicago study, where prolonged stun gun shocks caused VF. Two pigs died in the Chicago study. One pig died of VF in Dorian's study and the other five pigs showed cardiac disturbance. When it occurs in humans, VF can be lethal, Dorian said. "When this rapid irregular heart rhythm occurs, the heart doesn't beat effectively," Dorian told CTV News. "No blood is pumped from it, and the victim, unless they get CPR and gets an electrical shock to the heart, will die within 10 minutes." In response to the Toronto study, manufacturer Taser International said it will present results from three cardiac studies of its own later this month at the Heart Rhythm Conference in San Francisco, California. "Taser International is dismayed by attempts to present this information as something it is not," the company said in a statement. "I can understand if they're dismayed," Dorian said. "I'm dismayed as well. Dismayed that we have a technology that potentially can cause harm."

From a May 3, 2008 Globe and Mail Editorial, entitled Tasers do affect the heart: ... the CMAJ study from the University of Toronto researchers found major weaknesses in the pig studies, and clear evidence, both in a study they did on pigs and in pig studies they reviewed, that the heart could be affected when the gun's two barbs struck in such a way that the electricity passed through the heart (without the barbs actually penetrating the heart). In one study, researchers opened a pig's chest when it was zapped and observed that the heart was affected. The stun gun could cause the pigs to abruptly lose their blood pressure. Two pigs died immediately after the stun-gun discharge in the study. As for the inquests, the CMAJ makes no reference to them, but in an interview, co-author Paul Dorian said that "as a scientist, I'm sympathetic to the difficulty of ascribing cause with very limited information." His study concludes: "It is inappropriate to conclude that stun gun discharges cannot lead to adverse cardiac consequences in all real world settings."

AND TODAY, IN A REPORT FROM THE ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD (by Karena Walter) from the inquest into the death of James Foldi, tasered TWELVE (12) times by Niagara Regional Police:

It’s unlikely the jolts from a Taser to James Foldi’s back, thighs or legs had a direct effect on his heart, a coroner’s jury heard Tuesday.

Cardiologist Dr. Paul Dorian testified the Beamsville man would have difficulty moving after a few seconds of being hit with the stun gun if it directly affected his heart.

Jurors at the coroner’s inquest into the death of the 39-year-old man heard in earlier testimony by police that Foldi continued to run after being struck twice in the back with Taser probes on July 1, 2005.

Officers said once Foldi was tackled to the ground, he was hit again with a Taser in the drive stun mode on his calves and upper thighs but continued to violently struggle and yell.

A pathologist ruled he died of excited delirium due to acute cocaine poisoning.

A Taser strike is very painful because the electricity causes a direct stimulation of nerve endings, Dorian, from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, told the inquest. He said it can also cause muscles to contract, like a major cramp.

It would be “extraordinarily unlikely” that the Taser had effects on heart muscles if a person continued to run or move after being hit with one, Dorian said.

But he did say there are possible indirect effects on the heart when a person is Tasered. Anything which causes serious pain can cause the heart to work harder, he [Dorion] said.

Niagara Regional Police were called to the Beamsville neighbourhood of Crescent Avenue and Village Park Drive around 2:30 a.m. on that July, 2005 day after reports of a person breaking into homes and yelling for help.

Jurors have heard that Foldi was bloodied and at one point ran into a bungalow, down a hall to a bedroom and jumped out a window. He then ran beside the house, smashed through a garage window, where he pounded on a vehicle with his fists.

He was eventually tackled to the ground outside and four officers struggled to handcuff him. A short time later he stopped breathing and died at the scene.

Toxicologist Dr. Margaret Thompson testified excited or agitated delirium is characterized by aggressive behaviour, “super-human” strength, high temperature, incoherence and imperviousness to pain.

After exhibiting agitated behaviour, the person collapses and dies, and in very few cases doctors are able to revive a patient, she said.

The condition is associated with severe psychiatric illness or abuse of substances, usually cocaine.

“Mr. Foldi got to a point of no return,” Thompson said. “By the time the ambulance got there and had him on a monitor, he had a flatline.”

Thompson, who is also medical director of the Ontario Poison Centre, testified she believed Foldi took a large amount of cocaine a few hours before his death.

Foldi had 1.3 mg of cocaine per litre of blood in his system when he died and 8.6 mg per litre of Benzoylecgonine, which reflects the metabolic breakdown of cocaine.

Based on those amounts, Thompson estimated Foldi had 10 mg of cocaine per litre of blood two or three hours before he died.

Thompson said cocaine has a short life and it’s unusual to find it in blood. When a person takes cocaine, half of the amount used is gone in 45 minutes, with most gone in about three hours.

The inquest continues today and is expected to hear testimony from other police officers and Beamsville residents.

A coroner’s inquest is mandatory when a person dies in police custody.

Inquest begins into Taser death in Beamsville

See also: "How Can You Justify Using A Taser 12 Times?" which reported: "one fired an X-26 taser once ... one officer discharged his taser 11 times, using what's known as a drive stun technique, where the device is pressed against a person and fired. Mr. Foldi fell to the ground and was handcuffed. He started breathing heavily, lost consciousness and never recovered." Niagara police had been using tasers for only a week when the Foldi incident took place.

May 25, 2009
KARENA WALTER, St. Catharines The Standard

A man who went on a tear through a Beamsville neighbourhood and died after being Tasered seemed unaffected when the stun gun hit him, police officers testified Monday.

James Foldi, 39, continued to run and smash windows, even when his back was visibly sparking from the electrical jolt, a coroner’s inquest jury was told.

The jury began hearing testimony Monday in St. Catharines into the July 1, 2005 death.

Niagara Regional Police had been called to the area of Village Park Drive and Crescent Avenue around 2:30 a.m. after reports of a man breaking into residences.

“It was similar to something out of a horror movie,” said Const. Patrick Diver, who spotted Foldi walking through the fog on Crescent Avenue.

“I could see his face was covered in blood. His eyes were wide. He looked anxious.”

Diver had been dispatched to a residence on Village Park Drive for a break in, but when he arrived was advised to go to another call on Crescent Avenue, where a resident was pointing down the street.

After he spotted Foldi, Diver said Foldi ran into a nearby bungalow and people inside started screaming.

Foldi ran into a bedroom in the house and the residents, who didn’t know who he was, let Diver and Sgt. Richard Ciszek inside.

The two officers went down a hall, where Diver said Foldi was yelling nonsensically.

“I kept saying to him, ‘We’re trying to help you. Get down on the ground, do what we’re telling you to do,’ ” Diver said.

“At that point, he jumped out the window of the bedroom.”

As Foldi went through the window, Ciszek testified he pointed a Taser in the probe mode and hit Foldi in the back.

Ciszek said Foldi’s two arms went up at the elbows and there were sparks on his back, but he continued running beside the house.

Police went out the front door and met Foldi at the side of the house, who was trying to climb a gate.

Ciszek said he pepper-sprayed Foldi but the man turned around and started running. “I could see the whites of his eyes and there wasn’t even a blink,” Ciszek testified.

Ciszek discharged the Taser a second time, again hitting Foldi in the back. He said Foldi ran and jumped through a glass window in the garage.

“Mr. Foldi was wildly beating on the vehicle parked in the garage with his fists,” Ciszek told the inquest.

Foldi ran out of the garage as officers came in. They ended up getting him to the ground outside and Ciszek said it was a violent struggle.

Ciszek said he fired the Taser in stun mode at Foldi’s calves and upper thighs.

“Mr. Foldi continued to yell and scream. There was no change in behaviour at all,” he said.

Ciszek held Foldi’s legs and ankles while Diver and two other officers tried to handcuff him.

Ciszek said soon after Foldi was handcuffed, he stopped struggling. When police discovered he wasn’t breathing, Ciszek preformed chest compressions.

Pathologist Dr. John Fernandes testified he found the cause of death was excited delirium, a consequence of acute cocaine poisoning.

The inquest is scheduled for two weeks and is expected to hear testimony today by police officers, a cardiologist, medical toxicologist and members of the Beamsville neighbourhood.

Vancouver cops tied for second in Canada in Taser usage

March 16, 2009
Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier

The Vancouver Police Department tied for second with Niagara Regional Police Service for the number of times a Taser was fired in 2007.

Out of eight departments in Canada, including Montreal, officers from Vancouver and Niagara fired the Taser 74 times each. Edmonton topped all departments with 89. Victoria officers fired the Taser 71 times, with Greater Sudbury (55), Halifax (38), Waterloo Regional (33) and Montreal (32) rounding out the eight departments. The report did not include statistics from Toronto, which has one of the largest police departments in Canada.

The statistics are contained in a brief report that goes before the Vancouver Police Board March 18. The report also included statistics for 2008, but only four departments are listed.

The VPD's use of the Taser in 2008 dropped to 27 times from 74 in 2007. Greater Sudbury's force also saw a decrease in 2008, with 23 firings from 55 in 2007. The report lists statistics for two other departments but didn't name them. The report's author, Drazen Manojlovic, said the two unnamed departments haven't publicly released the statistics.

But Manojlovic, who is the VPD's director of planning and research, said the departments-which fired their stun guns 91 and 73 times respectively in 2008-are of comparable size to the VPD.

Manojlovic said it was "unlikely" that the other departments represented in the report had similar decreases to the VPD. He didn't explain the reason for the decrease.

In February, the Courier attempted to determine why the VPD saw such a dramatic decrease in use of the stun gun since 2005. In 2006, the VPD fired the Taser 93 times and 66 in 2005.

Const. Jana McGuinness, a media liaison officer with the department, said the VPD couldn't point to a definitive reason for the decrease. McGuinness also told the Courier in February that there was no directive from Police Chief Jim Chu to curtail the use of the controversial weapon.

Manojlovic noted in his report that his analysis of the statistics "to be blunt, only scratches the surface." Other factors, including how many officers are authorized to use a Taser and departments' policies around Taser use were not included in the report.

"If more comprehensive analysis is required, then the VPD would need to formally canvass comparable police departments later in 2009 to obtain more data, enquire about the factors listed above, and obtain approval to publicly release such information," Manojlovic wrote.

The Canadian Association of Police Boards released a report Feb. 24 on stun guns, or conducted energy weapons. The association agrees in theory that a Taser can be a valuable force option for police.

"However, [the association] would like to see more evidence and discussion to clarify the conditions under which use of [Tasers] does not pose risk of injury or death," the report said.

At last count, the VPD had more than 120 Tasers, which are made in the United States by Taser International. The stun gun resembles a handgun and releases 50,000 volts of electricity through two probes into clothing or skin.

Niagara Regional Police taser case decision expected in May

March 10, 2009
TONY RICCIUTO, Niagara Falls Review

Niagara Regional Police officers “had no right whatsoever” to pull over a vehicle on Lundy’s Lane, arrest Michael Parsons, or use a Taser on him, lawyer Margaret Hoy said in her closing arguments Monday in Welland court.

“These officers were out to teach Michael Parsons a lesson, after the lesson was taught, they charged him,” said Hoy, noting the traffic stop was illegal because the officers had no grounds. It was only conducted because her client had yelled out “Hey, baby” to some officers who were standing by the side of the road.

The incident happened on the evening of Dec. 18, 2003, on Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls.

Parsons, 30, is suing Niagara Regional Police and five individual officers for $50,000. He claims the officers used excessive force while making the arrest during which time he was Tasered 10 to 15 times.

The five named officers are Michael Woodfine, James Tallevi, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle and Darrin Forbes.

The civil lawsuit, which began last week in the Superior Court of Justice in Welland, is for negligence, false arrest, assault, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Hoy said an officer’s notes are an important part of any case. In this instance, none of the officers mentioned in their notes that Parsons was hanging half out of the window when he yelled the comment, but that’s what they testified to while giving their evidence in court as to the reason why the vehicle was pulled over in the first place.

While police maintain that Parsons was only Tasered three times, Hoy said the actual number is not really known because marks are not left in each instance, especially when just the electrical shock is administered as opposed to the darts which can be fired.

“The Taser was not appropriate in these circumstances,” said Hoy, noting there was no weapon, no punches were thrown, and there was only a struggle. “The level of force used was excessive to control the situation,” said Hoy.

During the trial, there was conflicting evidence as to what happened once the vehicle was stopped. Parsons claimed he remained in the vehicle and was using his cellphone to call his lawyer when a police officer reached in and pulled him out of the vehicle. Const. Tallevi said Parsons exited the vehicle and was ranting, raving and yelling next to the Jeep that had been pulled over by police. Parsons had a silver object in his hand that the police officer thought might be a weapon.

Police lawyer Terry Marshall said police don’t record everything in their notes. Some officers write more, others write less, but that doesn’t mean something didn’t happen.

If someone is hanging out a car window, he added, it’s reasonable for police to pull that vehicle over for a routine traffic stop.

Marshall said the “Hey, baby” comment had nothing to do with the vehicle being pulled over.

Once Const. James Tallevi and Michael Parsons ended up in the ditch, Const. Michael Woodfine used his Taser because he saw an officer who was not able to control a suspect.

Marshall said the doctor who examined Parsons at the hospital testified he may have been Tasered three times at the most. That is in line with what the police have said rather than the 10 to 15 times claimed by Parsons.

Also, there is no medical report to suggest there was any ongoing medical problems that resulted from this incident.

Judge Raymond Harris has reserved his decision until the end of May. The judge said he is involved in a number of other cases and there is a bit of a backlog.

“We’re looking at something at the end of May,” he told the court.

'Aggressive' stance by man before he was Tasered: officer

Here we go again: Under cross-examination, Cirillo, Priddle and Tallevi all agreed their INDIVIDUAL NOTES from the Dec. 2003 incident MADE NO MENTION of Parsons hanging out of the Jeep's window

March 6, 2009
Posted By KARENA WALTER, ST. CATHARINES STANDARD

On a road illuminated only by the lights of police cruisers, Const. James Tallevi says he assumed an item clutched in the hand of Michael Parsons was a weapon.

Tallevi said Parsons was "ranting," "raving" and "yelling" next to a Jeep that had been pulled over by police in another cruiser on Dec. 18, 2003.

"He turned and I noticed he had an object in his hand," Tallevi testified in Welland Superior Court Thursday. "He was concealing a silver object by his right hip in his right hand."

Parsons was standing with his left foot forward and right foot back, Tallevi testified.

He said Parsons had his left hand close to his face in a fist while the right hand was down.

"To me, anyone taking a stance like that, it's an aggressive stance," Tallevi said.

Parsons, who is suing Niagara Regional Police and individual officers for excessive force, ended up in a struggle with Tallevi that each man gave very different versions of in court this week.

Tallevi is one of five officers named in Parsons' $50,000 lawsuit for negligence, false arrest, assault, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Co-defendants Michael Woodfine, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle and Darrin Forbes also testified as the defence completed its evidence Thursday.

NRP lawyer Terry Marshall and Parsons' lawyer Margaret Hoy will make their closing arguments in front of Judge Raymond Harris on Monday.

The court heard Parsons testify earlier that the Jeep, driven by his fiancee, was pulled over on Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls shortly after Parsons yelled "Hey Baby" out the window at Priddle. Priddle was with a group of officers investigating another vehicle.

After the Jeep was stopped, Parsons said he remained in the passenger seat trying to call his lawyer on a cellphone when Tallevi reached through the window and pulled the phone out of his hands.

He said he saw an officer snap the phone in half and was then pulled out of the Jeep. Parsons said he was put in a choke hold by Tallevi and Tasered by an unknown officer or officers 10 to 15 times.

But Tallevi testified he arrived on scene after Woodfine and Forbes and saw Parsons jump out of the passenger seat, yelling and ranting with an object in his right hand.

When Tallevi approached asking what the object was, he said Parsons pushed him with his left hand. Tallevi said he then grabbed Parsons' right hand thinking there was a weapon and the two fell into a ditch.

"We slid down the hill. I remember going down my back," Tallevi said. "When we stopped, he was on top of me and I was hanging onto his arm."

Tallevi said he heard Woodfine scream "stop resisting" and "Taser."

"(Parsons) was fighting. He was pulling his arms, fighting. To be fair, I think we were both shocked, sliding down a hill."

Tallevi said he heard the electrical shock of the Taser being applied and heard Parsons scream.

But he said Parsons struggle and he heard him get Tasered two more times.

Woodbine testified earlier that he deployed the Taser three times.

Tallevi said Priddle later picked up an object and showed him it was a silver cellphone.

Tallevi denied under cross-examination that he pulled Parsons out of the vehicle. "That's either badly mistaken or a lie," he told Hoy.

He also denied he put Parsons in a choke hold.

Tallevi, Priddle and Cirillo said they saw Parsons hanging out the window of the Jeep and that's why he was stopped, not because of Parsons' claim that it was retaliation for insulting Priddle.

Tallevi said he was finishing up at a traffic stop when he saw a white Jeep Cherokee drive by and heard someone yell, swearing at Priddle.

"I saw a male hanging out of a passenger window, almost to his waist," Tallevi said, adding he heard Priddle say it was Parsons.

Cirillo also testified he was at the traffic stop and heard someone yell, catching his attention. "I saw a male hanging out the window with his arm in the air. His upper body was hanging out the window."

Priddle, also at the stop, said Parsons was far enough out the window that his head was above the vehicle, calling it "bizarre," "unique," "disturbing" and "suspicious" behaviour.

Under cross-examination, Cirillo, Priddle and Tallevi all agreed their individual notes from the Dec. 2003 incident made no mention of Parsons hanging out of the Jeep's window.

Tasered man says he feared for his life

March 4, 2009
The Standard, St. Catharine's
By KARENA WALTER

Michael Parsons says he thought he was going to die on the side of a road at the hands of police as he pleaded for mercy.

The burning shocks he claims he felt from being repeatedly hit with Tasers by a group of Niagara Regional Police officers made his body convulse and jump. "I felt this sharp, fiery pain," he testified Tuesday in his civil trial against the NRP and five officers.

"I was kind of yelling and screaming, 'Please stop. I won't say anything.' "

Parsons, 30, of St. Catharines, is suing for negligence, false arrest, assault, malicious prosecution and breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The $50,000 civil suit got underway in Superior Court in Welland Tuesday against the service and officers Michael Woodfine, Dino Cirillo, Todd Priddle, James Tallevi and Darrin Forbes.

Parsons, the first person to be Tasered by an NRP officer, testified the whole incident started because he yelled "Hey Baby" at Priddle on Dec. 18, 2003.

He said he ran into Priddle a month or two before at the Red Hot Chili Pepper in St. Catharines, when a woman in the bar called Parsons "Baby" and Priddle pulled her away.

On the day of the alleged assault, Parsons was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his fiancee, Terri Ryckman, when they saw four police cars at the side of Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls.

Parsons testified he recognized one of the officers as Priddle and "made a poor decision" when he yelled "Hey Baby" out the window. A short time later, the vehicle was pulled over, he told his lawyer Margaret Hoy.

As Ryckman spoke with Woodfine, Parsons said another officer knocked on his passenger- side window. He said he rolled it down halfway and was told he was under arrest. Parsons said he asked, "What for?" but police wouldn't tell him.

He opened his flip cellphone to call his lawyer, something he said was common. "I'm pulled over a lot and usually it's for nothing," he said. "I also fear for my safety because of constant harassment by Niagara Regional Police."

But Parsons testified as he dialed the number, Tallevi reached in the car and grabbed the phone out of his hand. He said he saw an officer break the phone into two pieces.

Within 15 seconds, Parsons said his passenger door swung open and he was pulled out of the vehicle and onto the ground. He testified he was held from behind by Tallevi with a knee in his back and an arm around his throat, squeezing the air out of him.

Parsons said he tried to yell and that's when he started feeling the shocks.

"My body would convulse and jump with the shock over," he said.

Parsons said he felt shocks on his legs and throat. He said it felt like there were two points of contact and he believes more than one officer may have been Tasering him.

He testified officers rolled him onto his stomach and repeatedly Tasered him on his buttocks and on the handcuffs, which conducted electricity around his wrists. He said he was also Tasered on his scrotum and back.

He estimated he was shocked 10 to 15 times.

"I kept feeling the air go from me, from my throat and my breath," he said. "It just burns, it's excruciating."

Parsons said he was put in a police car and was yelling and kicking to get his fiancee's attention so she would call his lawyer. He claims an officer told him to stop or he would be Tasered again.

It wasn't until he was at the police station that he was told he was being charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest, he testified.

The charges were later withdrawn by the Crown.

"I was hysterical. I was crying. I couldn't believe what was happening. My breath was getting shorter and shorter," Parsons testified, saying he felt his throat closing.

His lawyer, Brenda Sandulak, spoke with police and had Parsons taken to Greater Niagara General Hospital.

Sandulak testified she'd never heard Parsons, a client since the early 1990s, so emotional. "He was crying a lot," she said.

"He kept repeating, police were trying to kill him, police were trying to kill him. It wasn't a usual reaction I get from a client."

Parsons testified he suffered Taser burns on his scrotum, legs, hips, neck, back, buttocks and wrist. He said he had bruising and swelling of the throat, as well as bumps on his head and bruising to his spinal cord and back.

"I was in shock. I was in terror. After it happened, I feared for my life," Parsons said. "I feel that I could have died that day on the side of the road."

Parsons said he saw how much authority police officers have on their own.

"I'm afraid now just as much as I was then."

He denied he swore at police or called them a derogatory term.

Parsons told NRP lawyer Terry Marshall under cross-examination that he doesn't know which officer Tasered him.

Parsons also didn't agree with some of the findings of a doctor's report, which described him as "a little shaken up" and without "serious injury."

Marshall is expected to call witnesses for the NRP today.

The trial was originally scheduled to last 10 days, but may wrap up this week.

At the time of the December 2003 arrest, Parsons was the owner of the Merritt Bar and Grill, which he operated with his mother.

He also worked for a construction company for about seven years. He moved to British Columbia 2 1 /2 years ago to attend university and came back to St. Catharines a month ago.