A "Contributing Cause of Death"

San Jose officials Tuesday agreed to pay $70,000 to the wife and child of a man who died in 2005 after police jolted him with Tasers, marking the city's first settlement over a fatality linked to the stun guns. The settlement over the death of Jose Angel Rios, which the City Council approved unanimously, comes as mounting fatalities prompt questions about the safety of the devices, which police have rushed to adopt as a less-deadly alternative to handguns.

Five people have died in the city after being shocked by police Tasers since San Jose issued the electrical weapons to all officers in 2004. Two other lawsuits over deaths that followed police Taser shocks are pending, while another was thrown out of court. The Rios case was among two in which the coroner cited the stun gun as a contributing cause of death. "We're seeing more fatalities following their use, and it raises questions about whether they are as safe as the manufacturer claims," said Peter Bibring, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California. [LINK]

A "Contributing Cause of Death" and a settlement check for $70,000.

Put that in your denial pipe and smoke it.