"...killing a man with a taser stun-gun..."

A July trial date was set Friday in the case of a former Winnfield Police officer accused of killing a man with a taser stun-gun while the man was still in police custody. Attorneys for both Scott Nugent, the former Winnfield officer, and the state met with Judge John R. Joyce on Friday and set a trial date of July 13. A deadline of March 26 for all motions has been set. ...

Nugent has been charged with manslaughter and malfeasance in office in connection with the death of Barron "Scooter" Pikes.

Nugent, whose firing from the Winnfield Police Department was upheld by the Civil Service Board, is accused of shocking Pikes nine times with a 50,000-volt taser within 14 minutes. Those shocks were made while Pikes was handcuffed and in police custody in connection with a drug possession warrant in January 2008, officials said.

[Isn't that called TORTURE????]

Winn Parish Coroner Dr. Randy Williams has said Pikes did not have PCP or cocaine in his system as officers alleged, and Pikes, whose cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest on the death certificate, may have already been dead before the last two taser shocks.

...If convicted of both charges, Nugent faces up to 45 years in prison.

The family of Pikes filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year against not only Nugent but also the city of Winnfield, the mayor, City Council, police chief and other officers on the force, in addition to Taser International Inc. -- the manufacturer of the stun gun device Nugent used.

[LINK]

There are all sorts of bizarre explanations that Taser would invoke to try to explain-away this death-by-taser. They're all crap. The only rational explanation is that the taser interacted with Mr. Pikes in a manner that led to his cardiac arrest and resultant death.

The simplest explanation folks. Go with the simplest explanation.

Taser International will not likely get away with this one. But I'm sure that their legal pleadings will be even more bizarre than any they have used before.

2009 - may they have a very interesting year.