Taser HQ rocked by blast, seven injured

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/taser-explosion-injuries-arizona-1.3223737 Seems to be an industrial accident. But details sparse.

Taser acknowledges that X26 lacks safety "enhancements"

"Taser spokesman told KENS 5 Tuesday the X26 is a 2003 model that lacks substantial safety enhancements..." [LINK]

This isn't supposed to happen here anymore

Tasered man dies, and it happened in B.C. of course. [LINK] Here's the part that, if accurate, is simply unacceptable.

Police said the man....did not comply with their demands and a Taser was used to [kill] him.

Lack of compliance is not an acceptable justification for use of potentially, and in this case presumably actually, deadly force. Braidwood was quite clear on this, and his recommendations were supposed to have been implemented in policy and training. Tasers are NOT to be used for compliance. If the CBC report is accurate, then this is an outrage. It would be a direct violation of all the lessons learned from the tasered-caused death of Robert Dziekanski. If this report is accurate, then those involved need to suffer the same administrative and legal fate as those four officers that were involved in the death of Dziekanski.

Australia - Two police convicted for taser assault of Kevin Spratt

Great news: [LINK]

Darryll Turner 4th Circuit Appeal Taser failed to warn

Taser International loses significant appeal. http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/121617.P.pdf Some are assuming that the above may have played a role in Taser International's decision to settle their other cases. I believe that all this relates to only one of several taser death mechanisms. I believe that their liability continues in cases that are not straight cardiac effect death. But that's just my opinion. Merry Christmas.

Taser paying millions in settlements

Taser International is paying MILLIONS to settle lawsuits. [LINK]

Taser death of Robert Dziekanski is ruled homicide

The Coroner's Report has finally been issued, dated March 20, 2013. [LINK] The taser caused death of Robert Dziekanski has finally been official declared a "homicide". This term does not mean murder nor does it assign blame. It means that Mr Dziekanski did not "die", he was killed. What killed him? The taser of course. The Braidwood Inquiry previously found that the single most significant thing that happened between being alive and being dead was the taser hit. It was the primary factor. The Coroner's Report is in keeping with the findings of the Braidwood Inquiry. Tasers can kill. Not all the time of course, but it's a damn lie to claim that they're "safe". The folks that make this sort of claim are either thick or deceptive, or potentially both.

'Qualified Immunity' revoked for excess tasering

The 4th Circuit revived claims that Baltimore police officer Stephen Mee killed Ryan Meyers by using his taser 10 times while responding to a domestic violence call in 2007. ... Once Meyers was down, Mee used his taser an additional seven times, ultimately killing the 40-year-old... The Meyers do have a case as to the subsequent seven firings of the taser. "It is an excessive and unreasonable use of force for a police officer repeatedly to administer electrical shocks with a taser on an individual who no longer is armed, has been brought to the ground, has been restrained physically by several other officers, and no longer is actively resisting arrest," Keenan wrote. "...additional taser shocks violated Ryan's Fourth Amendment right to be free from the use of excessive and unreasonable force. Accordingly, we hold that the District Court erred in concluding that Officer Mee met his burden of proving that he was entitled to qualified immunity." [LINK]

U of Cincinnati pays $2M in Taser death case

The University of Cincinnati will pay $2 million and suspend the use of Tasers by university police as part of a settlement with the family of a student who died after being shocked with a Taser. The settlement, obtained Wednesday by the Enquirer, also requires UC to create a memorial for the student, to provide free tuition to his siblings and to send a letter to the family expressing regret over the incident. The student, Everette Howard Jr., died Aug. 6, 2011, after a confrontation with a UC police officer. A coroner’s investigation could not determine the cause of death, but Howard’s family and expert witnesses blamed the shock from the Taser. ...

[LINK]

Family of Brian Cardell achieve settlement

The family of Brian Cardell has reached a settlement with the police [LINK]. Brian Cardell died immediately after being tasered. Tasers can and do kill.

Taser International's own "Dr." Mark (not an MD) Kroll meddling in taser death investigations

"Dr." Mark Kroll (not an M.D.) "...has helped law enforcement with many similar cases around the country and asked me to send an arrest-related death evidence outline that he developed,” Carns wrote. "While not necessarily relevant to this case, I have also attached an excited delirium check list he developed and published with several excited delirium experts." [LINK] Sleazy.

Liverpool, UK - 22-year-old man hit with taser, suffers cardiac arrest

Hey Kroll, you've been pretty quiet lately. [LINK]

Macadam Mason death caused by taser

An electrical discharge from a Vermont state trooper’s Taser weapon caused the death of a Thetford man three months ago outside his home, the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s Office advised Vermont State Police Friday. Macadam Mason, 39, suffered “sudden cardiac death due to conducted electrical weapon discharge,” Vermont State Police reported late Friday afternoon in a statement relaying the conclusions from Mason’s autopsy in New Hampshire. Mason died June 20 outside his Thetford home after Senior Trooper David Shaffer fired his Taser at Mason’s chest. ...

[LINK]

Forbes: "Taser remains 'an execution story'."

... J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster... ...writes in a research note that Taser remains “an execution story,” ...

Yes. Sometimes that's exactly true.

Macadam Mason taser-death autopsy report overdue

WHO'S HOLDING UP AUTOPSY OF VERMONT MAN'S TASER DEATH IN JUNE? [LINK] None of the officials involved in Vermont's first taser death will explain why it's almost three months since a Vermont State trooper tasered Macadam Mason, a 39-year-old epileptic artist who died almost immediately, and there's still no completed autopsy report. ...

How Taser International meddles in taser-death medical inquiries

Taser writes investigators, medical examiner, in death of Thetford man [LINK] The day following Macadam Mason’s death, Vermont State Police held a news conference and said, in part, that the Thetford man died after being shot in the chest by a Trooper’s Taser. Less than four hours after the conference, a Taser International spokesman e-mailed State Police suggestions on how to conduct its investigation and asked the agency to forward information to the medical examiners conducting an autopsy on Mason’s body. “The attending medical examiners should urgently know that the University of Miami [a.k.a. Excited-Delirium-R-Us] Brain Endowment Bank is available with cutting edge research center that can determine drug abuse and look for excited delirium markers,” Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle wrote in the e-mail. ...

The Trial Lawyer's Guide To Taser Lawsuits

The Trial Lawyer's Guide To Taser Lawsuits [LINK].

Contains details and advice for lawyers considering and evaluating these types of cases.

Warren Police Department drops Tasers after shocking letter from manufacturer

...After receiving an email that X26 and M26 Tasers more than 5 years old with certain serial numbers are past the recommended "deployment lifecycle"... Police officials said their review found that the Tasers were used unsuccessfully 23 percent of the time they were used by Warren officers... [LINK]

Did they mention "deployment lifespan" when they sold them to you? How long did you think that a cheaply-made plastic gun was going to last? Stun Gun salesmen... Have they got a deal for you...

Tracing false logic to the likely source

In Grimolfson's case, "a few minutes passed, not seconds, from the time of last Taser use to time of unconsciousness; therefore, the Taser use is not a relevant factor," the judge wrote.

This claim can probably be traced back to "Dr." (not an MD last time I checked) and Taser International insider Mark Kroll. Kroll has been wrong multiple times on the subject of taser safety. His infamous "Cardiac Safety" ping-pong paper webpage was silently withdrawn from the Taser International website. Kroll consistently denied that tasers could cause death, now it's an established fact that tasers can and do cause and contribute to death. The Judge's statement is not supportable except by reference to "expert" speculation by those that have been wrong many times before. Many taser associated deaths have followed the pattern of: tasered, difficulty breathing, lack of response, and death several minutes after the taser hit. The likely mechanism is arythmia, but it's not my place to make uninformed speculation.

Constitutional attorney & author John W. Whitehead lays it all out

This item pretty much covers it. LINK