Family of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., who was tasered to death, sues Taser International

Family of Man in Taser Death Suing Manufacturer
Manufacturer maintains its device is safe

The family of a man who died after police used a Taser to subdue him is suing the device's manufacturer and distributor for negligence. An officer shocked Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, for 49 seconds and then again for 5 seconds in April 2009 in front of his parents' home during a disturbance call. His death was ruled a homicide. [LINK]

The crux of this case is that Taser International is not likely to have any reliable and trustworthy evidence that demonstrates that tasers are safe when applied for extended durations. In spite of this, the 'Brain Trust' that runs Taser International designed the tasers with hubris-triggers that permit, and even encourage, taser deployments of unlimited duration.

The plaintiffs lawyers are likely to slap the defense witlesses about the head with a copy of "Dr." Mark W. Kroll's (the 'W' apparently stands for "We are not medical experts" [LINK]) infamous 'Ping Pong' paper [must read!!] where he boldly predicted that 'if one taser hit don't kill ya, then a thousand taser hits ain't gonna kill ya neither.'

This so-called paper was PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED on Taser International's webpage for I-have-no-idea how many years under the heading "CARDIAC SAFETY". And then it was QUIETLY pulled. Keyword QUIETLY. That quiet slinking away is itself key evidence. The false paper was not formally withdrawn, it was simply deleted.

Another detail worth noting is that Taser International has reportedly finally agreed to a PERF request to modify the design of the taser so that endless Moth+Light deployments are not encouraged by the flawed design of the weapon's infinite duration taser-to-death trigger.

Taser International spokespuppet Steven Tuttle, in a liability-enhancing denial, actually said that the company ... stands by independent, peer-reviewed medical studies that show the device to be generally safe and effective.

They have no studies that reliably prove that extended duration taser deployments are "safe". In fact, they have had plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Everyone noticed that extended taser deployments were correlated with death - NIJ. Prof. Savard. Common sense. Everyone.