Taser International tasers itself in the arse

Taser International's 2nd Quarter results are about as expected. They're idiots and have managed to post yet another loss (again(again(again...))).

They've abandoned the obviously-stupid 'Protector' product / "service" (sic); it's not exactly an unexpected failure. That real-world IQ Test cost them at least $1.4M. LOL.

They've also been forced by their legal loss in the Darryl Turner case to set aside $3.3M. I'm not bad at seeing the future and I predict that they'll not be winning the appeals in this case. That money, along with another $6M+ from their extremely unhappy insurance carrier, will almost certainly eventually be signed over to the family.

There's still a backlog of other cases that should keep them in court and in the red until the end of time.

Idiots.

News Flash! - Taser torture of inmates is a serious civil rights violation

NEWS FLASH!!

A former Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy, Althea Mallisham, 52, has been charged with violating jail the civil rights of three inmates by using a stun gun on them. ... Mallisham is charged with using a stun gun to illegally punish the three inmates during separate incidents in June and September 2008. According to the indictment, she used an X26 Taser to shock the three inmates... Each of the inmates was injured as a result, according to the court document. ... Mallisham faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. ... [LINK]

What? Electro-torture of inmates is illegal? Geesh. Who would have guessed THAT?

Decades in prison? Seems fair...

Kotzebue, AK cop loses his immunity in stun-gun case

...The Alaska Supreme Court has reversed a judge's finding that a Kotzebue police officer who used a stun gun on an 11-year-old should get immunity... [LINK]

Something to think about.

"After ineffective taser attempt, police shoot man"

...officers surrounded the suspect in a neighboring back yard and the man threatened to shoot himself. After convincing the man to holster his weapon, officers deployed a taser, which was ineffective. Chief Steve Robinette could not address the reason why the weapon did not work. "We hope to determine why it was ineffective through the course of the investigation," he said. After officers deployed the taser, the man unholstered his gun. According to reports, officers fired at the man in order to protect themselves. He was apparently hit in the torso and the hand. ...[LINK]

Unreliable and dangerous (to all present) weapon.

Taser International claims it is "generally safe and effective", and utterly refuse to acknowledge the risks.

Illuminating taser use stats from New Zealand

Figures obtained by the Sunday Star-Times show police have "presented" Tasers to offenders 797 times since March 2010 and, of these, they were fired 102 times. However, the police's Tactical Options Research database shows the weapons were ineffective on 36 of those 102 occasions, meaning the weapons worked only two-thirds of the time. [LINK]

Tasers are "presented" about 800 times, but only deployed about one hundred times.

If this sort of 8:1 ratio applies more generally, then there 'should be' thousands of people falling over dead at the "presentation" of a taser (assuming that Taser International's disgusting lie about taser safety is true).

Tasers are ineffective in about one-third of all attempted deployments. For whatever reason, it's a huge and dangerous failure rate.

This well-known ratio reveals that Taser International's claim that tasers are "generally safe and effective" is a bald-faced lie from a bunch of bald-faced liars. They know about this sort of failure rate - it's been seen before. But they try to deflect attention away from it. Even though it is inherent with the flawed concept and design of the taser.

If they'll lie about tasers being "generally effective" then they'll also lie through their teeth about taser safety too.

Scum.

Random thoughts - Hubris comes home to Taser International

A federal jury awarded $10 million against TASER International Inc. for the wrongful death of a teenager who died after being shocked in the chest by a TASER. The jury found that the company failed to warn that discharging the device near the heart could cause cardiac arrest. The model in question was the X26 ECD. [all over the news]

The long-term impact of this finding is huge.

As critics of Taser International have been stating (the obvious) for years, tasers are perfectly capable of causing or contributing to death. Taser International has systematically (and deceptively) denied these risks for many years.

The case of Darryl Turner is one of the clearest examples. He was tasered directly in the chest, which killed him.

The scum at Taser International, and they are the worst type of scum, will continue to deny these risks, while simultaneously adding legal warnings to the fine print.

They will file appeals, primarily as a stalling tactic. They're madly trying to enter other markets (over-priced phone apps, and VASTLY over-priced ear-cams). I suspect that the timing isn't going to work out for them. Their total potential liability exceeds the market valuation of their company by several times.

Their liability insurance payments are probably going to increase. $6M for ONE case? Do the math. Hundreds and hundreds of taser associated deaths.

Their most-recent legal record isn't anything to be proud of. They've lost several significant cases.

Plaintiff lawyers should consider getting some subpoenas on the "private" information held by the insurance carriers. I don't believe that there is any priviledge in the insurance client-provider relationship.

Taser International found liable in killing of Darryl Turner

Taser International, manufacturer of potentially lethal stun guns, was found partially responsible for the death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner after police in Charlotte, N.C., used a Taser device on him during an altercation at a grocery store on March 21, 2008. [LINK]

Mr. Turner was young and in generally good health, was tasered and was dead almost immediately.

Taser International was ruled responsible for about $9.23 million of the total award; about $6 million of that will be covered by insurance. The city of Charlotte will cover $730,000 as part of a settlement, and $40,000 will be covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

The $3M+ judgment not covered by their insurance consumes their potential profit for even a good year; and that's going to bite very hard. The next pain they feel will be when their insurance carrier(s) realize that this is the new trend. The third pain will be when the investors (a.k.a. morons) read about this and start complaining.

I've not been posting much recently, primarily because I've been waiting for this day.

Taser International can appeal this judgment all they want. The cold hard fact remains that their "safe" product killed Darryl Turner directly.

This one will stick.