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10 de Junio, 2008
Act Strange and Die
Categorized under Violencia | Tags: Police Brutality, Taser
GOOD. It's about damn time.
June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Taser International Inc., the largest stun-gun maker, lost a $6.2 million jury verdict over the death of a California man who died after police shot him multiple times with the weapon. The defeat is the first for Taser in a product- liability claim.A San Jose, California, jury yesterday said Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest. The jury awarded $1 million in compensatory damages and $5.2 million in punitive damages to the estate of Robert Heston, 40, and his parents. The jury cleared the police officers of any liability.
Taser previously won two trials, one over claims by a police officer injured in a training accident and the other involving a death in custody. Taser has settled at least 10 cases involving injuries to police officers during training, company lawyer Doug Klint told Bloomberg News last year. Taser said it will appeal the verdict.
"Certainly, this was a tragedy for the Heston family as well as for the officers involved,'' Klint said in a statement today. ``We, however, do not feel that the verdict is supported by the facts.''
Poor officers! And how sweet of Klint to show such egalitarian concern. And what a surprise that people who have become filthy rich defending the use of portable electrical torture would feel this way.
Shot Multiple TimesThe compensatory damage verdict will be reduced by the jury's finding that Heston was 85 percent responsible for his death, said family attorney John Burton. "That affects the compensatory damages, but not the punitives,'' he said in an interview.
"I think Taser's going to have to rethink its litigation strategy and its warning policies,'' Burton said. The jury awarded $5 million in punitive damages to Heston's parents and $200,000 in punitives to his estate.
Heston died on Feb. 20, 2005, after his father had called Salinas police because his son was "acting strangely,'' and seemed to be on drugs, according to the lawsuit complaint. Salinas police shot Heston multiple times with the stun-gun, continuing to discharge their Tasers into him until he stopped moving, the lawsuit claims.
Heston went into cardiac arrest and died, his family said.
—Taser Loses 1st Product-Liability Suit; Jury Awards $6 Million
Heston was responsible—excuse me, 85% responsible—for his own death? By...what? Acting Strangely? Being high? Seeming to be high? Help me out here because I'm having a bit of trouble with this. Was the 15% "not my fault you killed me" due to the second blast of the Taser? Or the third? The fourth? Was a small percentage given to each cartridge loaded and fired after the first? Was the alcohol they suspected him of drinking suspected to be 85 proof? I'm not so great at this new death-math, so help me understand how to not kill myself with cops holding Tasers. Because I've been known to ACT STRANGELY.
And this is really rich: A San Jose, California, jury yesterday said Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest.
Oh drat. If only those cops had known, somehow, that people can die of heart attacks when tasered to the ground multiple times until they stop moving.
As you know, I've covered this before, when Eugene, Oregon's police first used this weapon. Seems the town may be rethinking that move.
Personally, I think the Taser is a barbaric weapon and has killed way too many people by now to be called a "non-lethal weapon" definitively.
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Comentarios (2)
Changeseeker dijo:
"Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest."
That was the line that grabbed me, too. That ranks right up there with the kind of safety information instructing people not to spray themselves in the face with cleaning solvents. I know some cops are dumb, but anybody that's ever shuffled across a carpet and touched a doorknob knows that electricity is dangerous. And as for shooting him over and over until he stops moving? They could only argue that they didn't know it can kill a person the first time this happened. There've been so many such cases by now, they have NO excuse. In fact, as the article points out, even cops get hurt by these weapons in training scenarios. Taser International knows. And the cops know. It's just one more sign of an insane culture.
Palabras por Changeseeker spat forth on el 10 de Junio, 2008 at 05:00 PM
yave begnet dijo:
Heston was responsible—excuse me, 85% responsible—for his own death? . . . I'm not so great at this new death-math
That's the sort of brain-twisting logic that our tort system is built upon. I think it takes three years of concentrated unlearning of common sense--also known as law school--to get to a point where these calculations don't cause you to start banging your head against the wall.
It's sick, but I'd rather cops carry tasers than guns, like NYC has proposed after the Sean Bell murder. Ideally they would carry neither, but I guess that's just pie in the sky ... or Europe.
But, but, (comes a plaintive voice from the ether) "if you criminalize guns, then only criminals will have guns." (Commence banging of head against nearest wall.)
Palabras por yave begnet spat forth on el 10 de Junio, 2008 at 08:26 PM