Electrocuted While Black

Federal Jury Awards $10 Million Against TASER International for Teenager's Death

2011-07-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Black blogger and social activist Eddie G. Griffin, BASG says:

HALLELUJAH! Praise the Lord! After 674 taser related death... a four-year campaign to raise public awareness... and 31 blog posts at my site on the subject... FINALLY, TASER International, with all its slick high-power lawyers and intimidated and bribed medical examiners and pseudo-scientific babbling experts... FINALLY, TASER International get shocked in the pocketbook... Eddie G. Griffin

Federal Jury Awards $10 Million Against TASER International for Teenager's Death

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys John Burton and Peter M. Williamson announce that at 2:30 p.m. EDT today, a federal court jury returned a verdict for wrongful death in the amount of $10,000,000.00 against TASER International Inc., for the wrongful death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner, who collapsed and died in a Charlotte, North Carolina supermarket on March 20, 2008, following shocks to the chest from a TASER Model X26 electronic control device.

CNBC also reports that:

After the verdict was announced, John Burton, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, explained the importance of the verdict: "TASER has been irresponsible in representing the safety of its products. Hopefully, this verdict will sound the alarm to police officers around the world that firing these weapons into the chests of people should be avoided. No other family should have to endure the tragedy that the Fontenot family has experienced." The lawsuit is Fontenot v. TASER International, Inc., United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division, Case No.
3:10-CV-125. United States District Judge Robert Conrad presided.

However, Taser International has announced it will appeal.

The jury consisted of five women and three men [whose skin color is not reported in the article].

If you are in North Carolina and looking for lawyers for a Taser lawsuit, you might want to contact and consider the following lawyers, who won the ten million dollar jury award.

Plaintiffs' Counsel: John Burton, Esq. THE LAW OFFICES OF JOHN BURTON65 North Raymond Ave, Ste 300Pasadena, CA 91103Tel: 626-449-8300/Email: jb@johnburtonlaw.comWeb: http://www.johnburtonlaw.com Peter M. Williamson, Esq.WILLIAMSON & KRAUSS21800 Oxnard Street, Suite 305Woodland Hills, CA 91367Tel: 818-226-5700/Email: pmw@wandklaw.comWeb: http://www.wandklaw.com Charles A. Everage, Esq.EVERAGE LAW FIRM, PLLC1800 Camden Road, Ste. 104 Charlotte, NC 28216Tel: 704-377-9157/ Email: cae@everagel

They Electrocuted and "They Executed My Son," Says Middlebury Heights, OH Parent

2011-06-19T17:39:00.001-07:00

It's not Just Black People

Seen at Excited Delirium blog.

In Middlebury Heights, Ohio, police responded to the scene after 41 year-old Howard Hammond rear-ended another driver's car at a traffic light. While there is no evidence of a struggle in the police video, the police nonetheless electrocuted and "executed" (the father's word) Hammond.

"They executed my son," the father told Fox 8, Cleveland, OH.

Police fired their electrocution devices at Howard Hammond twice, and the failed to call an ambulance, even though electric shock devices are known to cause serious injury and death, particularly in people who are intoxicated, as the police say they believe Hammond was.

Tasers Are Perfectly Safe as Long as They Aren’t Used on the People Most Likely To Be Tasered, Says "The Agitator" Blog.

2011-06-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

I saw the following over at "The Agitator" blog and I am compelled by its relevance to share it with readers:

Tasers Are Perfectly Safe as Long as They Aren’t Used on the People Most Likely To Be Tasered

An NIJ report on Tasers gives us the ol’ “Nothing to see, here”. Nut graph:

“There is no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death to humans from the direct or indirect cardiovascular or metabolic effects of short-term CED exposure in healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons,” the report concludes.

And we all know that Tasers are never, ever used on people who are unhealthy, or who are intoxicated, or who are under some sort of duress. So the debate is settled!

A List of Persons Extra-Judicially Electrocuted by Police Using Taser (and other) Electrocution Devices

2011-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hat Tip to Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) and Truth Not Tasers (TNT), where Patti Gillman compiles and updates this list.

A list of known torture victims that died after being intentionally electrocuted.
Most of these torture deaths resulted from being shocked with a Taser brand electronic torture device. A few were tortured and died from being electrocuted with another brand of electrical torture device
1983
1. August 10, 1983, Vincent Alvarez, 27, Los Angeles, California

1984

2. January 22, 1984: Raul Guevara, Jr. 30, Los Angeles, California
3. August 17, 1984: Larry Donnell Gardner, 32, Burke County, Georgia

1985

4. April 11, 1985: Cornelius Garland Smith, 35, Los Angeles, California
5. August 29, 1985: Lannie Stanley McCoy, 35, Los Angeles, California
6. December 27, 1985: Joseph Rodriguez, 24, Santa Clara, California

1986
7. May 9, 1986: Anthony Manwell Williams III, 35, Pomona, California
8. May 18, 1986: Robert Zapata, 37, Los Angeles, California
9. June 2, 1986: Robert Herbert Bobier, 31, Los Angeles, California
10. October 7, 1986: Yale Larry Wilson, 25, Vacaville, California

1987

11. July 22, 1987: Miguel Contreras, 27, Los Angeles, California
12. November 2, 1987: Mario Antonio Gastelum, 24, San Diego, California
13. December 4, 1987: Stewart Alan Vigil, 29, Los Angeles, California

198814. January 13, 1988: William McCall, 39, Los Angeles, California
15. September 10, 1988: Edward Breen, 38, Bell-Cudahy, California
16. September 10, 1988: Charles Eugene Miles, 37, Los Angeles, California

1989

17. February 14, 1989: Jose Torres, 31, Los Angeles, California
18. May 15, 1989: Jorge Hernandez, 28, Los Angeles, CA
19. May 22, 1989: Anthony Puma, 34, New York, New York
20. May 24, 1989: Jeffrey Michel Leonti, 37, Santa Clara, California

1990
21. February 13, 1990: Duane J. Johnson, 24, Ventura, California
22. August 13, 1990: Glen Gonzalez, 26, Los Angeles, CA

1991

23. April 21, 1991: Douglas L. Danville, 47, Los Angeles, California
24. July 1, 1991: Douglas Charles, 24, Los Angeles, California
25. November 2, 1991: Max Leyza Garcia, 40, Fullerton, California
26. December 9, 1991: Donnie Ray Ward, 38, Deuel, California

1992

27. July 18, 1992: James Ricard’ 32, Los Angeles, California
28. August 20, 1992: Clarice A. Younger, 62, Prince George`s County, Maryland
29. September 14, 1992: David Martinez, 27, Los Angeles, California

1993
30. March 8, 1993: Michael James Bryant, 37, Los Angeles, California
31. December 2, 1993: Vital Montilla, 28, New York, New York

1994
32. January 6, 1994: Daniel Scott Gizowski, 25, Los Angeles, California
33. March 18, 1994: Ephraim Lewis, 26, Los Angeles, California
34. April 16, 1994: Richard Wayne Harris, 32, Los Angeles, California
35. May 24, 1994: Brandon Jordan, 7 months, killed by his foster mother with repeated shocks, Peoria, Illinois (NOT TASER- Bestex? Space Thunder)
36. June 5, 1994: LeGrand Griffin, 39, Cincinnati, Ohio

1995

37. August 18, 1995: Bruce Klobuchar, 25, Los Angeles, California
38. December 1, 1995: Harry Landis, (Prison guard died after two compulsory training shocks from a NOVA shield, Coryell County, Texas (NOT TASER- NOVA shield)

1996

39. January 5, 1996: Byron Williams, 36, Los Angeles, California
40. June 1, 1996: Scott Jaron Norberg, 33, Maricopa, Arizona
41. June 8, 1996: James Quentin Parkinson, 25, Fairfield, California
42. July 20, 1996: Kimberly Lashon Watkins-Oliver, 38, Los Angeles, California
43. December 27, 1996: Andrew Hunt Jr. , 38. Pomona, California

1997

44. July 6, 1997: Garner Roosevelt Hicks Jr., 25, Santa Ana, California

1998
45. March 10, 1998: Mark Andrew Brown, 43, Los Angeles, California
46. January 29, 1999: Michael Labmeier, 43, Kenton County, Kentucky
47. September 28, 1999: David Torres Flores, 37, Fairfield County, California

2000In approximately 2000, Taser International began to replace early taser models up to the Air Taser with the M26 model and starting in 2003 by the X26. The electrical charge is different in these models so the medical reaction should differ. However the ways in which these weapons have been used did not appear to differ.
48. May 14, 2000: Enrique Juarez Ochoa, 34, Bakersfield, California
49. June 29, 2000: Lawrence Frazier, Wallens Ridge, Virginia (NOT TASER- Stinger Ultron II)

2001

50. June 17, 2001: Mark Burkett, 18, Gainesville, Florida
51. December 17, 2001: Marvin Hendrix, 27, Hamilton, Ohio
52. December 21, 2001: Steven Vasquez, 40, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2002
53. January 27, 2002: Vincent Delostia, 31, Hollywood, Florida
54. February 12, 2002: Anthony Spencer, 35, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
55. March 27, 2002: Henry Canady, 46, Hilliard, Florida
56. May 17, 2002: Richard Baralla, 36, Pueblo, Colorado
57. June 10, 2002: Eddie Alvarado, 32, Los Angeles, California
58. June 13, 2002: Nicholas Aguilar, 39, Phoenix, Arizona
59. June 15, 2002: Jason Nichols, 21, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
60. June 27, 2002: Fermin Rincon, 24, Fontana, California
61. June 28, 2002: Clever Craig, 46, Mobile, Alabama
62. July 19, 2002: Johnny Lozoya, 24, Gardena, California
63. July 19, 2002: Gordon Jones, 37, Windermere, Florida
64. September 1, 2002: Frederick Webber, 44, Orange City, Florida
65. November 7, 2002: Stephen Edwards, 59, Shelton, Washington
66. December 31, 2002: Ronald Edward Wright, 35, Arlington, Texas

2003In 2003, Taser International introduced the X26 model.
67. March 16, 2003: Christopher Smith, 31, Albuquerque, New Mexico
68. April 16, 2003: Corey Calvin Clark, 33, Amarillo, Texas
69. April 19, 2003: Terrence Hanna, 51, Burnaby, British Columbia
70. May 10, 2003: Joshua Hollander, 22, Normal Heights, California
71. June 9, 2003: Timothy Sleet, 44, Springfield Missouri
72. June 26, 2003: David Lewandowski, 26, Escambia County, Florida
73. July 22, 2003: Clayton Willey, 33, Prince George, British Columbia
74. August 4, 2003: Troy Nowell, 51, Amarillo, Texas
75. August 8, 2003: John Lee Thompson, 45, Carrollton Township, Michigan
76. August 8, 2003: Walter Curtis Burks Jr., 36, Minneapolis, Minnesota
77. August 17, 2003: Gordon Rauch, 39, Citrus Heights, California
78. September 24, 2003: Ray Austin, 25, Gwinnett, Georgia
79. September 29, 2003: Glenn Leyba, 37, Glendale, Colorado
80. September 28, 2003: Clark Whitehouse, 34, Whitehorse, Yukon
81. October 7, 2003: Roman Pierson, 40, Brea, California
82. October 11, 2003: Dennis Hammond, 31, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
83. October 21, 2003: Louis Morris, 50, Orlando, Florida
84. November 6, 2003: James Borden, 47, Monroe County, Indiana
85. November 10, 2003: Michael Johnson, 32, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
86. November 11, 2003: Kerry O’Brien, 31, Pembroke Pines, Florida
87. December 9, 2003: Curtis Lawson, 40, Unadilla, Georgia
88. December 9, 2003: Lewis King, 39, St. Augustine, Florida

2004
89. February 4, 2004: David Glowczenski, 35, Southampton Village, New York
90. February 13, 2004: Raymond Siegler, 40, Minneapolis, Minnesota
91. February 21, 2004: Curt Rostentangle (Rostengale), 44, Silverdale, Washington
92. February 21, 2004: William Lomax Jr., 26, Las Vegas, Nevada
93. March 23, 2004: Ronald Perry, 28, Edmonton, Alberta
94. March 28, 2004: Terry Williams, 45, Madison, Illinois
95. April 1, 2004: Phillip LeBlanc, 36, Los Angeles, California
96. April 16, 2004: Melvin Samuel, 28, Savannah, Georgia
97. April 17, 2004: Robert Harold Allen, 45, Little Rock, Arkansas
98. April 18, 2004: Alfredo Diaz, 29, Orange County, Florida
99. April 27, 2004: Eric Wolle, 45, Washington Grove, Maryland
100. May 1, 2004: Roman Andreichikov, Vancouver, British Columbia
101. May 13, 2004: Peter Lamonday, 38, London, Ontario
102. May 22, 2004: Henry Lattarulo, 40, Hillsborough, County Florida
103. May 27, 2004: Frederick Williams, 31, Lawrenceville, Georgia
104. May 30, 2004: Darryl Smith, 46, Atlanta, Georgia
105. May 31, 2004: Anthony Oliver, 42, Orlando, Florida
106. June 4, 2004: Jerry Pickens, 55, Bridge City, Louisiana
107. June 9, 2004: James Cobb, 42, St. Paul, Minnesota
108. June 9, 2004: Jacob Lair, 26, Sparks, Nevada
109. June 16, 2004: Abel Ortega Perez, 36, Austin, Texas
110. June 23, 2004: Robert Bagnell, 44, Vancouver, British Columbia
111. June 24, 2004: Kris Lieberman, 32, Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania
112. June 30, 2004: Bernard Christmas, 36, Dayton, Ohio
113. July 3, 2004: Demetrius Tillman Nelson, 45, Okaloosa County, Florida
114. July 11, 2004: Willie Smith, 48, Auburn, Washington
115. July 17, 2004: Jerry Knight, 29, Mississauga, Ontario
116. July 23, 2004: Milton Salazar, 29, Mesa Arizona
117. August 2, 2004: Keith Tucker, 47, Las Vegas, Nevada
118. August 8, 2004: Samuel Truscott, 43, Kingston, Ontario
119. August 11, 2004: Ernest Blackwell, 29, St. Louis, Missouri
120. August 11, 2004: David Riley, 41, Joplin, Missouri
121. August 13, 2004: Anthony Lee McDonald, 46, Harrisburg, North Carolina
122. August 16, 2004: William Teasley, 31, Anderson, South Carolina
123. August 19, 2004: Richard Karlo, 44, Denver, Colorado
124. August 20, 2004: Michael Sanders, 40, Fresno, California
125. August 24, 2004: Lawrence Davis, 27, Phoenix, Arizona
126. August 27, 2004: Jason Yeagley, 32, Auburndale, Florida
127. August 29, 2004: Michael Rosa, 38, Del Rey Oaks, California
128. September 12, 2004: Samuel Wakefield, 22, Rio Vista, Texas
129. September 15, 2004: Andrew Washington, 21, Vallejo, California
130. September 20, 2004: Jon Merkle, 40, Miami, Florida
131. October 4, 2004: Dwayne Dunn, 33, Lafayette, Louisiana
132. November 2, 2004: Greshmond Gray, 25, LaGrange, Georgia
133. November 2, 2004: Robert Guerrero, 21, Fort Worth, Texas
134. November 7, 2004: Keith Raymond Drum, Clearlake, Califormnia
135. November 8, 2004: Ricardo Zaragoza, 40, Elk Grove, California
136. November 15, 2004: Jesse Robert Tapia, 37, Pomona, California
137. November 25, 2004: Charles Keiser, 47, Hartland Township, Michigan
138. November 27, 2004: Byron Black, 39, Lee County, Florida
139. December 4, 2004: Patrick Fleming, 35, Metairie, Louisiana
140. December 15, 2004: Kevin Downing, 36, Hollywood, Florida
141. December 17, 2004: Douglas Meldrum, 37, Wasatch County, Utah
142. December 17, 2004: Lyle Nelson, 35, Columbia, Illinois
143. December 22, 2004: Jeanne Hamilton, 46, Palmdale, California
144. December 23, 2004: Timothy Bolander, 31, Delray Beach, Florida
145. December 23, 2004: Ronnie Pino, 31, Sacramento, California
146. December 28, 2004: Christopher Hernandez, 19, Naples, Florida
147. December 30, 2004: David Cooper, 40, Marion County, Indiana

2005
148. January 2, 2005: Gregory Saulsbury, 30, Pacifica, California
149. January 5, 2005: Dennis Hyde, 30, Akron, Ohio
150. January 8, 2005: Carl Trotter, 33, Pensacola, Florida
151. January 10, 2005, Jerry Moreno, 33, Los Angeles, California
152. January 28, 2005: James Edward Hudson, 33, Chickasha, Oklahoma
153. January 31, 2005: Jeffrey Turner, 41, Lucas County, Ohio
154. February 10, 2005: Ronald Alan Hasse, 54, Chicago, Illinois
155. February 12, 2005: Robert Camba, 45, San Diego, California
156. February 18, 2005: Joel Don Casey, 52, Houston, Texas
157. February 20, 2005: Robert Heston, 40, Salinas, California
158. March 3, 2005: Shirley Andrews, 38, Cincinnati, Ohio
159. March 6, 2005: David Levi Evans Jr.,45, Los Angeles, California
160. March 6, 2005: Willie Towns, 30, Deland, Florida
161. March 12, 2005: Milton Woolfolk, 39, Lake City, Florida
162. March 17, 2005: Mark Young, 25, Indianapolis, Indiana
163. April 3, 2005: James Wathan Jr., 32, Delhi, California
164. April 3, 2005: Eric Hammock, 43, Fort Worth, Texas
165. April 8, 2005: Ricky Barber, 46, Carter County, Oklahoma
166. April 22, 2005: John Cox, 39, Bellport, New York
167. April 24 2005: Jesse Colter, 31, Phoenix, Arizona
168. May 4, 2005: Keith Graff, 24, Phoenix, Arizona
169. May 5, 2005: Kevin Geldart, 34, Moncton, New Brunswick
170. May 6, 2005: Stanley Wilson, 44, Miami, Florida
171. May 6, 2005: Lawrence Berry, 33, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
172. May 13, 2005: Vernon Young, 31, Union Township, Ohio
173. May 17, 2005: Leroy Pierson, 55, Rancho Cucamonga, California
174. May 20, 2005: Randy Martinez, 40, Albuquerque, New Mexico
175. May 23, 2005: Lee Marvin Kimmel, 38, Reading, Pennsylvania
176. May 23, 2005: Richard Alverado, 38, Tustin, California
177. May 26, 2005: Walter Lamont Seats, 23, Nashville, Tennessee
178. May 28, 2005: Richard T. Holcomb, 18, Akron, Ohio
179. June 2, 2005: Nazario J. Solorio, 38, Escondido, California
180. June 4, 2005: Ravan Conston, 33, Sacramento, California
181. June 6, 2005: Russell Walker, 47, Las Vegas, Nevada
182. June 11, 2005: Horace Owens, 48, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
183. June 13, 2005: Michael Anthony Edwards, 32, Palatka, Florida
184. June 13, 2005: Shawn Pirolozzi, 30, Canton, Ohio
185. June 14, 2005: Robert Earl Williams, 62, Waco, Texas
186. June 24, 2005: Carolyn Daniels, 25, Fort Worth, Texas
187. June 24, 2005: Melinda Kaye Neal Fairbanks, 33, Whitfield County, Georgia
188. June 29, 2005: Pharoah Knight, 33, Miami, Florida
189. June 30, 2005: Gurmeet Sandhu, 41, Surrey, B.C.
190. July 1, 2005: James Foldi, 39, Beamsville, Ont.
191. July 2, 2005: Tommy V. Gutierrez, 38, Sacramento County, California
192. July 7, 2005: Rocky Brison, 41, Birmingham, Alabama
193. July 8, 2005: Raul Jimenez Buenrostro, 29, Fontana, California
194. July 12, 2005: Kevin Omas, 17, Euless, Texas
195. July 15, 2005: Ernesto Valdez, 37, Phoenix, Arizona
196. July 15, 2005: Paul Sheldon Saulnier, 42, Digby, Nova Scotia
197. July 15, 2005: Otis G. Thrasher, 42, Butte, Montana
198. July 17, 2005: Michael Leon Crutchfield, 40, West Palm Beach, Florida
199. July 16, 2005: Carlos Casillas Fernandez, 31, Santa Rosa, California
200. July 23, 2005: Maury Cunningham, 29, Lancaster, South Carolina
201. July 25, 2005: Elisio Maldanado, 33, Los Angeles, California
202. July 27, 2005: Terrence L. Thomas, 35, Rockville Centre, New York
203. August 1, 2005: Brian Patrick O’Neal, San Jose, California
204. August 3, 2005: Eric Mahoney, 33, Fremont, California
205. August 4, 2005: Dwayne Zachary, 44, Sacramento, California
206. August 5, 2005: Olsen Ogodidde (Agoodie?), 44, Glendale, Arizona
207. August 7, 2005: Frank Gilman Edgerly, 47, Phoenix, Arizona
208. August 26, 2005: Shawn Norman, 40, Laurelville, Ohio
209. August 27, 2005: Brian Lichtenstein, 31, Stuart, Florida
210. August 29, 2005: Robert E. Boggon, 65, Escambia County, Florida
211. September 4, 2005: Leonard A. Mitchell, 36, Darby Borough, Pennsylvania
212. September 18, 2005: David Anthony Cross, 44, Santa Cruz, California
213. September 22, 2005: Timothy Michael Torres, 24, Sacramento, California
214. September 24, 2005: Patrick Aaron Lee, 21, Nashville, Tennessee
215. September 26, 2005: Michael Clark, 33, Austin, Texas
216. October 1, 2005: Mary Ellen Malone Jeffries, 51, Marshall County, Mississippi
217. October 13, 2005: Steven Cunningham, 45, Fort Myers, Florida
218. October 18, 2005: David Michael Croud, 29, Duluth, Minnesota
219. October 20, 2005: Jose Perez, 33, San Leandro, California
220. October 25, 2005: Timothy Mathis, 35, Loveland, Colorado
221. October 25, 2005: Cedric Stemberg-Barton, 21, King County, Washington
222. November 1, 2005: Miguel Serrano, 35, New Britain, Connecticut
223. November 13, 2005: Josh Brown, 23, Lafayette, Louisiana
224. November 17, 2005: Jose Angel Rios, 38, San Jose, California
225. November 20, 2005: Hansel Cunningham, 30, Des Plaines, Illinois
226. November 21, 2005: Barney Lee Green, 38, Pasadena, Texas
227. November 25, 2005: Tyler Marshall Shaw, 19, Asotin County, Washington
228. November 26, 2005: Tracy Rene Shippy, 35, Fort Meyers, Florida
229. November 30, 2005: Kevin Dewayne Wright, 39, Kelso, Washington
230. December 1, 2005: Jeffrey Earnhardt, 47, Orlando, Florida
231. December 7, 2005: Michael Tolosko, 31, Sonoma, California
232. December 17, 2005: Howard Starr, 32, Florence, South Carolina
233. December 21, 2005: Clint R. Yarbrough, 33, Maricopa County, Arizona
234. December 24, 2005: Alesandro Fiacco, 33, Edmonton, Alberta
235. December 29, 2005: David Moss, 26, Omaha, Nebraska

2006
236. January 3, 2006: Roberto Gonzalez, 34, Waukegan, Illinois
237. January 4, 2006: Steven Hooker, 21, Kalamazoo, Michigan
238. January 5, 2006: Matthew Dunlevy, 25, Laguna Beach, California
239. January 7, 2006: Carlos Claros Castro, 28, Davidson County, North Carolina
240. January 13, 2006: Daryl Dwayne Kelley, 29, Houston, Texas
241. January 16, 2006: Shmekia Lewis (female), 24, Beaumont, Texas
242. January 18, 2006: Daniel Rivera Tamez, 21, Harlingen, Texas
243. January 22, 2006: Nick Ryan Hanson, 24, Ashland, Oregon
244. January 25, 2006: Murray Bush, Metairie, Louisiana
245. January 25, 2006: Jorge Luis Trujillo, San Jose, California
246. January 28, 2006: Karl W. Marshall, 32, Kansas City, Missouri
247. January 29, 2006 Benites Sichero, 39, Spokane County, Washington
248. January 31, 2006: Jaime Coronel, Castroville, California
249. February 6, 2006: Jessie Williams Jr., 40, Harrison County, Mississippi
250. February 6, 2009: Troy Rigby, 29, Broward, Florida
251. February 13, 2006: Darval Smith, New Orleans, Louisiana
252. February 19, 2006: Gary Bartley, 36, Mandeville, Louisiana
253. February 24, 2006: Samuel Hair, 48, Fort Pierce, Florida
254. March 8, 2006: Robert R. Hamilton, 42, St. Augustine, Florida
255. Approx. March 13, 2006: Twan Tran, Port Arthur, Texas
256. March 18, 2006: Otto Zehm, 35, Spokane, Washington
257. March 18, 2006, Cedric Davis, 26, Merced County, California
258. March 20, 2006: Timothy Grant, 46, Portland, Oregon
259. March 24, 2006: Theodore Rosenberry, 35, Hagerstown, Maryland
260. April 5, 2006: Thomas Clint Tipton, 34, Clearwater, Florida
261. April 15, 2006: Nick Mamino Jr., 41, St. Louis, Missouri
262. April 16, 2006: Billy Ray Cook, 39, Dublin, North Carolina
263. April 16, 2006: Juan Manuel Nunez III, 27, Lubbock, Texas
264. April 18, 2006: Richard McKinnon, 52, Cumberland County, North Carolina
265. April 22, 2006: Alvin Itula, 35, Salt Lake City, Utah
266. April 24, 2006: Jose Romero, 23, Dallas, Texas
267. April 24, 2006: Emily Marie Delafield, 56, Green Cove Springs, Florida
268. April 25, 2006: Curtis Lee Smith, 45, New Holland, Pennsylvania
269. April 30, 2006: Brian Craig Carlile, 37, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
270. May 1, 2006: Jeremy Davis, 24, Bellmead, Texas
271. May 7, 2006: Kenneth Cleveland, 63, Ashtabula, Ohio
272. May 25, 2006: Brian Davis, 43, Los Angeles, California
273. June 4, 2006: Unidentified man, Phoenix, Arizona
274. June 4, 2006: Felipe Herrera, 48, Las Vegas, Nevada
275. June 5, 2006: James Simms, 52, Phoenix, Arizona
276. June 10, 2006: Vicki Avila, 31, Orance County, California
277. June 13, 2006: Jerry Preyer, 43, Pensacola, Florida
278. June 18, 2006: Jason Troy Dockery, 31, Coolville, Tennessee
279. June 21, 2006: Kenneth Eagleton, 43, Crosby, Texas
280. June 21, 2006: Joseph Stockdale, 26, Indianapolis, Indiana
281. June 24, 2006: John Martinez, San Jose, California
282. July 2, 2006: Jermail Williams, 32, South Bend, Indiana
283. July 3, 2006: Rodney Sisneros Jr., 26, Evans, Colorado
284. July 7, 2006: Michael Deon Babers, 26, Shreveport, Louisiana
285. July 8, 2006: Christopher Tull, 36, Cincinnati, Ohio
286. July 9, 2006: Nickolos Cyrus, 29, Mukwonago, Wisconsin
287. July 9, 2006: Ramiro Garcia, 39, Patterson, California
288. July 11, 2006: Jesus Negron, 29, New Britain, Connecticut
289. July 23, 2006: Shannon Johnson, 37, Pittsboro, North Carolina
290. July 30, 2006: George Victor. Holder, 34, Salina, Kansas
291. August 2, 2006: Anthony Jones, 39, Merced, California
292. August 4, 2006: Ryan Michael Wilson, 22, Lafayette, Colorado
293. August 8, 2006: Curry McCrimmon, 26, Melbourne, Florida
294. August 8, 2006: James Nunez, 27, Santa Ana, California
295. August 9, 2006: Glen Thomas, 33, Wabasso, Florida
296. August 18, 2006: Kenyata H. Allen, Mobile, Alabama
297. August 17, 2006: Raul Gallegos-Reyes, 34, Centennial, Colorado
298. August 18, 2006: Kenyata Allen, 23, Mobile, Alabama
299. August 20, 2006: Mark McCullaugh, 28, Akron, Ohio
300. August 20, 2006: Timothy Picard, 41, Woonsocket, Rhode Island
301. August 23, 2006: Noah Lopez,25, Fort Worth, Texas
302. August 25, 2006: Mark L. Lee, 30, Rochester, New York
303. August 26, 2006: Terry Wayne Robinson, 42,Jackson Township, Ohio
304. August 30, 2006: Jason Doan, 28, Red Deer, Alberta
305. August 30, 2006: John (Juan) Soto, Jr., 39, Liberal, Kansas
306. September 4, 2006, Jesus Mejia, 33, Los Angeles, California
307. September 5, 2006: Larry Noles, 52, Louisville, Kentucky
308. September 8, 2006: Perry Simmons, 35, Montgomery, Alabama
309. September 13, 2006: Laborian Simmons, 24, Marion County, Florida
310. September 17, 2006: Marcus Roach-Burrus, 42, Menasha, Wisconsin
311. September 17, 2006: James Philip Chasse Jr., 42, Portland, Oregon
312. September 29, 2006: Joseph Kinney, 36, Madison Twp., Ohio
313. September 30, 2006: Vardan Kasilyan, 29, Las Vegas, Nevada
314. September 30, 2006: John David Johnson III, 27, Orange Park, Florida
315. October 1, 2006: Kip Darrell Black, 38, North Charleston, South Carolina
316. October 4, 2006: Michael Templeton, 50, Jonesboro, Arkansas
317. October 6, 2006: Herman Carroll, 31, Houston, Texas
318. October 8, 2006: Armando Ibarra, Greenacres, Florida
319. October 9, 2006: Gerald Raymond Guimond, Patagonia City, Arizona
320. October 9, 2006: James Simons, 35, Lincoln Park, Michigan
321. October 19, 2006: James Lewis, 37, Las Vegas, Nevada
322. October 19, 2006: Nicholas Brown, Milford, Connecticut
323. October 22, 2006: Eddie Charles Ham Jr., 30, Montgomery, Alabama
324. October 23, 2006: Michael Todd Gleim, 40, Milford, Ohio
325. October 29, 2006: Roger Holyfield, 17, Jerseyville, Illinois
326. October 30, 2006: Jeremy Foos, 29, Columbus, Ohio
327. November 1, 2006: Curtis M. Sloan, 47, Georgetown, Illinois
328. November 5, 2006: Rosendo Gaytan, 52, Austin, Texas
329. November 7, 2006: Matthew Barnett, East Norriton, Pennsylvania
330. November 9, 2006: William Jobe, 40, Federal Way, Washington
331. November 10, 2006: Weizhong Wang, Los Angeles County, California
332. November 14, 2006: Timothy Wayne Newton, 43, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
333. November 14, 2006: Darren Faulkner, 41, Southaven, Mississippi
334. November 14, 2006: Gregory Nykiel, 34, Sharpsbury, Pennsylvania
335. December 3, 2006: Briant K. Parks, 39, Columbus, Ohio
336. December 17, 2006: Anthony Placido, 38, West Palm Beach, Florida
337. December 17, 2006: Terrill Enard, 29, Lafayette, Louisiana
338. December 30, 2006: Daniel Walter Quick, 43, Magalia, California

2007
339. January 5, 2007: James Barber, 25, Ottawa, Ontario (incidental?)
340. January 5, 2007: Calvin Thompson, 42, Gastonia, North Carolina
341. January 6, 2007: Douglas John Ilten, 45, Fort Pierce, Florida
342. January 7, 2007: Blondel Lassegue, 38, Nassau County, New York
343. January 12, 2007: Pedro Carlos Madrid, 44, Fresno, California
344. January 17, 2007: Keith Kallstrom, 56, Milan, Michigan
345. January 18, 2007: Andrew J. Athetis, 18, Gilbert, Arizona
346. February 19, 2007: Brett Howie, 36, Pine Bluffs, Arkansas
347. January 29, 2007: Michael Keohan, 45, Huntingdon Park, California
348. January 30, 2007: Christopher L. McCargo, 43, Dayton, Ohio
349. February 11, 2007: Stephen Krohn, 44, Mesa, Arizona
350. February 21, 2007: Martin Mendoza, 43, Oceanside, California
351. March 12, 2007: Michael J. Hartshorn, 38, Montgomery County, Kansas
352. March 13, 2007: Muszack Nazaire, 24, East Naples, Florida
353. March 15, 2007: Randy Buckey, 42, Marion, Ohio
354. March 16, 2007: Ryan Lee Myers, 40, Essex, Maryland
355. March 17, 2007: David Brown, 47, Park Forest, Illinois
356. March 17, 2007: David Mendoza, 25, West Covina, California
357. March 18, 2007: Brandon Lee Hessler, 28, New Richmond, Wisconsin
358. March 20, 2007: Christopher Eugene Fagan, 27, Harris County, Texas
359. March 23, 2007: Sergio Galvan, 35, San Antonio, Texas
360. April 10, 2007: Eugene Donjuall Gilliam, 22, Prattville, Alabama
361. April 11, 2007: Roberto Perez, 25, Indio, California
362. April 14, 2007: Unidentified male, Phoenix, Arizona
363. April 22, 2007: David Mills, 26, Hamden, Connecticut
364. April 23, 2007: Unidentified male, Houston, Texas
365. April 24, 2007: Louis Jermaine Broomfield, 35, Charleston, South Carolina
366. April 24, 2007: Walter Heller, 55, Santa Rosa, California
367. April 24, 2007: Uywanda Peterson, 43, Baltimore, Maryland
368. April 30, 2007: Roy Hamner, 59, Pearl, Mississippi
369. May 5, 2007: Daniel Bradley Young, 33, Seminole, Florida
370. May 7, 2007: Robert A. Keske, 45, Seminole, Florida
371. May 12, 2007: Trent A. Yohe, 37, Spokane, Washington
372. May 12, 2007: Jeffry Young, 54, Bremerton, Washington
373. May 14, 2007: Terrill Heath, 31, Baltimore, Maryland
374. May 15, 2007: Chance W. Shrum, 20 years old, Iola, Kansas
375. May 16, 2007: Patrick D. Hagans, 42, Valleyview, Ohio
376. May 19, 2007: Milisha Thompson, 35, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
377. May 22, 2007: Kevin DeWayne Hill, 39, Knoxville, Tennessee
378. May 23, 2007: Raymundo Guerrerro Garcia, 33, Simi Valley, California
379. May 24, 2007: Cecil Wayne Valenzuela, 39, Bakersfield, California
380. May 25, 2007: Steve Salinas, 47, San Jose, California
381. May 26, 2007: Marcus D. Skinner, 22, Seat Pleasant, Maryland
382. May 29, 2007: Doyle Moniki Jackson, 34, Benton Harbor, Indiana
383. June 2, 2007: Aaron Roe, 23, Ironton, Ohio
384. June 10, 2007: Israel Guerrero, 29, San Benito County, California
385. June 19, 2007: Juan Flores Lopez, 47, San Angelo, Texas
386. July 2, 2007: Richard Baisner, 36, Pasadena, California
387. July 6, 2007: Rafael Valentin, 35, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
388. July 8, 2007: Nathaniel Cobbs Jr., 25, Newburgh, New York
389. July 11, 2007: Donald Edward Willis, 37, Harris County, Texas
390. July 16, 2007: Albert Romero, 47, Denver, Colorado
391. July 20, 2007: Jermaine Thompson, 36, Kansas City, Missouri
392. July 25, 2007: Carlos Rodriguez, 27, Atlanta, Georgia
393. July 29, 2007: Ronald Marquez, 49, Phoenix, Arizona
394. August 2, 2007: Clyde Patrick, 44, Birmingham, Alabama
395. August 4, 2007: Gefery Johnston, 42, Chicago, Illinois
396. August 4, 2007: Stephen Spears, 49, Shelby County, Michigan
397. August 4, 2007: James Barnes, 21, Omaha, Nebraska
398. August 11, 2007: Craig Berdine, 37, Fremont, Ohio
399. August 14, 2007: Rafael Forbes, 21, Jackson, Mississippi
400. August 15, 2007: James Wells, 43, Waterford, California
401. August 16, 2007: Avery Sheron Winn, 27, Conway, South Carolina
402. August 18, 2007: Thomas Campbell, 50, Baltimore, Maryland
403. August 23, 2007: Chad Cekas, 27, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
404. August 26, 2007: Glenn Shipman Jr., 44, Portland, Oregon
405. September 3, 2007: Earl Guerrant, 47, Golf Manor, Ohio
406. September 3, 2007: Charles Gordon, 26, Vallejo, California
407. September 9, 2007: Jorge Renteria Terrquiz, 25, Anaheim, California
408. September 20, 2007: Claudio Castagnetta, 32, Quebec City, Quebec
409. October 1, 2007: Samuel Baker, 59, Quitman, Georgia
410. October 1, 2007: Keith White, 44, Kansas City, Kansas
411. October 11, 2007: Frederick L. Nelsen, 52, Wood County, Wisconsin
412. October 12, 2007: Michael Patrick Lass, 28, Orange County, California
413. October 14, 2007: Robert Dziekanski, 40, Richmond, British Columbia
414. October 14, 2007: Donald Clark Grant, 54, Asheville, North Carolina
415. October 17, 2007: Quilem Registre, 39, Montreal, Quebec
416. October 28, 2007: Randall Mark Blalock, 48, Kern County, California
417. November 1, 2007: Seldon Deshotels, 56, Lake Charles, Louisiana
418. November 2, 2007: Stefan McMinn, 44, Hendersonville, North Carolina
419. November 7, 2007: Roger Brown, 40, Miami, Florida
420. November 16, 2007: Paul Carlock, 57, Springfield, Illinois
421. November 18, 2007: Jesse Saenz, 20, Raton, New Mexico
422. November 18, 2007: Jarrel Gray, 20, Frederick, Maryland
423. November 18, 2007: Christian Allen, 21, Springfield, Florida
424. November 20, 2007: Conrad Lowman, Jacksonville, Florida
425. November 22, 2007: Howard Hyde, 45, Halifax, Nova Scotia
426. November 24, 2007: Robert Knipstrom, 36, Chilliwack, British Columbia
427. November 29, 2007: Ashley R. Stephens, 28, Ocala, Florida
428. November 30, 2007: Cesar Silva, 32, Los Angeles, California
429. December 5, Juan Mendoza Farias, 40, Maricopa County, Arizona
430. December 10, 2007: Leroy Patterson Jr., 41, Walton County, Georgia

2008
431. January 2, 2008: Brandon Smiley, 27, Mobile, Alabama
432. January 4, 2008: Ryan Rich, 33, Las Vegas, Nevada
433. January 9, 2008: Otis C. Anderson, 36, Fayetteville, North Carolina
434. January 11, 2008: Xavier Jones, 29, Coral Gables, Florida
435. January 15, 2008: Mark Backlund, 29, New Brighton, Minnesota
436. January 17, 2008: Baron Scooter Collins-Pikes, 21, Winnfield, Louisiana
437. January 18, 2008: Daniel Hanrahan, 44, Staten Island, New York
438. February 3, 2008: Louis Cryer, 32, Port Arthur, Texas
439. February 3, 2008: Joseph Davis, 50, Brandon, Mississippi
440. February 7, 2008: Richard Earl Abston, 53, Merced, California
441. February 19, 2008: Garrett Sean Farn, 41, Bakersfield, California
442. February 26, 2008: Barron Harvey Davis, 44, Mayes County, Oklahoma
443. March 4, 2008: Christopher Jackson, 37, Clay, New York
444. March 5, 2008: Steven Drussell, 41, Albuquerque, New Mexico
445. March 6, 2008: Javier Aguilar, 46, Roswell, New Mexico
446. March 18, 2008: Roberto Gonzalez, 24, Chicago, Illinois
447. March 20, 2008: Darryl Wayne Turner, 17, Charlotte, North Carolina
448. March 21, 2008: James Garland, 41, Deerfield Beach, Florida
449. March 29, 2008: Henry Bryant, 35, Indianapolis, Indiana
450. March 30, 2008: Walter Edward Haake Jr., 59, Topeka, Kansas
451. April 1, 2008: Jason Jesus Gomez, 35, Santa Ana, California
452. April 6, 2008: Yvelt Occean, 31, New Kent County, Virginia
453. April 6, 2008: Jose Mendoza-Escobar, 35, Los Angeles County, California
454. April 22, 2008: Uriah Samson Dach, 26, Richmond, California
455. April 24, 2008: Kevin Piskura, 24, Cincinnati, Ohio
456. April 24, 2008: Dewayne Chatt, 39, Memphis, Tennessee
457. April 27, 2008: Paul Thompson, 24, Greensboro, North Carolina
458. April 28, 2008: Jermaine Ward, 28, Jackson, Tennessee
459. May 4, 2008: Joe Kubat, 21, St. Paul, Minnesota
460. May 6, 2008: James S. Wilson, 22, Alton, Missouri
461. May 8, 2008: Paul J. Swider, 29, Hammond, Indiana
462. May 28, 2008: Ricardo Manuel Abrahams, 44, Woodland, California
463. May 31, 2008: Robert Ingram, 27, Raceland, Louisiana
464. June 5, 2008: Willie Maye, 43, Birmingham, Alabama
465. June 6, 2008: Donovan Graham, 39, Meriden, Connecticut
466. June 8, 2008: Quintrell T. Brannon, 25, Vincennes, Indiana
467. June 9, 2008: Tony Curtis Bradway, 26, Brooklyn, New York
468. June 23, 2008: Jeffrey Marreel, 36, Norfolk, Ontario
469. June 24, 2008: Ernest Graves, 26, Rockford, Illinois
470. June 27, 2008: Nicholas Cody, 27, Dothan, Alabama
471. July 2, 2008: Isaac Bass, 34, Louisville, Kentucky
472. July 4, 2008: Othello Pierre, 23, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
473. July 7, 2008: Arthur Bennett, 36, Brewton, Mississippi
474. July 8, 2008: Samuel DeBoise, 29, St. Louis, Missouri
475. July 8, 2008: Carlos Vargas, 42, San Bernardino, California
476. July 8, 2008: Clarence J. Smith, Jr., 29, Bertie County, South Carolina
477. July 12, 2008: Deshoun Keyon Torrence, 18, Long Beach, California
478. July 14, 2008: Marion Wilson Jr., 52, Houston, Texas
479. July 22, 2008: Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, Manitoba
480. July 24, 2008: Richard Smith, 46, Dallas, Texas
481. July 27, 2008: Anthony Davidson, Statesville, 29, North Carolina
482. August 4, 2008: Jerry Jones, 45, Beaumont, Texas
483. August 4, 2008: Andre Thomas, 37, Swissvale, Pennsylvania
484. August 7, 2008: Lawrence Rosenthal, 54, Hemet, California
485. August 10, 2008: Kiethedric Hines, 31, Rockford, Illinois
486. August 15, 2008: Kenneth Oliver, 45, Miami, Florida
487. August 25, 2008: Ronald Adkisson, 59, Creston, Iowa
488. August 28, 2008: Stanley James Harlan, 23, Moberly, Missouri
489. September 3, 2008: Prince Swayzer, 38, San Jose, California
490. September 3, 2008: Andy Tran, 32, Garden Grove, California
491. September 11, 2008: Roney Wilson, 46, Hillsborough, Florida
492. September 15, 2008: Guadalupe Zavala, 87, San Diego, California
493. September 17, 2008: Sean Reilly, 42, Mississauga, Ontario
494. September 19, 2008: Gabriel Bitterman, 23, Lincoln, Nebraska
495. September 25, 2008: Iman Morales, 35, New York, New York
496. September 30, 2008: Frank Frachette, 49, Langley, BC
497. October 1, 2008: Jose Anibal Amaro, 45, Orange County, Florida
498. October 18, 2008: Homer Taylor, 39, Chicago, Illinois
499. October 29, 2008: Trevor Grimolfson, 38, Edmonton, Alberta
500. October 31, 2008: Marlon Oliver Acevedo, 35, Riverside, California
501. November 2, 2008: Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, Calgary, Alberta
502. November 3, 2008: Adren Maurice Turner, 44, Mexia, Texas
503. November 9, 2008: Guy James Fernandez, 42, Santa Rosa, California
504. December 3, 2008: Leroy Hughes, 52, Covington, Kentucky
505. December 9, 2008: Quincy Smith, 24, Minneapolis, Minnesota
506. December 19, 2008: Edwin Rodriguez, 26, San Jose, California
507. December 20, 2008: Nathan Vaughn, 39, Santa Rosa, California
508. December 24, 2008: Mark Green, 46, Houston, Texas

2009In 2009, Taser International introduced the TASER X3, designed to enable law enforcers to render three targets powerless or, should the officer miss the target, have additional shots available quickly.
509. January 8, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Martinsville, Virginia
510. January 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Bakersfield, California
511. January 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee
512. February 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Stockton, California
513. February 7, 2009: Phillip B. Munoz, 29, Pueblo County, Colorado
514. February 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, San Jose, California
515. February 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, 37, Thomas County, Florida
516. February 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Iberia, Louisiana
517. February 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Los Angeles, California
518. February 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Conroe, Texas
519. March 1, 2009: Terry Wayne Jackson, 22, San Bernardino, California
520. March 19, 2009: Levi Mahoney, 24, Pittsburgh, Pennsylania
521. March 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Bay City, Michigan
522. March 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Freeport, Illinois
523. April 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Tamarac, Florida
524. April 3, 2009: Jermaine Lamonte Love, 35, Montclair, California
525. April 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Fresno, California
526. April 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Detroit, Michigan
527. April 13, 2009: Craig Prescott, 38, Modesto, California
528. April 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Tuscon, Arizona
529. April 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Fort Worth, Texas
530. April 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Lumberton, Texas
531. May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Holbrook, Arizona
532. May 6, 2009: Grant William Prentice, 40, Brooks, Alberta
533. May 17, 2009: Jamaal Ray Valentine, 27, La Marque, Texas
534. May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Salem, Oregon
535. June 9, 2009: Brian Layton Cardall, 32, Hurricane, Utah
536. June 21, 2009: Kurt Platzer, 32, Warren, Ohio
537. June 13, 2009: Dwight Jerome Madison, 48, Baltimore, Maryland
538. June 20, 2009: Derek Kairney, 36, South Windsor, Connecticut
539. June 29, 2009: Shawn Iinuma, 37, Fontana, California
540. July 2, 2009: Rory McKenzie, 25, Bakersfield, California
541. July 5, 2009: Raynard Jensen Davis, 41, Los Angeles County, California
542. July 18, 2009: Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Simi Valley, California
543. July 26, 2009: Kelly Michael Galindo, 40, San Bernardino, California
544. July 28, 2009: Eanice Cowart, 23, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
545. July 30, 2009: Jonathan Michael Nelson, 27, Riverside County, California
546. August 9, 2009: Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, Moreno Valley, California
547. August 12, 2009: Ernest Owen Ridlehuber III, 53, Greenwood, South Carolina
548. August 14, 2009: Hakim Jackson, 31, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
549. August 18, 2009: Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Greensboro, North Carolina
550. August 20, 2009: Francisco P. Sesate, 36, Mesa, Arizona
551. August 22, 2009: T.J. Nance, 37, Arizona City, Arizona
552. August 26, 2009: Miguel Molina, 27, Los Angeles, California
553. August 27, 2009: Manuel Dante Dent, 27, Modesto, California
554. September 7, 2009: Shane Ledbetter, 38, Aurora, Colorado
555. September 16, 2009: Alton Warren Ham, 45, Modesto, California
556. September 19, 2009: Yuceff W. Young II, 21, Brooklyn, Ohio
557. September 21, 2009: Richard Battistata, 44, Laredo, Texas
558. September 28, 2009: Derrick Humbert, 38, Bradenton, Florida
559. October 2, 2009: Rickey R. Massey, 38, Panama City, Florida
560. October 12, 2009: Christopher John Belknap, 36, Ukiah, California
561. October 17, 2009: Frank Cleo Sutphin, 19, San Bernardino, California
562. October 27, 2009: Jeffrey C. Woodward, 33, Gallatin, Tennessee
563. November 13, 2009: Herman George Knabe, 58, Corpus Christi, Texas
564. November 14, 2009: Darryl Bain, 43, Coram, New York
565. November 16, 2009: Matthew Bolick, 30, East Grand Rapids, Michigan
566. November 17, 2009: Edward Buckner, 53, Chattanooga, Tennessee
567. November 19, 2009: Jesus Gillard, 61, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
568. November 21, 2009: Ronald Petruney, 49, Washington County, Pennsylvania
569. December 10, 2009: Hatchel Pate Adams III, 36, Hampton, Virginia
570. December 11, 2009: Paul Martin Martinez Jr., 36, Roseville, California
571. December 11, 2009: Andrew Grande, Panama City Beach, 23, Florida
572. December 13, 2009: Douglas Boucher, 39, Mason, Ohio
573. December 20, 2009: Preston Bussey III, 41, Rockledge, Florida
574. December 21, 2009: Michael D. Hawkins, 39, Springfield, Missouri
575. December 30, 2009: Stephen Palmer, 47, Stamford, Connecticut

2010In 2010, Taser International introduced the TASER XREP – eXtended Range Electronic Projectile. The XREP projectile is self-contained, wireless, and fires from a 12-gauge shotgun (X12)
576. January 6, 2010: Delano R. Smith, 21, Elkhart, Indiana
577. January 17, 2010: William R. Bumbrey III, 36, Arlington, Virginia
578. January 20, 2010: Kelly Brinson, 45, Cincinnati, Ohio
579. January 27, 2010: Joe Nathan Spruill Jr., 33, Goldsboro, North Carolina
580. January 28, 2010: Patrick Burns, 50, Sangamon County, Illinois
581. January 28, 2010: Daniel Mingo, 25, Mobile, Alabama
582. January 29, 2010: Ronald Dennis Palacios, 28, Los Angeles, California
583. February 8, 2010: Mark Andrew Morse, 36, Phoenix, Arizona
584. March 4, 2010: Roberto Olivo, 33, Tulare, California
585. March 5, 2010: Christopher A. Wright, 48, Seattle, Washington
586. March 10, 2010: Jaesun Ingles, 31, Midlothian, Illinois
587. March 10, 2010: James J. Healy, 44, Rhinebeck, New York
588. March 19, 2010: Albert Valencia, 31, Downey, California
589. April 10, 2010: Daniel Joseph Barga, 24, Cornelius, Oregon
590. April 30, 2010: Adil Jouamai, 32, Arlington, Virginia
591. May 9, 2010: Audreacus Davis, 29, DeKalb County, Georgia
592. May 14, 2010: Sukeba Olawunmi, 39, Clarkston (Dekalb County), Georgia
593. May 24, 2010: Efrain Carrion, 35, Middletown, Connecticut
594. May 28, 2010: Carl D'Andre Johnson, 48, Baltimore, Maryland
595. May 29, 2010: Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, 42, San Ysidro (San Diego), California
596. May 29, 2010: Jose Martinez, 53, Waukegan, Illinois
597. June 9, 2010: Terrelle Leray Houston, 22, Hempstead, Texas
598. June 12, 2010, Curtis Robinson, 34, Albuquerque, New Mexico
599. June 13, 2010: William Owens, 17, Homewood, Alabama
600. June 14, 2010: Jose Alfredo Jimenez, 42, Harris County, Texas
601. June 15, 2010: Michael White, 47, Vallejo, California
602. June 22, 2010: Daniel Sylvester, 35, Crescent City, California
603. June 24, 2010: Aron Firman, 27, Collingwood, Ontario
604. July 5, 2010: Damon Lamont Falls, 31, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
605. July 5, 2010: Edmund Gutierrez, 22, Imperial, California
606. July 8, 2010: Phyllis Owens, 87, Boring, Oregon
607. July 9, 2010: Marvin Louis Booker, 56, Denver, Colorado
608. July 12, 2010: Anibal Rosario-Rodriguez, 61, New Britain, Connecticut
609. July 15, 2010: Jerome Gill, 31, Chicago, Illinois
610. July 18, 2010: Edward G. Stephenson, 46, Leavenworth, Kansas
611. July 23, 2010: Jermaine Williams, 30, Cleveland, Mississippi
612. August 1, 2010: Dennis C. Sandras, 49, Houma, Louisiana
613. August 9, 2010: Andrew Torres, 39, Greenville, South Carolina
614. August 18, 2010: Martin Harrison, 50, Dublin, California
615. August 19, 2010: Adam Disalvo, 30, Daytona Beach, Florida
616. August 20, 2010: Stanley Jackson, 31, Superior Township, Michigan
617. August 23, 2010: Michael Ford, 50, Livonia, Michigan
618. August 25, 2010: Eduardo Lopez-Hernandez, 21, Las Vegas, Nevada
619. August 31, 2010: King Ramses PJG Hoover, 27, Spanaway, Washington
620. September 4, 2010: Adam Collier, 25, Gold Bar, Washington
621. September 10, 2010: Larry Rubio, 20, Lemoore, California
622. September 12, 2010: Freddie Lee Lockett, 30, Dallas, Texas
623. September 16, 2010: Gary Lee Grossenbacher, 48, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
624. September 17, 2010: David Cornelius Smith, 28, Minneapolis, Minnesota
625. September 18, 2010: Joseph Frank Kennedy, 48, La Mirada, California
626. October 4, 2010: Javon Rakestrau, 28, Lafayette, Louisiana
627. October 7, 2010: Patrick Johnson, 18, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
628. October 10, 2010: Michael Ryan Bain, 31, Billings, Montana
629. October 14, 2010: Karreem A. Ali, 65, Montgomery County, Maryland
630. October 19, 2010: Troy Hooftallen, 36, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
631. November 4, 2010: Eugene Lamott Allen, 40, Wilmington, Delaware
632. November 4, 2010: Mark D. Shaver, 32, Kent, Ohio
633. November 6, 2010: Robert A. Neill Jr., 61, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
634. November 25, 2010: Rodney Green, 36, Waco, Texas
635. November 27, 2010: Blaine Terrell McElroy, 37, Jackson County, Mississippi
636. December 2, 2010: Clayton Early James, 45, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
637. December 11, 2010: Anthony Jones, 44, Las Vegas, Nevada
638. December 13, 2010: Linel Lormeus, 26, Naples, Florida
639. December 21, 2010: Christopher Knight, 35, Brunswick, Georgia
640. December 31, 2010: Rodney Brown, 40, Cleveland, Ohio

2011In 2011, Taser International will roll out the new TASER X2, “the result of consulting with its customers about what they were seeking in a stun gun.”

641. January 5, 2011: Kelly Wayne Sinclair, 41, Amarillo, Texas
642. February 5, 2011: Robert Ricks, 23, Alexandria, Louisiana
643. February 24, 2011: Unidentified male, age unknown, Los Angeles, California
644. March 14, 2011: Christopher Davis, 36, Los Angeles, California
645. March 15, 2011: Brandon Bethea, 24, Harnett County, North Carolina
646. March 17, 2011: Christopher Apericio, 24, Las Cruces, New Mexico
647. March 20, 2011: Dale Lee Mitchell, 34, Pinellas Park, Florida
648. March 21, 2011: Jerry Perea, 38, Albuquerque, New Mexico
649. March 24, 2011: Johnny Leija, 34, Madill, Oklahoma
650. March 31, 2011: Estyl Lee Hall, 67, Pend Orielle, Oregon
651. April 3, 2011: Jairious McGhee, 23, Tampa, Florida
652. April 4, 2011: Demetrius Johnson, 38, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
653. April 9, 2011: Ervin Terrill Motley, 38, St. Francis City, Arkansas
654. April 9, 2011: James Robert Hudson, 34, Whittier, California
655. April 21, 2011: Adam Spencer Johnson, 33, Orlando Florida
656. April 23, 2011: Ronald H. Armstrong, 43, Pinehurst, North Carolina
657. April 25, 2011: Kevin Darius Cambell, 40, Tallahassee, Florida
658. May 1, 2011: Marcus Brown, 26, Waterbury, Connecticut
659. May 6, 2011: Daniel McDonnell, 40, West Babylon, New York

Electrocution Victim's Family Routed in California Taser Death Case

2011-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hat Tip to Eddie G. Griffin (BASG).

Unfortunately, it seems that the estate of Robert Heston, and his family, have been routed so far in the electrocution device suit they first filed and was first heard in San Jose District Court and then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Perhaps the family and their lawyers will petition for en banc (full court) review of the three-judge panel opinion, although their is no inherent right to en banc review and it is mostly granted in cases considered to be of great importance.

With so many District Court appointments to be made and affirmed by the US Senate still, this case was heard by a three judge panel, composed RYMER and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges, and "The Honorable Ronald B. Leighton, United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington, sitting by designation."

Bloomberg reported in June 2008 that:

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.

However, the District Court judge immediately threw out the punitive damages, while affirming the jury's compensatory damages finding.

Now, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the lower court's denial of punitive damages AND thrown out the compensatory damages as well.

In overturning the compensatory damages, the Ninth Circuit said:

4. However, the district court abused its discretion when it affirmed the jury’s compensatory damages award to the estate. While the estate presented evidence suggesting that Heston was treated by emergency medical technicians, transported to the hospital, and received continuing medical treatment, it presented no evidence at trial showing compensable “loss or damage that the decedentsustained or incurred before death, . . . not includ[ing] any damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement.’” County of L.A. v. Superior Court, 981 P.2d 68, 70 (Cal. 1999) (quoting Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 377.34; emphasis altered). Thus, although the trial judge had discretion to “weigh the evidence” when it considered TASER’s motion for a new trial, it abused that discretion by denying the motion where there was simply no evidence to weigh in support of the jury award. See Air-Sea Forwarders, Inc. v. Air Asia Co., 880 F.2d 176, 190 (9th Cir. 1989). We accordingly reverse and vacate the compensatory damages award.

In affirming the denial of punitive damages, the Court of Appeals found that:

Under California law, punitive damages may be awarded when a plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant acted with “such a

7

conscious and deliberate disregard of the interests of others that his conduct may
be called willful or wanton.” Taylor v. Superior Court, 598 P.2d 854, 856
(Cal. 1979) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see Cal. Civ. Code
§ 3294(a). Here, TASER made efforts, albeit insufficiently, to warn its customers
about the risks posed by prolonged TASER deployment. While this may amount to negligence, it does not rise to the level “willful or wanton” conduct. Tomaselli v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 433, 444 n.14 (Ct. App. 1994) (such conduct must be “inconsistent with the hypothesis that [it] . . . was the result of . . . mere negligence or other such noniniquitous human failing.”). Moreover, although the jury found that a “reasonable manufacturer” would have known that prolonged TASER deployment may cause cardiac arrest, it answered “No” to the question asking whether TASER actually “knew” of that risk. We accordingly affirm the district court’s order vacating the punitive damages award to the estate.

The only victory for the plaintiff's lawyers and the public is that the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a requested by Taser International that the plaintiffs pay Taser's legal fees.

The Ninth Circuit Appeals judges said,

"Each party will bear its own costs."

because there was sufficient merit to the case that plaintiffs should not be penalized for having brought the case in the first place.

Had the plaintiffs been ordered to pay legal fees it would have dissuaded families across the country from filing complaints against Taser International.

Overall, this is a particularly bad case result for Taser petitioners, even though the presiding judges said,

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

Justice Clarence Thomas's Nephew Treated Like a Black Man with Rasta Locks by West Jefferson Hospital Security

2010-12-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

Is it possible that in the current purportedly "color blind" and "post racial" USA, even a nephew of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas could be treated as so many other Black men and women have been? According to the Star Telegram, a newspaper owned by the McClatchy company, US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' nephew was known by hospital emergency room security to be epileptic, but was shocked with a "Taser" electrocution and execution device anyway. And over a hundred other hospitals have these weapons and may be using them on patients.

In July, a security guard used a stun gun on the nephew of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after he allegedly became combative when trying to leave a Louisiana hospital against doctors' orders, The Washington Post reported.

ABC 26 WGNO reports:

MARRERO - Family members of Derek Thomas, nephew of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, are alleging that the younger Thomas, was punched and tased when he was admitted to West Jefferson Hospital Thursday.The family says the use of the taser caused Thomas to have a seizure.

According to at statement from the family, Derek Thomas, who is epileptic, refused to put on a hospital gown and tried to leave his examination after a possible suicide attempt. They say security "punched him in his lip, pulled out more than a fistful of his dreadlocks and tasered him to restrain him."

Doctors knew about Thomas' epilepsy, but ordered security officers to use the taser anyway, instead of sedating him, the family says.

The family is trying to have Thomas transferred to another facility.

Justice Thomas is expected to travel to New Orleans as soon as possible to check on his nephew.

Washington Post writer Philip Rucker reported:

A nephew of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suffered a seizure after he was beaten and shocked during a scuffle with security guards at a New Orleans area hospital, relatives alleged Friday.

Derek Thomas, 25, was immobilized with a stun gun Thursday after he tried to leave the emergency room at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., his sister told WDSU, a local television station. Security responded after Thomas refused a doctor's request to put on a hospital gown and started to leave, Kimberly Thomas said.

"One of the security guards punched him in the lip," she told WDSU. "Another one pulled out more than a fist full of his hair and, from that point, they [shocked] him," possibly with a Taser.

Derek Thomas has epilepsy, she said, and he suffered a seizure shortly after the stun gun was used.

The same Washington Post article says:

Their mother, Dora Thomas, confirmed the account in an interview with The Washington Post. She said that she picked her son up from the hospital Friday and that he is resting at home.

"He's as well as can be expected," she said.

Clarence Thomas was planning to go to New Orleans to check on his nephew, Kimberly Thomas told the television station. A Supreme Court spokesman said the justice had no comment on the matter.

Reached at her home in Georgia, Clarence Thomas's mother, Leola Williams, said she, too, was joining the family in Louisiana. "I'm just worried about my grandson," Williams told The Post.

Justice Clarence Thomas has at least de facto joined the Republican Party and joined the extreme right-wing members of the US Supreme Court in decision after decision His wife is a white woman. What else can and must Justice Thomas do to assure that he and his family will be treated by security guards and police just as white people would be treated under similar circumstances? Maybe his family's trauma in this case will cause Justice Thomas to think about the problem of color-aroused injustice when Thomas votes on Supreme Court cases involving color-aroused treatment of other Blacks.

A Critical Look at TASER Policy and Effects

2010-05-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) for providing the following:

May 10, 2:54 AM · Edward Nelson - NY Public Policy Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/x-48240-NY-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2010m5d10-A-Critical-Look-at-TASER-Policy-and-Effects?cid=exrss-NY-Public-Policy-Examiner

With the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Bryan v. McPherson, 590 F.3d 767 (9th Cir. 2009), law enforcement heads across the nation are gradually revising their use of force policies surrounding TASER deployment.

The Bryan Court dealt with a 21-year-old Carl Bryan who exited his vehicle at a distance of 20 to 25 feet away from Officer Brian McPherson who had pulled Carl Bryan over for a traffic violation. Standing on the asphalt ground Carl Bryan was wearing tennis shoes and boxer shorts and was positioned with his back facing Officer McPherson. At that point, Officer McPherson deployed his TASER causing Carl Bryan to suffer a non-minor injury as a result of falling face first onto the asphalt fracturing four of his teeth and damaging his face. Finding that a jury could conclude that Officer McPherson used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the court allowed Carl Bryan’s lawsuit to proceed to trial and denied Officer McPherson’s request for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. A reasonable officer would have known that in a situation where force is at its lowest, the target is a nonviolent and stationary misdemeanant, would have concluded that deploying intermediate force without warning was not justified.

If you didn’t know, TASER is an acronym for Thomas A. Swift’s Electronic Rifle.

What’s significant about the Bryan Court’s decision is that it recognized that TASERs can actually cause death. In the past, TASER International, Inc. had a practice of suing researchers for making that conclusion. In fact, some researchers have accused TASER International, Inc. of employing intimidation tactics to discourage and prohibit them from publishing research that contends with the “less than lethal” stigmatization strategically associated with TASERs. Normally, researchers make findings and subject their work to the criticisms of their peers if their findings cannot be replicated. Why does that concept not apply to TASERs? Rick Smith, CEO of TASER International, must evaluate his SWOT analysis to include a new externality. America’s courts are now an externality that Mr. Smith must recognize as one of TASER International’s weaknesses and threats. The author John Grisham shows how easy it is for a company to purchase a judge to favor its position in his latest book titled, “The Appeal.” However, that would be a serious invocation of Game Theory on the part of TASER International.

Nationally, TASER International has placed itself in a powerful, yet, unique position of steering policy for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Law enforcement heads are forced to rely entirely on TASER International’s training and policies on use, deployment, and research methods. Unfortunately, the Chiefs of Police that use TASERs have delegated their duty to protect the public to a Fortune 500 business like TASER International whose sole concern is its bottom line. A government functions on inputs that maximize outputs. Apparently the TASER is the input and the death of a citizen is the output. Even an insignificant number like 1% of the nation dying from in custody death syndrome and excited delirium syndrome is too much. Stated another way, the trade off is more officers living and a marginal number of citizens dying. As government officials, law enforcement administrators should be concerned with protecting the individual rights of each individual citizen; a publicly traded IPO company like TASER International, trading under the ticker symbol TASR, is not concerned with individual rights.

While TASER International can write-off the deaths of 334 citizens mentioned by Amnesty International between 2001 and 2008 as collateral damage, law enforcement administrators must consider the individual rights of each person on a case-by-case basis. If not, they are deliberately indifferent to the Constitutional rights of the population of citizens they are hired to serve. Everyday anecdotal evidence is mounting and increasingly shows that TASERed citizens are dying in the custody of police officers. However, with TASER International steering the policies of law enforcement on TASER usage and training, the in custody death syndrome immediately following TASER usage is remarkably written-off as if death is the cost of not complying with police officers. If the officer, victim, or bystander is not facing an imminent threat from a subject, the deployment of a TASER would be unreasonably excessive. On March 3, 2010, an officer TASERed a 17 year old Philadelphia Phillies fan simply for running on the baseball field. The incident has caused a lot of public clamor because the officer, a victim, nor bystander was threatened by the 17 year old when he ran onto the baseball field. Unfortunately, the lesson behind the incident is that it shows how officers arbitrarily and capriciously use their TASERs.

Law enforcement officials have tenaciously maintained that TASERs save lives. Agreed! When used appropriately, TASERs can save lives. But an inappropriate use of a TASER by law enforcement is a rare finding. Statistically, the chance of finding a citizen dead from in custody death syndrome is greater than finding an officer improperly used a TASER. Even law enforcement officers have sued TASER International claiming that they were injured by a TASER during their training. In another instance, an officer’s TASER malfunctioned as he pursued a perpetrator and he was shot six times. TASER International was sued as a result. Therefore, the claims against TASER International and law enforcement aren’t isolated to members of the public. Moreover, it begs the question of whether TASER International knows, or, expects deadly malfunctions in its TASER product prior to marketing.

TASER International has warned that TASERs can contribute in death if the following variables are present within a TASERed subject:

• alcohol intoxication
• cocaine
• methamphetamine
So why are officers deploying TASERs on drug abusers when there is a real possibility of death occurring? If law enforcement agencies have no policy directing officers to refrain from deploying their TASERs on the above category of individuals, the answer is clear: It’s because their municipality has become deliberately indifferent to the individual rights of intoxicated /drugged citizens. A well informed law enforcement agency would know from anecdotal evidence collected on excited delirium syndrome and in custody death syndrome that those citizens who are intoxicated, high on cocaine or methamphetamine fall within a category of individuals that are likely to die post-TASER deployment. Unfortunately, post-TASER deployment has a medical aspect that makes most law enforcement administrators appear acutely obtuse and woefully incapable of understanding the injurious nature of TASER weaponry. Over the years, a medical examiner’s finding of excited delirium syndrome or in custody death syndrome is the only justification required to relieve an officer of liability for a citizen’s death. Today, excited delirium syndrome is a questionable medical condition in the medical community.

Lawyers that are worth their salt have quickly learned that the preparation of litigation against TASER International and law enforcement requires that they be as savvy as TASER’s medical experts regarding excited delirium syndrome and in custody death syndrome. Commonly, the coups de grace in TASER litigation involves a showing of death or non-minor injury resulting from brain injury, cardiac arrest, short term loss of memory, cardiac infarction, and metabolic acidosis proximately caused by a TASER. As alluded to earlier, TASER International is an aggressive publicly traded company concerned about its bottom line and answers to a board of directors. To maintain a pristine public image, TASER International strategically uses sneaky semantics, omissions, lawsuits, dry threats, scandalous and vexatious comments to fend off any undesired comments that can potentially have a negative economic impact on its TASER product. TASER International has successfully sued medical examiners to change the cause of death on a death certificate from being associated with a TASER to being “accidental.”

Unlike most weapons that cause visible superficial wounds, the TASER permeates the human body internally using voltage and amperes to overwhelm neurotransmitters emanating from the brain. In other words, it has a subtle way of causing damage to the body’s internal biological functions. It’s the fluctuating AC (alternative current) power source that causes the muscles within the body to experience a condition called tetany. Meaning the AC power source actually causes the muscles within the body to contract when in contact with an AC power source. However, a DC (direct current) power source pushes a person away when contact is made. The electricity from a TASER travels through the body looking for a place to ground. However, for the brief moment that it takes residence within the human body, the electricity from the TASER quickly transforms plasma glucose into lactic acid which ultimately forms a condition called metabolic acidosis. It’s important to note that a primary source of energy for the brain is glucose. Now imagine your brain’s primary source of energy being transformed into lactic acid. That’s a problem! Even a person with minimal medical experience would know that the heart is the biggest muscle in the body. Yet, researchers are divided as to whether a TASER can cause cardiac arrest.

Comparatively, TASER litigation reminds me of the long and hard fight attorneys had with cigarette companies. Remember the days when cigarette companies said their product was safe? Well, the federal government must have the same feeling because the National Institute of Justice is currently soliciting to fund research for a “less-lethal” weapon that is safer than a TASER. This article is dedicated to the memory of all those American citizens who gave their lives so law enforcement officers could enjoy deploying their new toys in the absence of perceiving an imminent threat to themselves, bystanders or victims. It’s because all of you existed that others are inspired to find the truth concerning your deaths. May your souls find rest!

Zapped by Stun Gun: Breaks Both Arms of Deputy

2010-05-22T04:27:00.000-07:00

It's not a "freak accident."

It's a freak weapon used by freaky officers.

By Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)

Friday, May 21, 2010

“I took the Taser, and when it was over I couldn’t move my arms,” Chief Deputy Jason Frederick said.

The Roosevelt County deputy sheriff broke both his arms during a training session in which he was zapped by a stun gun.

In what some is calling a “freak” accident, where the muscles in the arm contract so hard upon itself that it breaks the bone, Dr. Thomas Bennett, a forensic pathologist in Billings, said it’s not unusual for electrocution victims to suffer broken bones, particularly if the victim was in very good shape with lots of muscle mass.

Read the rest of the story and please DON’T LAUGH:

http://www.muscle-fitness-advice.info/deputys-arms-shoulders-injured-in-taser-training

Read New "Miranda Rights" Against Taser Abuse

2010-01-02T11:50:00.001-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
Restricts Police "Taser" Use

January 4, 2010

Contacts: Atty. Francis L. Holland
Afrosphere Blogger
http://Electrocuted-While-Black.blogspot.com
http://Police-Brutality-Blog.blogspot.com
Rua dos Cajueiros, 165, Apt. 14
Centro - Porto Seguro
Bahia, Brazil 45810-000
Mobile Phone: 55 (73) 9123-4538
Skype: fazinformatica2005
francislholland@gmail.com

African American Political Pundit
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aapppoliticalslugfest
africanamericanpoliticalpundit@gmail.com
Skype: aappundit

Philippe Pierre-Paul
Sophomore, Stevens Institute of Technology
Skype: PhilPierrePaul

Dear Afrosphere Opponents of Police
"Taser" Pre-trial, Extra-Judicial Shock,
Electrocution and Execution:

"These are new 'Miranda Rights' against taser abuse,"
says Atty. Francis L. Holland.

There's been a ground-breaking decision by the 9th Circuit US Federal Court of Appeals against taser abuse, entitled Bryan v. McPherson. This decision was announced on December 29th, between Christmas and New Years holidays but it deserves our immediate attention and dissemination via our EasyWidgets:

The decision writes into federal caselaw many of the arguments and advocacy that we afrosphere bloggers have been making at our Days (months and years) of Blogging for Justice Against Police Pre-Trial, Extra-Judicial "Taser" Shock, Electrocution and Execution devices. The Easy-Widget HTML code below enables us to educate the public of their newly announced rights.

The 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals agreed with us that:

". . . we must “balance the amount of force applied against the need for that force.” Bryan v. McPherson, 9th Cir. Fd. Ct. App., December 29, 2009.

This decision has direct legal effect throughout the 9th Circuit, consisting of populous California, Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam, and influential in other parts of the country. Nearly 20% of America's population is within the jurisdiction of the 9th Circuit. The Court announced what we have long insisted:

"A reasonable police officer . . . would have foreseen these physical injuries when confronting a shirtless individual standing on asphalt. We have held that force can be unreasonable even without physical blows or injuries." Bryan v. McPherson

We've got widgets up at 123 afrosphere blogs telling the public that, in many cases, when "Tasers" are used, "The price is too high". Now, lets post Easy-Widgets to inform the public that one of the most influential federal circuit courts of appeal in the country agrees with us that:

"The presence of non-minor physical injuries like those suffered by Bryan, however, is certainly relevant in evaluating the degree of the Fourth Amendment intrusion." Bryan v. McPherson

Let's celebrate! Here's a new EasyWidget that takes readers to our anti-electrocution blogs. This Easy-Widget HTML (immediately below) links to Electrocuted While Black, but there are visibly identical widgets below that lead to Tasered While Black and the Police Brutality Blog.

The result is better than that for which many of us had hoped. Instead of arguing locally for changes to voluntarily enforced police taser policy, Bryan's lawyers in this case, and bloggers making similar arguments, convinced the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court to write these requirements and limitations into Federal caselaw, which is probably faster, better and politically safer than having the restrictions enacted into law by the US Congress.

Afrosphere bloggers and the Ninth Circuit encourage other circuits to follow this example by observing that:

"We, along with our sister circuits, have held that tasers and stun guns fall into the category of non-lethal force. Non-lethal, however, is not synonymous with non-excessive; all force—lethal and non-lethal—must be justified by the need for the specific level of force employed." Bryan v. McPherson

Not everyone -- blogger or reader -- has had a chance to read the whole Bryan v. McPherson case. So, the Easy-Widget quotes the most powerful language of the decision and links to our afrosphere blogs for more information.

In Bryan v. McPherson, the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court basically wrote into federal caselaw many of the arguments that we taser opponents have been arguing. But this is better than what many of us had sought, because instead of it being a change in local optionally enforced "guidelines," it's a change in obligatorily obeyed federal case law for the states in the 9th Circuit, and also, as the decision alludes, the 9th Circuit has enormous influence on other "sister" circuits courts.

Please join Electrocuted While Black in celebrating this decision by posting a widget that tells readers their rights and takes them to a blog where they can learn more, be it Electrocuted While Black or the Police Brutality Blog. Installation of the Easy-Widget below is a quick and easy way to quote some of the best parts of the case for your readers.

References:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/81381.html

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/12/28/08-55622.pdf

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000135

http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/stop-the-electrocutions-and-executions-175px

http://police-brutality-blog.blogspot.com/2009/12/important-taser-case-is-must-read-for.html

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14353/stop-taser-torture-blogging-for-justice-day

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/13151/taser-abuse-how-many-have-to-die-before-something-is-done-about-it

http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2009/12/important-taser-case-is-must-read-for.html

http://stoptasertorture.wordpress.com/about/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=taser+abuse&btnG=Google+Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Day+of+Blogging+for+Justice%22+taser&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Tasered+While+Black%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

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Important Taser Case is Must-Read for Taser Opponents

2009-12-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

It's new Year's Eve and now New Years, but I can't do anything but stay home, blog, read, and wait for my stitches and muscles to heal from the accident I had three days ago.

Fortunately, I have a great "Taser" legal case to read, addressed in the San Diego Bee, and published December 29, 2009, by the 9°th Circuit Court of Appeals, with direct legal effect in California, Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam, and influential in other parts of the country. The case is a legal roadmap for plaintiffs' excessive force cases involving Taser use. Below are some excepts of crucial and educational points made by the 9th Circuit in its decision against the offending police officer.

Plaintiff Bryan was stopped police twice in one day, and on the second stop he was shocked twice with a Taser device, falling face down in the roadway and "fracturing" four teeth in addition to facial injuries. The shocking officer said that even though Bryan was twenty feet away and there were no other cars or persons on the road, the officer testified that he was afraid of a man who was dressed only in boxer shorts and tennis shoes while yelling at himself between the car door and the car, twenty or twenty-one feet away. Bryan, the plaintiff had been stopped by the officer only to enforce a seat belt law.

The 9°th Circuit Court of Appeals Court found that:

. . . in the light most favorable to Bryan, Officer McPherson’s use of the taser was unconstitutionally excessive and a violation of Bryan’s clearly established rights.

( . . . )

Bryan sued Officer McPherson and the Coronado Police
Department, its police chief, and the City of Coronado for
excessive force in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, assault and
battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, a violation
of California Civil Code § 52.1, as well as failure to train and
related causes of action.

( . . . )

Allegations of excessive force are examined under the
Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable seizures.
16738 BRYAN v. MCPHERSON
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394 (1989); Deorle v. Rutherford,
272 F.3d 1272, 1279 (9th Cir. 2001). We ask “whether
the officers’ actions are ‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the
facts and circumstances confronting them.” Graham, 490 U.S.
at 397. We must balance “ ‘the nature and quality of the intrusion
on the individual’s Fourth Amendment interests’ against
the countervailing governmental interests at stake.” Id. at 396
(quoting Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 8 (1985)); see also
Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 383 (2007). Stated another way,
we must “balance the amount of force applied against the
need for that force.” Meredith v. Erath, 342 F.3d 1057, 1061
(9th Cir. 2003).

( . . . )

Officer McPherson’s use of the X26 physically
injured Bryan. As a result of the taser, Bryan lost muscular
control and fell, uncontrolled, face first into the pavement.
This fall shattered four of his front teeth and caused facial
abrasions and swelling. Additionally, a barbed probe lodged
in his flesh, requiring hospitalization so that a doctor could
remove the probe with a scalpel. A reasonable police officer
with Officer McPherson’s training on the X26 would have
foreseen these physical injuries when confronting a shirtless
individual standing on asphalt.

( . . . )

We, along with our sister circuits, have held that tasers
and stun guns fall into the category of non-lethal force.6 See,
e.g., Lewis, 581 F.3d at 476; United States v. Fore, 507 F.3d
412, 413 (6th Cir. 2007); San Jose Charter of Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club v. City of San Jose, 402 F.3d 962, 969 n.8
(9th Cir. 2005).7 Non-lethal, however, is not synonymous with
non-excessive; all force—lethal and non-lethal—must be justified
by the need for the specific level of force employed.
Graham, 490 U.S. at 395; see also Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1285
(“Less than deadly force, like deadly force, may not be used
without sufficient reason; rather, it is subject to the Graham
balancing test.”). Nor is “non-lethal” a monolithic category of
force.

( . . . )

We similarly reject any contention that, because the taser results only
in the “temporary” infliction of pain, it constitutes a nonintrusive
level of force. The pain is intense, is felt throughout
the body, and is administered by effectively commandeering
the victim’s muscles and nerves. Beyond the experience of
pain, tasers result in “immobilization, disorientation, loss of
balance, and weakness,” even after the electrical current has
ended. Matta-Ballesteros v. Henman, 896 F.2d 255, 256 n.2
(7th Cir. 1990); see also Beaver v. City of Federal Way, 507
F. Supp. 2d 1137, 1144 (W.D. Wash. 2007) (“[A]fter being
tased, a suspect may be dazed, disoriented, and experience
vertigo.”). Moreover, tasering a person may result in serious
injuries when intense pain and loss of muscle control cause a
sudden and uncontrolled fall.[5]

The X26 thus intrudes upon the victim’s physiological
functions and physical integrity in a way that other non-lethal
uses of force do not.

( . . . )

In light of these facts, we agree with the Fourth and Eighth
Circuit’s characterization of a taser shot as a “painful and
frightening blow.” Orem v. Rephann, 523 F.3d 442, 448 (4th
Cir. 2008) (quoting Hickey, 12 F.3d at 757). We therefore
conclude that tasers like the X26 constitute an “intermediate
or medium, though not insignificant, quantum of force,”
Sanders v. City of Fresno, 551 F. Supp. 2d 1149, 1168 (E.D.
16742 BRYAN v. MCPHERSON
Cal. 2008); Beaver, 507 F. Supp. 2d at 1144 (“[T]he Court
first finds that the use of a Taser constituted significant
force.”).

( . . . )

The “most important” factor under Graham is whether
the suspect posed an “immediate threat to the safety of the
officers or others.” Smith v. City of Hemet, 394 F.3d 689, 702
(9th Cir. 2005) (en banc) (quoting Chew, 27 F.3d at 1441). “A
simple statement by an officer that he fears for his safety or
the safety of others is not enough; there must be objective factors
to justify such a concern.” Deorle, 272 F.3d at 1281. The
district court correctly concluded that Bryan’s volatile, erratic
conduct could lead an officer to be wary. While Bryan’s
behavior created something of an unusual situation, this does
not, by itself, justify the use of significant force. “A desire to
resolve quickly a potentially dangerous situation is not the
type of governmental interest that, standing alone, justifies the
use of force that may cause serious injury.” Id. Rather, the
objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate
threat to the officer or a member of the public.

( . . . )

The severity of Bryan’s purported offenses “provide[ ]
little, if any, basis for [Officer McPherson’s] use of physical
force.” Smith, 394 F.3d at 702. It is undisputed that Bryan’s
initial “crime” was a mere traffic infraction—failing to wear
a seatbelt—punishable by a fine. Traffic violations generally
will not support the use of a significant level of force. See
Deville v. Marcantel, 567 F.3d 156, 167 (5th Cir. 2009)
(“Deville was stopped for a minor traffic violation . . . making
the need for force substantially lower than if she had been
suspected of a serious crime.”).

Opponents of taser use should read the entire case, since it is chock full of the arguments we've made over the last two years. It also addresses the continuum of force question, without using that specific term, and it makes application of appropriate and measured use of force a matter of law, rather than a mere matter of whether police followed their own lax guidelines or not.

Federal appeals court sets limits on police use of Tasers

2009-12-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

Why did police Taser wheelchair-bound Merced, Calif., resident Greg Williams?

Zimbel, a regular reader of my Francis L. Holland Blog, points to an important case from the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court, reported in the Sacramento Bee, which case limits the situations under which police officers can use hand-held electrocution devices, in particular saying that using shock devices against mentally ill people who pose no threat to officers violates the victims rights:

By Hudson Sangree and Kim Minugh | Sacramento Bee

A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill.

In a case out of San Diego County, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized an officer who, without warning, shot an emotionally troubled man with a Taser when he was unarmed, yards away, and neither fleeing nor advancing on the officer.
Sold as a nonlethal alternative to guns, Tasers deliver an electrical jolt meant to subdue a subject. The stun guns have become a common and increasingly controversial tool used by law enforcement.

There have been at least nine Taser-related fatalities in the Sacramento region, including the death earlier this month of Paul Martinez Jr., an inmate shot with a stun gun while allegedly resisting officers at the Roseville jail.
As lawsuits have proliferated against police and Taser International, which manufactures the weaons, the nation's appellate courts have been trying to define what constitutes appropriate Taser use.
The San Diego County case is the latest ruling to address the issue.
The court recounted the facts of the case:
In the summer of 2005, Carl Bryan, 21, was pulled over for a seat-belt violation and did not follow an officer's order to stay in the car.
Earlier, he had received a speeding ticket and had taken off his T-shirt to wipe away tears. He was wearing only the underwear he'd slept in because a woman had taken his keys, the court said without further explanation.
During his second traffic stop in Coronado, he got out of the car. He was "agitated … yelling gibberish and hitting his thighs, clad only in his boxer shorts and tennis shoes" but did not threaten the officer verbally or physically, the judges wrote.
That's when Coronado Police Officer Brian McPherson, who was standing about 20 feet away watching Bryan's "bizarre tantrum," fired his Taser, the court said.
Without a word of warning, he hit Bryan in the arm with two metal darts, delivering a 1,200-volt jolt.
Temporarily paralyzed and in intense pain, Bryan fell face-first on the pavement. The fall shattered four of his front teeth and left him with facial abrasions and swelling. Later, a doctor had to use a scalpel to remove one of the darts.
Bryan sued McPherson, the Coronado Police Department and the city of Coronado, alleging excessive force in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
The officer moved to have the claim dismissed, but a federal trial judge ruled in Bryan's favor.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit affirmed the trial judge's ruling on Monday, concluding that the level of force used by the officer was excessive.
McPherson could have waited for backup or tried to talk the man down, the judges said. If Bryan was mentally ill, as the officer contended, then there was even more reason to use "less intrusive means," the judges said.
"Officer McPherson's desire to quickly and decisively end an unusual and tense situation is understandable," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the court. "His chosen method for doing so violated Bryan's constitutional right to be free from excessive force."
Some lawyers called it a landmark decision.
Eugene Iredale, a San Diego lawyer who argued the case, said it was one of the clearest and most complete statements yet from an appellate court about the limits of Taser use.
He said after Monday's decision that courts will consider all circumstances, including whether someone poses a threat, has committed a serious crime or is mentally troubled.
"In an era where everybody understands 'don't tase me, bro,' courts are going to look more closely at the use of Tasers, and they're going to try to deter the promiscuous oversue of that tool," he said.
That's especially true in the context of those who appear to be emotionally disturbed or mentally ill, said Johnny Griffin III, a Sacramento plaintiffs lawyer.
Griffin represented the family of a troubled Woodland man who died under police restraint after being struck multiple times with Tasers.
In May 2008, Ricardo Abrahams walked away from a voluntary care facility and disobeyed the orders of officers called to check on his well-being. They shot him repeatedly with stun guns.
The case against the city of Woodland and its officers was settled in June for $300,000.
"I think it confirms what I and other lawyers in this area have been saying: You can't treat a person with mental illness the same as someone without mental illness," Griffin said.
Law enforcement authorities in Sacramento said they don't expect Monday's ruling to prompt much change.
Sacramento Police Department and Sacramento County Sheriff's Department policies permit the use of force to gain control of a suspect or prevent harm to others.
"Certainly the officer should be able to articulate the reason the force (was used), and a mere resistance to comply may not be enough," said Sheriff John McGinness.
Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the Police Department, said his agency's policy on the use of stun guns mainly covers safety considerations. It doesn't list behaviors or situations that warrant using the devices, he said.
"Ideally, in every circumstance, we try to gain compliance verbally, and force is the last option we ever want to use," he said.

New Blog Follows Police Pre-trial Extra-judicial Attempted Murders, Electrocutions and Executions of Latinos

2009-12-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

There's a new blog that's following the police pre-trail, extrajudicial shocking and electrocution deaths of Latinos, called Tasered While Latino. Although the scientific word for death by electrical shock is "electrocution", the blog uses the name "Tasered" because Taser International is the largest supplier of these portable waist-holstered electric chairs to police departments and others.

Today, Tasered While Latino reports:

Luis Ramirez - Beat To Death While Latino - By Shenandoah Police Department
Washington (CNN) -- Six people, including four police officers, were indicted in the fatal race-related beating of a Latino man in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The three indictments include federal hate crime charges, as well as obstruction of justice, conspiracy, official misconduct and extortion charges, authorities said. A federal grand jury handed up the indictments last week, and they were unsealed Tuesday.

Luis Ramirez was in a coma on life support before he died two days after he was beaten

Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky are charged with a hate crime for beating Luis Ramirez in July 2008 while shouting racial epithets at him, prosecutors said. Ramirez died two days later.

"Following the beating, Donchak, Piekarsky and others, including members of the Shenandoah Police Department, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault," the Justice Department said.

Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor is charged in two separate indictments with conspiring to obstruct justice, multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations, authorities said.

This is but one example of the lawlessness of some police officers in all of the police departments of the United States of America. In this case, it seems as though the US Justice Department may try to bring a measure of justice to the dead, as well as retribution and deterrence to the living police officers.

All-too-often, when the initial shock and outrage wears off, police plead murder charges down to disorderly conduct and are allowed to resign with pensions from one police department, only to begin working for another, like the pedophile priests who were shuffled from abusing children in one congregation to abusing different children in another.

With the advent of the Tasered While Latino blog, the pre-trial, extra-judicial attempted murders and executions of Latinos may receive the attention that the same lawless police behavior has received when it is directed toward Blacks.

City of Columbia, MO Settles w/ Suicidal Man Police Tasered Off Bridge to Highway Below

2009-12-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

Phillip McDuffy Agrees to settlement after 2008 Columbia, MO police pre-trial, extra-judicial death penalty attempt.

In July of 2008, a suicidal Black man, Phillip McDuffy, was out on the ledge of a bridge threatening to jump off. Little did he know, it was not necessary to jump, since the police were more than happy to push him with two or more electrical shocks from a 50,000 volt pre-trial, extra-judicial death penalty electrocution and execution gun. At the time, the Police Brutality Blog called it a "death penalty attempt" by the Columbia, MO police.

Now, according to the Columbia Tribune, the city has made a rare admission that police were wrong to shock the Mr. McDuffy under the circumstances:

City Finance Director Lori Fleming said that avoiding a potentially lengthy and expensive jury trial merited the outlay of taxpayer dollars.

“We obviously believe it is in the best interest of the city in the long run,” Fleming said.

“Given the courts and what can happen, it was best to just get this issue behind us, ” the finance director said.

Hopefully, this settlement will show other cities the financial risks involved with electrically shocking members of the public under circumstances that would also shock a jury. The Columbia Tribune reports:

Claim is settled in ’08 incident.

By T.J. Greaney, Thursday, December 10, 2009.

The man injured after falling 15 feet from a highway overpass when police shocked him with two Tasers has reached a cash settlement with the city of Columbia.
The city Finance Department agreed last month to pay $300,000 to 46-year-old Phillip McDuffy to settle a claim he made out of court. About $66,450 of that settlement will go to the Family Support Payment Center to cover back child support that McDuffy owes.

McDuffy’s attorney, Todd Johnson of Kansas City, had proposed a $500,000 settlement to close the matter, indicating in a December 2008 letter to the city that Johnson would receive 40 percent of the settlement for his work. Neither Johnson nor McDuffy could be reached this morning for comment.

City Finance Director Lori Fleming said that avoiding a potentially lengthy and expensive jury trial merited the outlay of taxpayer dollars.

“We obviously believe it is in the best interest of the city in the long run,” Fleming said.

“Given the courts and what can happen, it was best to just get this issue behind us, ” the finance director said.

On July 25, 2008, McDuffy walked along the outside ledge of a pedestrian overpass on Providence Road and threatened suicide by jumping to the Interstate 70 pavement below.

Standing outside the fenced-in walkway, McDuffy refused to leave his perch during a 90-minute confrontation with police. The episode brought traffic on Providence Road and I-70 to a halt in both directions, drawing a large crowd of onlookers.

In an attempt to end the incident, two Columbia police officers fired Taser devices at McDuffy, who was shocked and fell limply to the ground. McDuffy spent eight days in intensive care at University Hospital and had three surgeries, including two that required pins to repair broken bones.

Last year, Johnson said, McDuffy’s medical bills totaled about $167,000, but the lawyer said that total did not include physical therapy. Johnson also claimed McDuffy was experiencing stress headaches and double vision.

An internal investigation by Columbia police found the Taser use was proper.

However, the incident and others in the region prompted Columbia police to adopt new, more restrictive guidelines for Taser use. Still, critics say, the settlement should be a warning that the devices are more trouble than they are worth.

“How much more money is the taxpayer going to have to pay before they realize that when we weigh the pros and cons of this weapon, it’s just not worth it,” said Mary Hussman of Grass Roots Organizing, which has been critical of Columbia police Taser use. “We’re accepting a tremendous liability when we allow these weapons in the hands of our police officers.”

Hussman said McDuffy is disabled and unable to work. He previously held a job at a fast-food restaurant.

Reach T.J. Greaney at 573-815-1719 or e-mail tjgreaney@columbiatribune.com.
This article was published on page A1 of the Thursday, December 10, 2009 edition of The Columbia Daily.

Dozens of Blogs Joined 12/4 Day of Blogging Against Pre-Trial Extra-Judicial Electrocutions and Executions

2009-12-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

Stop Taser Torture, Blogging for Justice - Was a Success! Here is a list of bloggers who participated in this year's Stop Taser Torture, Blogging for Justice - Part II.

Thank You! Stop Taser Torture, Blogging for Justice - Part II participants 12.4.09

Pam's House Blend - Pam's House Blend:: Stop Taser Torture Blogging For Justice Day
The D Spot - The "D" Spot Redeux: Redeux News: "Stop Taser Torture" Blogging
It All Goes Here - It all goes here: Stop Taser Torture Today!
Intersection between Maddness and Reality - THE INTERSECTION OF MADNESS & REALITY: Day of Blogging For Justice
Attorney Mom - Character Corner: STOP TASER TORTURE, BLOGGING FOR JUSTICE DAY
LA Times Pressmen - Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Electronic Village: 50
Rightous Choices - The Righteouschoice to STOP TASER TORTURE!
African American Political Pundit - MyDD :: "Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice Day - Dec 4, 2009
The Duck Shoot - Taser Torture & Death: Damning Medical Research « The Duck Shoot
All About Race - Blogging for Justice Stop Taser Torture All About Race
Electronic Village: 50 Taser-Related Deaths in the United States - http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-related-deaths-in-united-states.html
Character Corner: http://charactercorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/stop-taser-torture-blogging-for-justice.html
Tasered While Black: Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day - http://taseredwhileblack.blogspot.com/2009/12/stop-taser-torture-blogging-for-justice.html

Tracking Taser Torture Blogging - http://www.newstin.com/rel/us/en-010-020616723

fwix.com - Redeux News: Stop Taser Torture Blogging for Justice

Observer Reporter - http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/localnews/11-29-2009-Taser-death

Electronic Village - Electronic Village: Day of Blogging for Justice: 'Stop Taser ...

Independent Political reporter - Green Party of Suffolk calls for moratorium on Tasers ...

Gangsters In Blue - http://gangstersinblue.org/

Jack and Jill Politics - Cops taser man with his hands already on police car. What you can ...

Ancestral Energies - http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2009/12/day-of-blogging-for-justice-against.html

Stop Taser Torture, Blogging for Justice - Part I participants:

· African American Opinion - A Day of Blogging for Justice …

· African American Political Opinion – “A Day of Blogging for Justice …

· African American Political Pundit – A Day of Blogging for Justice – Blogging Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution via Tasers

· All About Race – A Day of Blogging for Justice

· Ancestralenergies – Day-of-Blogging-For-Justice

· Black Perspective.com - Taser Awareness – Blogging Against Extrea Judicial Electrocution

· Christina Springer Blog- Wish-I-Had-More-Time

· Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) - Officer may be indicted for Tasing Death of Scooter

Electronic Village -Electronic Village: End Police Pre-Trial, Extra Judicial

· Electrocuted While black – Electrocuted While Black: “A Day of Blogging for Justice

· InkogNegro – Day of Blogging for Justice – Don’t Tase the Bros to death

· Jack and Jill Politics - Extra-Judicial Electrocution – Jack & Jill Politics

· Jena 6 Blog - Barron-pikes-tasered-while-handcuffed.html

· Police Brutality Blog - “A Day of Blogging for Justice

· Purple Zoe -A Day-of-blogging-opposing-pre-trial Electrocution

· Regina’s Family Seasons - “A Day Of Blogging For Justice” – Tasers.\

· Republic of T – Held Suspect

· A Slant Truth – Blogging For Justice – Police Abuse (Tasers)

· Tasered While Black - Tasered While Black: A Day of Blogging For Justice

· Ultra Violet Underground - Day Of Blogging Opposing Pre-Trial Electrocution aka Tasering

· What Tami Said – A day of blogging for justice

· Wonderland or Not - Taser-lets-get-a-clue

· The Black Snob – A Fight Against Taser Abuse and Other News
The Super Spade – A Day of Blogging for Justice – Against – Extra – Judicial Electrocution

Related Taser Torture Posts

Chicago Sun Times, AAPP-http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=Cz9ojeT0Jcr1WBD0O7q71iA1vCzEnF4Ph9A8OaCz8HQePLTm7b9

Popular Mechanics - Popular Science Blog - Are Taser Guns Torture?

Educate Yourself - Police with Tasers: Sanctioned Torture & Summary Execution In America

Taser International Responds - Taser Responds to United Nations Anti-Torture Committee - News ...

The Duck Shoot - Police Taser Torture: So You Think Tasers Are Non-Lethal? « The ...

Rev com.US - Torture by Police Taser in the USA

RINF.com - Taser Torture as Summary Punishment for “Non-Compliance”

What Really Happened - Taser Torture in the Great White North | WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Sign the Congressional Petition against Taser Torture Petition Calls for Congressional Hearings on Taser Torture ...

CNETTV - Is Taser Torture? video - CNET TV
Social Worker.org - Police using Tasers as tool of torture

Keep The Truth Alive - The TASER: A Police Device for Torture and Death

U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit Court (AL, FL, GA) Says Police Can Electrocute Resister w/oTrial on the Merits

2009-12-06T06:45:00.001-08:00

The following case of pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution and execution originating in Whitfield County, Georgia, was not enough to convince the US Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit (with jurisdiction over federal cases originating in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia) that police should not electrically shock and electrocute people who have used drugs or otherwise had altered or impaired bodily functions. In fact the Court of Appeals refused to require that case go to trial on the merits, deciding instead that police pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution is acceptable and is likely to be reaffirmed by the 11th Circuit.

And yet this case shows the extreme risk that Taser use on resistant arrestees may have a higher risk of killing them than merely shooting them in the foot with a conventional gun. This case shows that the more out of control an arrestee is, the less appropriate and more dangerous the use of an electrocution device is:

Despite the leg shackles, Melinda continued to kick uncontrollably. Melinda eventually kicked the rear driver's side window out of the patrol car, shattering the glass and bending the steel door frame. Deputy Burge instructed her to stop kicking the badly damaged door, but Melinda refused and continued kicking and slamming her head up against the opposite door.
After issuing this warning to no avail, Deputy Burge discharged his Taser on Melinda three times at approximately 3:35 p.m. The Taser did not have the intended effect and Melinda continued her aggressive resistance. The first discharge momentarily curbed Melinda's behavior. She tightened up and ceased kicking briefly. However, she soon resumed her combative behavior. The second and third discharge had no effect, leading the deputies to question whether the device was working properly. The deputies contend one of the Taser leads came loose while Melinda struggled, likely preventing the Taser from working. Melinda suffered second degree burns to her left breast and injuries to the back of her earlobes consistent with the use of a Taser.
At approximately 3:44 p.m., EMS personnel arrived on the scene, but because of her combative nature, they were unable to examine Melinda. They concluded that she was not in any immediate medical distress since she was talking, breathing and responding. Other than having some scrapes on her arm and being dirty and sweaty, Melinda did not appear injured to the deputies or the EMS personnel. The deputies maintain that they believed that the EMS personnel had medically cleared Melinda and she was approved to go to jail. The EMS personnel maintain that they believed Melinda would be transported to the hospital for further evaluation. No explicit orders were given by either the deputies or the EMS personnel.
At approximately 4:00 p.m., the EMS personnel left and Deputy Giles transported Melinda to jail. Melinda continued kicking and screaming during transport. However, approximately thirty seconds prior to their arrival at jail, she stopped kicking and screaming. Deputy Giles reached the jail at approximately 4:10 p.m., and unloaded Melinda, who was unresponsive with labored breathing.
Melinda was attended to by jailers who noted she was ashen and had cuts and bruises on her body. The jailers diagnosed possible heat stroke and took action to cool her down by applying cold compresses. Although the jailers did not believe that Melinda was in danger of dying, her unresponsive state prompted them to call EMS. This was at 4:29 p.m.
EMS personnel arrived at the jail at 4:35 p.m., and transported Melinda to the emergency room, arriving at 5:01 p.m. While at the hospital, Melinda suffered a cardiac arrest at 5:06 p.m., never recovering. Dr. William Oliver of the Georgia State Crime Laboratory conducted an autopsy of Melinda on behalf of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Dr. Oliver concluded that the cause of Melinda's death was malignant hyperthermia—specifically, a body temperature in excess of 107 degrees Fahrenheit.^{[ 7 ]}
(. . .)
On July 21, 2008, the district court dismissed the Hamilton Emergency Medical Services, with prejudice, based upon a settlement. On November 24, 2008, the district court ruled that Plaintiffs had failed to produce any evidence that the Taser was a "but for" cause of Melinda's death—a necessity under Georgia law—and granted summary judgment for the Taser Defendants. The following day, the district court ruled that Plaintiffs had also failed to establish that the deputies violated Melinda's Fourth or Eighth Amendment rights or that Melinda's death resulted from a policy, practice or custom designed to violate those rights. The court also ruled that the Plaintiffs failed to establish that any spoilation of the evidence resulted from the Whitfield Defendants' bad faith, making an adverse inference against the defendants inappropriate. The district court then granted summary judgment on all remaining claims against the Whitfield Defendants.
^{( . . . )}
Although Melinda's death was unfortunate, Plaintiffs have no remedy here. The district court did not abuse its discretion in enforcing its local rules regarding pleadings and motions. Plaintiffs provided no evidence that the deputies used excessive force or were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need. They were faced with an extremely difficult interaction and handled it appropriately. Therefore, the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Whitfield Defendants was proper. We also hold that Plaintiffs failed to meet the requirements of the law to hold the Taser Defendants liable. Therefore, summary judgment in favor of Taser Defendants was proper.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is, in all respects,
AFFIRMED.

This case cites "excited delirium" as a medical explanation for a death that, in all likelihood, would not have occurred absent the three instances of use of an electrocution device, including on the victim's left breast. It is apparent to me that in cases of Taser International's so-called "excited delirium" (bitter resistance), police should desist from from using electrocution devices even more than in other cases, because the death of persons, most of who haven't committed and haven't been convicted of a serious crime, is a regular and foreseeable result. Police should not use electrocution devices on unarmed members of the public where those weapons present a foreseeable and frequent risk of death.

It seems unlikely to me that Congressional hearings on Tasers will limit their use and abuse unless the US Congress legislates or the US Supreme Court overrules the decision in this and similar cases. Otherwise, police will conclude, based on this case, the the recitation of "excited delirium" and the insistence that the victim was uncooperative will frequently be sufficient even to avoid a trial on the merits. And police will engage in pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution devices with the pre-approval of the US Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Although such encouragement for police was hardly necessary, this case will be influential in other federal circuits as well, where police will continue to electrocute and execute men, women and children before the reach the police station. In essence police will act with the same impunity that the Klu Klux Klan once did, except they will act as officers of the law rather than as private citizens who have the tacit approval of the legal system.

Meanwhile, there are 19,800 instances at Google of use of the phrase, "pre-trial, extra-judicial" referring in the main to police pre-trial electrocutions and executions.

It seems to me that a game warden could have quieted this woman without killing her. I honestly believe that electrocution devices should be banned and police should be required to seek the assistance of game wardens to take members of the public into custody without injuring or killing them. Game wardens seem to have much greater success in this task, even in the cases of bears, alligators and moose, relative to the risk of death that police represent.

I also believe that police officers are grossly overpaid relative to game wardens, since they are not able to achieve the success at protecting life and the public that game wardens regularly achieve with much larger "game" to save for return to the wild.

Police to Electrically Shock a Man's Testicles?

2009-12-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Among a Pam's House Blend list of outrageous instances of police electrocution device atrocities, this story tells itself. I won't say anything about it because it leaves me speechless:

The Statesman printed a transcript of an audio recording of the altercation:

Officer #3: Do you feel this?
Complainant: Yes, sir.
Officer #3: Do you feel that? That’s my -
Complainant: Okay
Officer #3: -Taser up your ass.
Complainant: Okay
Officer #3: So don’t move.
Complainant: I’m trying not to. I can’t breathe.
…
Officer #3: Now do you feel this in your balls?
Complainant: I do, sir. I’m not going to move. I’m not gonna move.
Officer #3 Now I’m gonna tase your balls if you move again.
A minute later, this exchange occurred:
Officer #3: Okay, I’m gonna take this Taser out of your asshole now. Are you going to fight with me?
Complainant: No, not at all, sir.

The audio file can be found here (MP3).

The Statesman is now reporting that the complainant “plans to sue the Boise Police Department for excessive use of force.”

In a case like this, I think the onlooking crowd needs to make a quick judgment whether to act "in defense of another," even at the risk of being charged with interfering with an officer and assaulting an officer. Only in Nazi Germany could a man be threatened with a paralyzing electronic shock to his testicles on a public street and the Government believes this is acceptable police behavior. One truly begins to wonder if there is anything a police officer could do that his supervisors would consider to be not merely brutal, but atrocious?

Did we not learn in Nazi Germany that the public has a moral obligation to stand up and say "no" in the face of inhumane treatment of the weak and helpless? (A man police electrode device practically touching his testicles is as helpless as the Iraqis piled in naked pyramids in the US's Abu Ghraib prison.)

In Brazil, when police behave shockingly, the public burns buses, ransacks and burns the offices of the local police department. I certainly am not recommending that people in the United States not engage in such behavior. For evil to triumph all that is required is for good people to stand by and do nothing.

I couldn't keep it to myself.

Taser Advisory to Cops: 'Our Guns May Cause Heart Attack'

2009-12-04T05:34:00.001-08:00

Electronic Village reports today,

Taser International, the maker of taser guns is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event."

The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, marks the first time that Taser has suggested any risk of ill effects on the heart from the use of its 50,000-volt taser guns.

Critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by Taser that its guns could cause cardiac arrest.

It seems as though the cracks in the wall of electrocution ignorance are beginning to appear, and perhaps the waters of change are seeping through. As African American Political Pundit has said,

Many police departments are using tasers to torture even nonviolent people who are often those who are incoherent, hallucinating, wheelchair bound, suicidal, unarmed, deaf, handcuffed, blind, pregnant, students, or just didnt move fast enough for an officers liking. Taser torture in America is continuously growing not only in volume, but in the level of how liberally, unwarrantedly, and excessively tasering is being used across the U.S and many other countries. In America, some police departments are even now torturing 10 year old children.

The following blogs are calling for a moratorium on the pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution of members of the public, at least until it can be demonstrated that these electrocutions are not potentially lethal, are not being used to torture subjects in custody, and are not being used disproportionately and gratuitously on Black people as a form of modern-day lynching.

The Francis L. Holland Blog
The Police Brutality (and Atrocity) Blog
Electrocuted While Black
Democratic Afrosphere

Day of Blogging Against Police Pre-Trial, Extra-Judicial Taser Electrocutions, 12/4/2009

2009-12-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

For_Immediate_Release:

(Free-Press-Release.com) December 2, 2009 --

On December 4, 2009, bloggers from across America are joining together for "A Day of Blogging for Justice - Blogging To Stop Taser Torture and the Pre-Trial, Extra-Judicial Electrocution of Americans by police".

Several dozen bloggers from diverse communities nationally and internationally are participating thus far.

See the linked list of participating bloggers here: http://stoptasertorture.blogspot.com/

The use of tasering on even nonviolent persons who are often those who are incoherent, hallucinating, wheelchair bound, suicidal, unarmed, deaf, handcuffed, blind, pregnant, students, foreign non-English speakers, or just didnt move fast enough for an officers liking; is continuously growing not only in volume, but in the level of how liberally, unwarrantedly, and excessively tasering is being used across the country. We are now torturing 10 year old children.

Both Black and White, poor and middle-class, & others have been subject to such abuse, and sentenced to death on the street. Yet, we cannot let go unnoticed that Black and the disadvantaged are even most subject to electrocute first, ask questions later.

The blogs Excited-Delirium, Electronic Village, Truth Not Tasers, Tasered While Black, Pams House Blend, Electrocuted While Black, and other bloggers have been tracking the issue of taser torture in America for some time now.

African American political Pundit, one of the organizers of the event has called it a campaign against "on the spot pre-trial electrocution" of members of the American public. He went on to say, even 10 year old little girls are not safe from taser torture.

Francis L. Holland, Esq., a blogger at the blog Electrocuted While black says,

The Francis L. Holland Blog is calling for a moratorium on the pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution of members of the public, at least until it can be demonstrated that these electrocutions are not potentially lethal, are not being used to torture subjects in custody, and are not being used disproportionately and gratuitously on Black people as a form of modern-day lynching.
Tasers, tasered, tasing by police, police, Police Brutality, stop taser torture, taser electrocution

###

For more information:

StopTaserTorture@gmail.com, blog@elecvillage.com http://stoptasertorture.blogspot.com

Ft. Worth SCLC Demands Resignation of Police Chief & Mayor Over Electrocution

2009-11-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

25 November 2009 02:55
To: "The White House John O. Brennan"
Cc: Bob Ray Sanders

Statement from the President of the Fort Worth Tarrant County
Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The SCLC knew Mayor Mike Moncrief would do anything within his power to keep the truth about the Michael Jacobs, Jr., taser shock death a secret. We called it a "Cowtown Cover Up" from the beginning and now we know the truth. We have completely lost confidence in the Mayor, the Chief of police and anyone else who supported suppressing the Medical Examiner's Report.

As president of the Fort Worth Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), I am calling on the Mayor and Chief of Police to resign and for a full Justice Department investigation into the civil rights violations and cover up by governmental officials and employees.

We will attend the next City Council meeting and will demand the resignations publicly and encourage the general public to join in our efforts.

We contend that Fort Worth is one of the most dangerous cities in America for African-American males.

Sincerely,
Reverend Kyev Tatum
817-966-7625

Taser-related deaths in 2009 include two Michigan teens; company says devices reduce injuries

2009-11-22T20:31:00.000-08:00

November 17, 2009, 6:02AM

Although Tasers were used in the arrest of a 30-year-old man in East Grand Rapids on Monday night, they have not been confirmed as playing a role in his death.

The Electronic Village Web site documents 47 taser-related deaths in the U.S. in 2009. Two of them were in Michigan.

Man In Need of Mental Help - Tasered by police dies from subsequent heart attack

2009-11-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

By AAPP of Stop Taser Torture.

A Washington County man who suffered a heart attack after he was stunned with a Taser gun by police has died, Coroner Tim Warco reported this morning.

Tasered While Black says: "I guess Washington City Police have limited Standards for police Taser use."

Ronald Petruney, 49, of Washington, Pa., died at 6:58 a.m. today at Washington Hospital, Warco said in a news release.

Petruney suffered cardiac arrest Tuesday. Washington City Police found him in a confused state on Jefferson Avenue. Police said Petruney became combative and they were forced to use the Taser to subdue him.

Warco said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause and manner of Petruney's death. I wonder What number is this in Taser-Related Deaths in the United States?

See video on community reaction >>> Man Tasered by police dies from subsequent heart attack - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Had enough of tasering? Join us on December 4th. “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Contact us at: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com to register your blog. Don't forget to make a Donation to the ant-taser effort.

Visit the New "Stop Taser Torture Blog"

2009-11-22T00:56:00.000-08:00

The Stop Taser Torture blog is the official blog that coordinates the annual December 4th event called, “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.”

Many police departments are using tasers to torture even nonviolent people who are often those who are incoherent, hallucinating, wheelchair bound, suicidal, unarmed, deaf, handcuffed, blind, pregnant, students, or just didnt move fast enough for an officers liking. Taser torture in America is continuously growing not only in volume, but in the level of how liberally, unwarrantedly, and excessively tasering is being used across the U.S and many other countries. In America, some police departments are even now torturing 10 year old children.

Join Stop Taser Torture on 12.4.09 Join Stop Taser Torture on 12.4.09

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Stop Taser Torture - Get a Button

http://stoptasertorture.blogspot.com/

Children Tased In Texas Schools for "interventions" involve "low-level, non-violent misdemeanors like disruption of class or disorderly conduct,"

2009-11-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

African American Political Pundit reports that:

According to Cameron Langford at the Court House News Service, Police in Texas public schools are increasingly using force against children, including Tasers and pepper spray, and the "overwhelming majority" of police "interventions" involve "low-level, non-violent misdemeanors like disruption of class or disorderly conduct," a public interest group says.
AAPP says: I'm glad to see that a watchdog group wants Info on Police Use of Force Against Schoolkids. It's time to stop the torture of school children in our public school system. Where is the U.S. Department of Justice when we need them to protect our children? Texas is not the only state torturing our children.

ENOUGH is ENOUGH

Join up with:

Black Perspective.net
Black Women In Europe
Charly Miller 's Taser Collection of Articles of Tasers
Educate yourself about tasers
Electronic Village
Excited-Delirium
From My Brown Eyed View
It All Goes Here
No More Tasers
Pam's House Blend
Petition for Congressional Hearing on Taser Torture
Petition to Ban Taser Use by Police in U.S.
Police-brutality Blog
Prevent Dangerous Harm
Stop Taser Torture
Taser Deaths In Canada
Taser Deaths.org
Taser Watch
Taser.org.uk
Tasered While Black
The Duck Shoot
The Superspade
Truth Not Tasers
THE INTERSECTION OF MADNESS & REALITY
Sign up now!

Let's build a blogger movement to stand in the gap for our children!

58-year-old South Carolina manTasered to Death by Corpus Christi police

2009-11-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

By AAPP at Tasered While Black.

CORPUS CHRISTI — According to caller.com, and kristv, a 58-year-old South Carolina man who police subdued using a Taser and then performed CPR on died Friday.

The man was removed from life support Friday afternoon by doctors at Christus Spohn Hospital South, said Corpus Christi Police Capt. Todd Green, department spokesman.

Authorities wouldn’t release the man’s name, pending notification of family members. An autopsy will be done by the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine an official cause of death, police said. The autopsy could take days depending upon the medical examiner’s workload Monday morning, according to Ric Ortiz, an assistant to the medical examiner.

“A preliminary investigation has shown the officers acted appropriately in responding to an aggressive individual who was acting erratically,” said Police Chief Troy Riggs “Unfortunately, he has died and we will continue the investigation.”

The five patrol officers who were placed on paid administrative leave have been cleared to work, Green said. Placing the officers on paid administrative is a routine policy for incidents under investigation, he said.

The incident began at 6:54 p.m. Wednesday when officer Stephan Beletic saw drivers flashing their headlights at Cimarron Boulevard and Airline Road. Beletic saw a man riding his bicycle illegally against the flow of traffic and attempted to stop him. The man didn’t stop and rode into a parking lot of restaurant where he banged on the restaurant’s window and spoke unintelligibly, Green said.

Beletic, who already had called for backup, began to frisk the man to make sure he wasn’t armed.

The man resisted, and Beletic managed to cuff one hand, but the man continued to struggle. Officers Ross Murray and Daryl Anderson arrived on the scene and Murray used a Taser, hitting the man in the lower back. The man appeared unaffected by the 50,000-volt stun gun, Green said, adding that police aren’t sure if the probe even penetrated the several layers of clothes the man was wearing.

Murray then placed the Taser on the man’s shoulder blade and shocked him, Green reported. The man continued to be combative, Green said.

Anderson used pepper spray, which also did little. Officer Jason Rhodes arrived and the four fell to the ground in a struggle with the man.

It wasn’t until a fifth officer, Jason Tello, arrived that they were able to finishing handcuffing the man, Green said.

Once the man was in custody, he quit breathing, Green said. MORE HERE

AAPP: Had enough yet?

Join Us on 12.4.09 - blog to Stop Taser Torture.

More Blogs Joining December 4 “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day.”

2009-11-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

Please register your blog for this year’s 2nd annual “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day.” It's time to take this to a new level.

Join us on December 4, 2009!

Here are just a few of the blogs who have signed up this far.

Pam’s House Blend

Excited-Delirium

Electronic Village

Police Brutality Blog

African American Political Pundit

BlackPerspective.net

Francis Holland Blog

Tasered While Black

TheDuckShoot.com/blog

From My Brown Eyed View

All About Race

Black Women In Europe. blog

Antoinette’s “Point of View”

Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo

HateCrimeWatch

MyBlackView

A Lovely Promise

The Unapologetic Mexican

This Blk Sistas Page

TNT – Truth … not tasers

Carole Mcdonnell Blog

Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)

We have almost 2,000 signatures at: http://www.petition2congress.com/2/1822/taser-torture-in-america-call-congressional-hearings/

We want to expand the discussion on the issue of tasering and how the issue threatens us all. Register via email: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com or send me a return email. AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit@gmail.com

Ft. Worth, TX March Against Electric Execution Guns is Model for Nationwide Protests

2009-11-09T22:37:00.001-08:00

Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) in Fort Worth, Texas tells me that the Saturday, November 7, 2009 protest against the electrocution of Michael Jacobs Jr. received excellent media coverage that serves as a model for protests nationwide:

LIVE RADIO: KKDA

33 NEWS

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-march-for-dignity-story,0,5385639.story

FW STAR-TELEGRAM
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1745279.html

I contend, as does Eddie, "that Michael Jacobs, Jr. was fried on the inside out in ONE MINUTE."

"We Charge Genocide" was a document presented to the United Nations in 1951 by William L. Patterson of the Civil Rights Congress, arguing that the U.S. federal government, by its failure to act against lynching in the United States, was guilty of genocide under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention.

Pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocution and execution is quite simply lynching by another mechanical means, but now it is under color of law rather than under cover of Klu Klux Klan suits. The result is the same. Black people who have not been convicted or even tried for any crime are dying and frying daily across the United States, while many others pretend that this is normal. Instead, Klansmen have traded their white suits and hats for blue suits and bronze badges.

Posted by: Francis L. Holland Blog

Fort Worth residents marched calling for police to stop using Tasers

2009-11-08T08:36:00.001-08:00

Enough is enough!

By African American Political Pundit at Tasered While Black.

As reported by Traci Shurley at The Star-Telegram.com more than 50 people marched through downtown Fort Worth on Saturday calling for police to stop using Tasers and punish an officer involved in the April death of a mentally ill man. The protest was organized by supporters of the family of Michael Jacobs, 24, who died after a Fort Worth police officer shot him twice with a Taser to subdue him. Jacobs’ death was ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County medical examiner and will be reviewed by a grand jury.

"I’m really grateful to this big old crowd for speaking on behalf of my son," said Charlotte Jacobs, Michael’s mother.The protesters walked from the Fort Worth municipal building to the Tarrant County Courthouse carrying U.S. flags and signs, some of which read "Lazy Cops Taser" and "Tasers trample the Constitution."

The death occurred after police responded to a call from Jacobs’ parents that he was being disruptive. Police said the officer used the Taser after Jacobs became combative.

In his report, Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani found that Officer Stephanie A. Phillips shocked Jacobs twice with a Taser — once for 49 seconds and once for five seconds. According to the report, the officer told a detective that the first jolt was longer because "she unknowingly kept the Taser trigger engaged." She remains on active duty.

Jacobs’ family has filed a wrongful-death suit. Last month, an attorney for the family said witnesses have disputed claims that he fought with police. On Oct. 16, Police Chief Jeff Halstead announced that his department had finished its investigation of Jacobs’ death and provided copies of the report to the FBI and Justice Department. He said officers would get more training in how to deal with mentally ill people and in the use of force. The Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Tarrant County chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and organizer of Saturday’s march, said that Tasers inflict cruel and unusual punishment on the community and that their use must stop. More HERE

Man Tased While His Kent, OH Home Burns

2009-11-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

Police use taser on Kent resident.

Abstract: Police used a Taser gun to restrain a resident outside of his home on Crain Avenue as it burned at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

The resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister's room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire....

By Sarah Steimer, KentNewsNet.Com

Police used a Taser gun to restrain a resident outside of his home on Crain Avenue as it burned at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

The resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister's room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire. He said his cousin's girlfriend was sleeping upstairs so he went back in the house to retrieve her.

"As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat," Bartlett said.

When he went got outside, Bartlett said police officers were at the end of the driveway. He said he approached them for help, but they dismissed him. As he walked toward one of his friends, he said the officers tackled and restrained him with the Taser gun, giving them no reason for their force.

According to the Kent City Police levels of resistance report, Bartlett used psychological and physical active resistance to avoid arrest. The report stated he was both combative and intoxicated. No one from the Police Department was available for comment.

Bartlett said he was not offered medical attention by the officers. Instead, he was taken directly to the police station. Bartlett went to the hospital following his court appearance Sunday. He said he was treated for first- and second-degree burns.

Bartlett's trial is set for December. The Red Cross helped the displaced family of four, which does not include any Kent State students. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Contact public affairs reporter Sarah Steimer at ssteimer@kent.edu.

One reader who commented on the above story said,

Farmer WIlson

posted 11/04/09 @ 6:00 AM EST

Originally posted by
WOW ,,, just wow
I mean come the f*** on!!! How many of these events have to happen till people learn?? It's bloody obvious something needs to be done and it needs to be done FAST! These moron cops seem to be nothing short of 'Gunslinging Sherifs' which are causing nothing but havoc and have this idea that they rule the world. Bushe's term in the office is over we don't want a f***ing Police State, thank you.

Moreover, tasers should be permanently removed from use across all states, it's obviously being misused by the police not to apprehend uncooperative persons but more precisely to torture them for what ever reason even if they maybe innocent *points to this story*.

But what's the bloody point this story will just be another of many more to come ...

Dec. 7 March Against Police Summary Electrocution ("Taser") Targets City of Fort Worth Texas

2009-11-07T03:10:00.000-08:00

STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM: Eddie G. Griffin 817-721-7439

March Against Tasers Targets City

FORT WORTH, Texas – On Saturday, November 7, people will march from downtown City Hall to the uptown County Courthouse, starting at noon, to highlight the increasing number of deaths related to tasing. The march dubbed as a March for Dignity is part of a growing movement around the country and the world to end the use of tasers deployed by law enforcement.

The Fort Worth demonstration is aimed to make a statement to city leaders and law enforcement.

The controversy arises at the same time the number of taser related fatalities approaches 500. At the same time, however, Taser International, the maker of the electronic control device (ECD), continually insists the weapon is non-lethal.

In Fort Worth, when Carolyn Daniels (#138) was died on the floor in the county jail after being tasered on June 24, 2005, hardly anyone paid notice. They said she had crack cocaine in her system. Had she not, we were led to believe, she would have survived the shocking.

But Michael Jacobs Jr. (#424) had no such foreign substance in his system when he was tasered and died on April 18, 2009.

As an emissary who stood over the coffin of the 24-year old young man, I delivered a Resolution to the family on behalf of the international community, and a network of supporters. From Amnesty International to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and bloggers around the world, we raised our voices against this form of torture and death.

I shed a tear for Michael. I shed a tear for Carolyn. I shed a tear for Deacon Fredrick William (#56) whose video electrocution was shown all over the internet, shocked repeatedly in the neck until dead. The remaining 22 minutes of the video was devoted to trying to bring him back to life, and the egg-look on the face of the officers.

But I shed more tears for the living and the unborn. When Valreca Redden was tasered by Trotwood police, she was pregnant. No one can imagine the trauma to the unborn fetus as his mother was being electrocuted with 50,000 volts of electricity. She was guilty of nothing except being distraught. The baby was completely innocent.

We are just now realizing some the lingering after-effects of tasing. Some who have been tasered in the past are now beginning to show signs of involuntary neuromuscular convulsions, what we otherwise would call the “twitches”.

Imagine, if you will, the last minute of Michael Junior’s life, for that is just about how long it took Officer Stephanie Phillips to summarily electrocute him and terminate his life.

For one minute, hold your breath, and close your eyes, and imagine sticking your finger into a light socket. Hold it there for one minute, while 240 volts of electricity race through your body. Are you still holding your breath?

That is what happened to Michael Jacobs Jr. But instead of 240 volts, it is 50,000 volts, blazing inside his body, for one whole minute. At the first jolt, the muscles contract and hold, and hold, and hold, until there is a release. If there is no release, the organ muscles shut down and organs began to pop.

Michael could not breathe, even if he wanted to. The lung muscles shut down. The heart muscle shut down. The bile burst, and the organs fried like chicken, for one eternity of a minute. Thus, what the coroner saw was ruled a homicide.

Consider the Poem by Willie Jolley:

I have only just a minute, only sixty seconds in it
Forced upon me, can't refuse it
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,
But it's up to me to use it
I must suffer if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute
But Eternity is in it.

In memory of Michael Jacobs Jr. by Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)

Major public rally taking place on Saturday, December 7 Against Summary Police Execution of Man

2009-11-07T03:05:00.001-08:00

Electronic Village reports:

There is a major public rally taking place on Saturday, to protest the fact that the police officer who killed a man has not been punished by her department.

Rory McKenzie is a 25-year old Black man who was killed in a taser-related incident by Kern County Sheriff deputies. Kern County coroner John Van Rensselaer ruled the death a homicide. [SOURCE]

McKenzie did a bad thing on July 2. He was involved in a domestic dispute with his wife. However, the penalty for domestic disputes is not death.

There needs to be some consequences for Sgt. Otis Whinery, a 24-year veteran; Senior Deputy Douglas Jauch, K-9 Handler, an 8-year veteran; Deputy Edward Tucker, a 12-year veteran; and Deputy Patrick McNeal, a six-year veteran. The district attorney should bring criminal charges against them for this homicide.

These deputies used a taser gun to subdue McKenzie. Deputy Jaunch also let his K-9 dog bite McKenzie on the leg before they took him into custody.

After the 50,000 volts of electricity coursed through his body ... and he was bitten by police dog ... and he was handcuffed ... McKenzie began to have difficulty breathing. The deputies knew that they went to far. They performed CPR on McKenzie.

An ambulance arrived and took McKenzie to Kern Medical Center, where he died.

McKenzie's wife accused the deputies of using excessive force, but would not say if she is filing a formal complaint.

Have you noticed that more of these taser-related deaths are being ruled 'homicide' nowadays? There was a homicide ruling down in Ft. Worth TX where police killed a 24-year old man in his front yard. There is a major public rally taking place on November 7th to protest the fact that the police officer who killed this young man has not been punished by her department.

Also, I encourage all villagers to join us on December 4th as we particpate in a Day of Blogging for Justice: Stop Taser Torture.

How Many Blog Posts Does it Take to Stop One Death By Summary Electrocution?

2009-11-07T02:40:00.000-08:00

We Black and many white bloggers have been documenting the the outrageous taking of human life, without court process, often without charges, frequently without any meaningful police explanation of why the person was electrocuted and now they're dead. We've done a lot of writing, but it doesn't seem like the police officers with the portable electrocution guns are reading our blog posts.

It doesn't seem as though those who write these portable electrocution devices into the police budget are heeding our calls to stop buying these guns. Have we even clearly stated that our goal is for police departments to stop buying portable electric chairs? It seems to me that a lot of bloggers are saying, put the portable electric chair on the policeman's waist, but then write clearer rules about when summary electrocution and execution are acceptable.

It seems to me that extra-judicial, pretrial electrocution is NEVER, EVER warranted because the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution says that we have a right to be safe in our persons, while the Due Process clause says that we have a right to trial by jury. Those are some of the Constitutional rights implicated in the purchase of these portable electric chairs.

What is our theory of the process of change with respect to summary electrocution by police? Do we believe that things will change if it's in the newspaper? Do we believe that Congress will write a "Civil Rights Act of 2009" that restates and reaffirms the right of Blacks to have a trial before we are electrocuted? Or are we communicating with the Black and white and Latino public in order to prepare the public to demand change? If so, WHAT SORT of change, and by whom?

It seems to me that there is a fundamental lack of an effective strategy for change. There's a fundamental lack of clarity in what we are asking for. And as long as police officers on the street are making decisions about whether to summarily execute Blacks or not, none of us is safe in the USA, anywhere, ever.

Do Police Correctly Record Electric Gun Usage and Death Statistics?

2009-11-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

Well, here are the statistics for deaths after "Taser" shocks between 2000 and 2004, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Since the number of pre-trial, extrajudicial electrocution guns in police hands has increased considerably over the five years since 2004, it's no surprise that deaths after shocking incidents has increased as well. The number of deaths identified by the Electronic Village blog in the first ten months of 2009 (45) is already greater than the 2004 total.

And yet, if there were 39 in 2004, I would have expected to find double that by this time of the year, precisely because the the number of electric guns in use has increased so much. Let's keep looking, and let's verify whether the police are reporting all of the electric gun usages and all of deaths resulting.

Electrocution Deaths Increasing as Tasers Use Becomes Widespread

2009-11-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have copied the article below virtually verbatim from Pandagon, except I oppose the use of the term "race" unknown and have replaced it with "[skin color, natl. origin]" It has been proved as a matter of scientific fact that "race" does not exist, and so I'm not going to perpetuate the use of this divisive and confusing concept when other clearer and scientifically valid concepts are available, such as "skin color" "skin color group" and "national origin."

• Crime • Personal Security

I point you over to Electronic Village, where Villager is keeping track of some sobering stats—the number of deaths due to the misuse or abuse of the Taser. We're up to 36 deaths this year, with 39% of the pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocutions and executions were perpetrated against black men, who represent only 6% of the population in the U.S.

Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia
Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California
Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee
Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California
Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California
Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, Age ?, [skin color, natl. origin] Unknown, Quincy, Florida
Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana
Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California
Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas
Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan
Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois
Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida
Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California
Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan
Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona
Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas
Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas
May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona
May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas

May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon
Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah
Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland
Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, Race: Unknown, South Windsor, Connecticut
Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, Race: Unknown, Fontana, California
Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California
Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasian, Simi Valley, California
Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasian, Riverside County, California
Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, [skin color, natl. origin] Unknown, Moreno Valley, California
Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, Race: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina
Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina
Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona
Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Arizona City, Arizona
Aug 26, 2009, Unidentified Man, Age: TBD, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Los Angeles, California
Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, Age: 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado
Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, Age: 44, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Laredo, Texas

***

In the above video, Stanley Harlen was pulled over for allegedly speeding; he stopped in front of his house. As his mother came out in her robe, she watched as officers wrestled with him. One officer fired the Taser three times for 31 seconds. For 14 minutes he received no medical attention; when paramedics arrived it was too late. He was dead. The Moberly city manager’s response is hardly reassuring. Andy Morris: Harlen’s death is ”unanticipated and unintentional. Police officers must often make split-second decisions in tense, rapidly-evolving situations.”

Ken Burton, the Police Chief of nearby Columbia, MO’s PD also has officers who use Tasers but he strictly limits their use—no fleeing subjects are allowed to be tased, and when deployed, only for 5 seconds at at time.

This CBS report showed a graph of statistics, compiled by Taser International itself, and the growth in the use of these “non-lethal” devices has skyrocketed from 500 law enforcement agencies in 2000 to 14,201 in 2009. And there are no mandatory standards or training for Taser usage. Taser International has actually put out a disingenuous statement that defies reality, considering the rising body count.

The electrical output of a taser device is incapable of causing death.

Sure, the voltage alone in one blast itself may not kill, but what about the medical condition of the tasing victim? What about shocking someone for 31 seconds? What about repeated blasts to an elderly or disabled individual? This is a situation out of control.

Black Man with his Hands on a Squad Car Tasered on his Neck by Minneapolis Police

2009-11-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

Hat Tip to AAPP at Tasered While Black.

The Minneapolis Police Department is again defending itself against accusations that an officer went too far during an arrest.

Video given to WCCO-TV late Monday night shows a man with his hands on a squad car when an officer uses a Taser on his neck.

Attorney Albert Goins is suing the City of Minneapolis on behalf of his client, Rolando Ruiz. They're asking for $75,000 and that the officer involved be reprimanded.

The video given to WCCO starts only seconds before the Taser is used on Ruiz, not what led up to the incident. But in that time, no struggle can be seen before the officer used his Taser on Ruiz. What is seen is Ruiz with his hands on the hood of the officer's car.

The dash camera of the squad car was rolling when the officer approached Ruiz with Taser in hand. see Video HERE

Another reason why I urge you to join the “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice Day – 12.4.09″

Our goal is to unite the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day – Taser Torture in America, Canada and throughout the world.

Join us on December 4th. “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Don’t forget to support the petition to the United States Congress calling for public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding for the use of Tasers® against American citizens. The United Nation’s Committee against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens. More HERE

Have a question? Need additional information? Want to participate? Register via email: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com

The video given to WCCO starts only seconds before the Taser is used on Ruiz, not what led up to the incident. But in that time, no struggle can be seen before the officer used his Taser on Ruiz. What is seen is Ruiz with his hands on the hood of the officer's car.

The dash camera of the squad car was rolling when the officer approached Ruiz with Taser in hand. see Video HERE.

"Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on Dec 4, 2009.

2009-10-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

There has been an annoucement of a “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on Dec 4 2009.

Stay tuned for more information.

The post is being updated.

Police Beat and 3x Electrically Shock a 120 lb Black Woman on Her Own Front Porch

2009-10-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Marlyn Rivas was electrically shocked three times
and beaten by three police officers
on her own front porch

Hat Tip to AAPP at Tasered While Black.

It seems like one of the dangerous places for Black Americans is on the doorsteps of our own houses, particularly when police are involved. Amadou Diallo died in hail of police bullets on his front porch in New York. Professor Gates of Harvard University, was arrested entering his own house. And now Marlyn Rivas, a 26 year-old who weighs 120 pounds, was beaten and electrically shocked three times on the porch of the dwelling where she lived. And then she was charged, of course, with "assaulting an officer."

A 26-year-old woman is alleging she was subjected to excessive force by Portland Police after they Tasered her three times and beat her on her own front doorstep two weeks ago.

One of the officers involved in the alleged incident was former sheriff's deputy Brett Burton, who transferred to the Portland Police Bureau last year, following his involvement in the death in custody of James Chasse, jr. in 2006.

The alleged victim, Marlyn Rivas, was returning from a friend's house party in the Pearl District late on Saturday January 17, where she admits to having drunk heavily. After being dropped at her house in NW Portland by friends, Rivas struggled to unlock the front door to her building, and evidently, another concerned resident of the building called the police. Rivas, who says she does not remember all of the incident, says she remembers being grabbed from behind and yelling, "leave me alone, I live here, this is my house!" The Portland Mercury

Remember the Texas teenage football start who was shot to death in his own front yard just before Christmas. The police just couldn't believe he was driving his own car into his own driveway. That's why I live in Brazil. If somebody shoots me here, it probably won't be someone who is paid with my tax dollars.

Police taser unarmed, legless black man in a wheelchair

2009-09-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

Black man said he was humiliated after his pants fell down during the incident. The officers allegedly left him outdoors in broad daylight, handcuffed on the pavement, nude below the waist. Williams said the Sept. 11 arrest also left him with an injured shoulder, limiting his mobility in his wheelchair.

A handful of residents in Williams' apartment complex said they witnessed the incident and supported Williams' charges. A short video clip, shot by a neighbor and obtained by the Sun-Star, shows Williams sitting on the pavement with his pants down, his hands cuffed behind his back.

http://taseredwhileblack.blogspot.com/2009/09/police-taser-unarmed-legless-black-man.html

Texas Death by Police Electrocution Device Ruled Homicide

2009-09-16T03:51:00.001-07:00

By Eddie G.Griffin, BASG

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

On May 4, 2009, the Fort Worth chapters of the Southern Leadership Conference (SCLC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and the community-based Carver Heights East Association, convened a joint press conference and prayer vigil outside City Hall for the families of Michael Jacobs, Jr., Noah Lopez, and Carolyn Daniels.

These families were interviewed by WFAA New 8 TV. (See Prayers for end to Taser use by police, reference http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=358374&shu=1)

Friday, August 28, 2009

World Renowned Medical Examiner Ruled Taser Death: Homicide

UPDATE: The Michael Jacobs Case

Friday, August 28, 2009

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports reads: “Fort Worth Taser Death Ruled Homicide”.

FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Thursday that the death of a mentally ill man in April who was shocked twice by a Taser stun gun wielded by a Fort Worth police officer was a homicide.

It was the fourth time that a person shocked by a Taser has died in Fort Worth police custody since the department started using the devices in 2001, according to the Police Department.

But the death of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, is the first that Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani has ruled to be a homicide.

Read more of this article by Eddie Griffin (BASG) at
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-fight-in-fort-worth.html

City Councilman's Daughter Tased in Back While on Her Knees

2009-09-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

According to African American Political Pundit's Tasered While Black blog,

Cincinnati police arrested and used a Taser on Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Cincinnati city councilman Cecil Thomas, early Sunday morning.

Her arrest report indicates that Thomas had marks on her upper back from the Taser's barbs.

"It is my understanding that she was on her knees when she was Tased in the back," said Cecil Thomas.

The Pundit's report says that the same officer was removed from the force earlier after it was determined that he used excessive force, but was reinstated a year later, after arbitration.

If your skin is brown and you live in the United States, it doesn't matter that your father is an elected city councilor, representing your community as a member of local government. When police pull your car over in the dark, your just another "N" word to them.

And Lord forbid a Black person should ask a police officer, "What's going on?" Remember, you're Black. You don't have any right to know what's going on with the person with whom you were riding in your car moments earlier. If you ask, "What's going on?" you are effectively saying that there is at least the hypothetical possibility that police are mistreating another Black person. Since, in the minds of police, all Blacks are to be mistreated, they can only understand your question as an act of rebeliousnes - rebelious as a slave who refuses to work for free, under the hot sun.

Do not doubt or question the "hot sun" of the USA's extremely color-aroused police attrocities.

Don't ask police, "What's going on?" If you're Black you have no right to know. Instead, look out of the window of your car (carefully so the police won't know you're observing them), and later read the testilying police report later to find out what the police say was going on.

There are two more immediate alternatives, and those are "self defense" and "defense of another". Remember, you have no right to run over a police officer with your car, unless a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the life of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed.

You have no right to run out of a watching crowd, kick a police officer in the ass, and run back into the crowd, unless a a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the physical safety of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed. *

You certainly have no right to discover a police officers home address and then take extra-judicial action there, in the way that police took extra-judicial pretrial action in the case of Esteban Carpio. That would be unlawful, and Lord knows the laws in the United States effectively protect everyone, including the Blacks who unreasonably conclude, based on their experience with police, that "a Black man has no rights which a white man is bound to respect."

And yet, it seems that Esteban Carpio may have taken action against police torture before most of it occurred, rather than afterward.

Blacks in South Africa only began to realize their rights as human beings when they abandoned efforts to orally convince white Afrikkaners, and the African National Congress engaged in an armed struggle for Black rights. They didn't announce that they were armed and ready to struggle, like the Black Panthers did, with public local offices in most major Black US cities.

Instead the African National Congress was a clandestine operation whose armed actions became public knowledge only when they occurred, and not before.

I was upset by members of the Black majority in South Africa who put tires around informants and burned them in public. But, it was part of the armed struggle and obviously Black South Africans knew a lot more about armed struggle than Black people in the United States ever did. Who can gainsay, in retrospect, what was necessary and constructive and what was not?

*Nothing written here is legal advice. You're right to physically defend yourself from police depends upon the statutes and caselaw in your state, as well as whether you are tried before an all-white jury, as Esteban Carpio was, even though the city in which he was tried is half white and half Black and Latino. You should consult a criminal defense lawyer and a public relations specialist in your own state to assess the limits of your right to self-defense and defense of another when you are defending yourself or someone else from police atrocities.

City Councilman's Daughter Tased in Back While on Her Knees

2009-09-12T08:42:00.001-07:00

According to African American Political Pundit's Tasered While Black blog,

Cincinnati police arrested and used a Taser on Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Cincinnati city councilman Cecil Thomas, early Sunday morning.

Her arrest report indicates that Thomas had marks on her upper back from the Taser's barbs.

"It is my understanding that she was on her knees when she was Tased in the back," said Cecil Thomas.

The Pundit's report says that the same officer was removed from the force earlier after it was determined that he used excessive force, but was reinstated a year later, after arbitration.

If your skin is brown and you live in the United States, it doesn't matter that your father is an elected city councilor, representing your community as a member of local government. When police pull your car over in the dark, your just another "N" word to them.

And Lord forbid a Black person should ask a police officer, "What's going on?" Remember, you're Black. You don't have any right to know what's going on with the person with whom you were riding in your car moments earlier. If you ask, "What's going on?" you are effectively saying that there is at least the hypothetical possibility that police are mistreating another Black person. Since, in the minds of police, all Blacks are to be mistreated, they can only understand your question as an act of rebeliousnes - rebelious as a slave who refuses to work in the hot sun.

Don't ask police, "What's going on?" If you're Black you have no right to know. Instead, look out of the window of your car (carefully so the police won't know you're observing them), and later read the testilying police report later to find out what the police say was going on.

There are two more immediate alternatives, and those are "self defense" and "defense of another". Remember, you have no right to run over a police officer with your car, unless a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the life of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed.

You have no right to run out of a watching crowd, kick a police officer in the ass, and run back into the crowd, unless a a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the physical safety of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed. *

You certainly have no right to discover a police officers home address and then take extra-judicial action there, in the way that police took extra-judicial pretrial action in the case of Esteban Carpio. That would be unlawful, and Lord knows the laws in the United States effectively protect everyone, including the Blacks who unreasonably conclude, based on their experience with police, that "a Black man has no rights which a white man is bound to respect."

And yet, it seems that Esteban Carpio may have taken action against police torture before most of it occurred, rather than afterward.

Blacks in South Africa only began to realize their rights as human beings when they abandoned efforts to orally convince white Afrikkaners, and the African National Congress engaged in an armed struggle for Black rights. They didn't announce that they were armed and ready to struggle, like the Black Panthers did, with public local offices in most major Black US cities.

Instead the African National Congress was a clandestine operation whose armed actions became public knowledge only when they occurred, and not before.

I was upset by members of the Black majority in South Africa who put tires around informants and burned them in public. But, it was part of the armed struggle and obviously Black South Africans knew a lot more about armed struggle than Black people in the United States ever did. Who can gainsay, in retrospect, what was necessary and constructive and what was not?

*Nothing written here is legal advice. You're right to physically defend yourself from police depends upon the statutes and caselaw in your state, as well as whether you are tried before an all-white jury, as Esteban Carpio was, even though the city in which he was tried is half white and half Black and Latino. You should consult a criminal defense lawyer and a public relations specialist in your own state to assess the limits of your right to self-defense and defense of another when you are defending yourself or someone else from police atrocities.

Police Tase City Councilman's Daughter While She is Kneeling with Her Hands Up

2009-09-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

According to African American Political Pundit's Tasered While Black blog,

Cincinnati police arrested and used a Taser on Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Cincinnati city councilman Cecil Thomas, early Sunday morning.

Her arrest report indicates that Thomas had marks on her upper back from the Taser's barbs.

"It is my understanding that she was on her knees when she was Tased in the back," said Cecil Thomas.

The Pundit's report says that the same officer was removed from the force earlier after it was determined that he used excessive force, but was reinstated a year later, after arbitration.

If your skin is brown and you live in the United States, it doesn't matter that your father is an elected city councilor, representing your community as a member of local government. When police pull your car over in the dark, your just another "N" word to them.

And Lord forbid a Black person should ask a police officer, "What's going on?" Remember, you're Black. You don't have any right to know what's going on with the person whith whom you were riding in your car with you moments earlier. If you ask, "What's going on?" you are effectively saying that there is at least the hypothetical possibility that police are mistreating another Black person. Since, in the minds of police, all Blacks are to be mistreated, they can only understand your question as an act of rebeliousnes - rebelious as a slave who refuses to work in the hot sun.

Don't ask police, "What's going on?" If you're Black you have no right to know. Instead, look out of the window of your car (carefully so the police won't know you're observing them), and later read the testilying police report later to find out what the police say was going on.

There are two more immediate alternatives, and those are "self defense" and "defense of another". Remember, you have no right to run over a police officer with your car, unless a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the life of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed.

You have no right to run out of a watching crowd, kick a police officer in the ass, and run back into the crowd, unless a a jury decides subsequently that you reasonably feared for the physical safety of another and that the force you used was reasonable in light of the circumstances you observed. *

You certainly have no right to discover a police officers home address and then take extra-judicial action there, in the way that police took extra-judicial pretrial action in the case of Esteban Carpio. That would be unlawful, and Lord knows the laws in the United States effectively protect everyone, including the Blacks who unreasonably conclude, based on their experience with police, that "a Black man has no rights which a white man is bound to respect."

And yet, it seems that Esteban Carpio may have taken action against police torture before most of it occurred, rather than afterward.

Blacks in South Africa only began to realize their rights as human beings when they abandoned efforts to orally convince white Afrikkaners, and the African National Congress engaged in an armed struggle for Black rights. They didn't announce that they were armed and ready to struggle, like the Black Panthers did, with public local offices in most major Black US cities.

Instead the African National Congress was a clandestine operation whose armed actions became public knowledge only when they occurred, and not before.

I was upset by members of the Black majority in South Africa who put tires around informants and burned them in public. But, it was part of the armed struggle and obviously Black South Africans knew a lot more about armed struggle than Black people in the United States ever did. Who can gainsay, in retrospect, what was necessary and constructive and what was not?

*Nothing written here is legal advice. You're right to physically defend yourself from police depends upon the statutes and caselaw in your state, as well as whether you are tried before an all-white jury, as Esteban Carpio was, even though the city in which he was tried is half white and half Black and Latino. You should consult a criminal defense lawyer and a public relations specialist in your own state to assess the limits of your right to self-defense and defense of another when you are defending yourself or someone else from police atrocities.

Lawyer for White Woman Taser Victim Says Incident Raises Question Whether Tasers Should Be Used at All in Law Enforcement

2009-08-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Some Black bloggers argue that there may be (or is) a legitimate role for Tasers in law enforcement, but that new rules should be implemented and followed. The white lawyer for a white female soccer mom disagrees in New York doubts that, saying in the above video of the incident and television reporting that his client's case raises the issue of whether Tasers have any appropriate role in law enforcement at all.

African American Political Pundit reports:

As reported by the Huffington Post, a mother who was zapped [shocked] with a stun gun in front of her children during a New York traffic stop has filed notice she'll sue the sheriff's department.
A police video captured by a dashboard camera shows Deputy Sean Andrews yanking Audra Harmon out of her minivan by the arm and knocking her down with two Taser shots in January.

Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and speeding. Her lawyer says prosecutors dismissed the charges after watching the videotape. Harmon claims Andrews was improperly trained. She says a Taser isn't supposed to be used against people who pose no threat. Moe HERE

What is most outrageous about this case is that even according to the arresting officer's account, the traffic stop began because the mother (with her fifteen year old son and six year-old daughter in the car) was talking on her cell phone. He pulled her over for talking on a cellphone. When the mother says she demonstrated that she didn't have a cellphone, the officer changed his testilying accusation to speeding.

Solely on that basis, the officer decided to arrest the woman, and then tacked on the charge of "resisting arrest" when the officer found he had to shock the victim twice to make her body completely and utterly immobile, in front of her two children.

If police were given hand-held rocket launchers, there is no doubt but that they would misuse them and overuse them with tragic results for whole neighborhoods. If police officers were given miniature nuclear bombs and hand grenades, there is no doubt but that some officers would sometimes use them in ways and in circumstances that would kill defendants and everyone else for miles around. Some weapons are just bound to be abused and electrocution devices are among those weapons.

There is no rule and no observance of a rule that could make hand grenades appropriate law enforcement devices for all police to carry. There is no circumstance under which a small nuclear explosion could be considered an appropriate response to one or even half a dozen defendants, particularly if their only offense was talking on a cellphone while driving a car. And there is no way that mobile electric chairs can be used by police without being misused. That's why police electrocution devices need to be banned rather than merely controlled.

14 Year Old Native American Girl Undergoes Surgery After Being Shocked by Police from Behind

2009-08-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

I've come across another anti-electrocution blog called, "Electricity is for Lightbulbs"

, which reports the case of a Native American girl who was seriously injured after being shot in the head with an electrocution device.

Tasing A 14-Year-Old Girl In The Head
From NM (and of course some police fanboys come to this cop's defense in the comments):
A 14-year-old Tucumcari girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher.

Now, her parents say they want the police department to review its policies for using the Taser.

The girl was hit in the head Thursday by one of two darts fired simultaneously as she was fleeing, Hatcher said.

The other dart lodged in her hip.

Hatcher said be believed he had no other option.

“There’s a lot of issues,” Hatcher said. “She committed a delinquent act. She was running from police across traffic without looking.”

Let's keep an eye on the electrocution news reported at the Electricity's for Lightbulbs blog.

Latino Grandfather, Pregnant Woman Tasered at Baptism

2009-08-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Hat Tip to Gabriel at Color of Change.

all parties agree that county police officers arrived at a children’s baptism party being held at a private residence, then Tasered a 55-year-old Bible study teacher three times and Tasered a pregnant woman once, in front of a yard full of kids, including her kids, and family members. Then they read rights. To the grandfather and the pregnant woman. For ‘public intoxication’ and ‘assaulting a police officer,’ respectively. As they lay temporarily paralyzed on the ground. RaceWire

Are these folks "Black"? Watch the above video and it's clear that they're brown enough to be considered "black" by police officers, and also they commit the heinous crime of speaking Spanish (as well as English). We have to remember that many Latinos from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba and other Latin America countries share our African descent.

And even if they didn't, police ought not go to baptismal parties, shock and risk electrocuting grandfathers and pregnant women, all because five and six year olds are making noise at a party (acting like children) in their own backyard.

There's something terribly wrong with the United States of America when its police behave this way and then cities, towns and hordes of white people defend this sort of police behavior.

Just as whites artfully moved to the suburbs and closed public pools to avoid integration, I believe many whites who would have been Klansmen a couple of generations ago, with white hoods to protect them from fallout, those same kinds of people are now joining police departments so that they can engage in Klan-like behavior under color of law.

Debate Rages in Canada Over Use and Regulation of Shock and Electrocution Devices Police'

2009-08-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Follow new rules or lose tasers, Alberta police forces told

"Conducted energy weapons can be used only
when ‘real likelihood of injury to the officer, subject,
or bystanders'."

Much more serious discussion, reflection and official action have apparently has been going on in Alberta, Canada than in most jurisdictions in the United States.

The RCMP in British Columbia yesterday announced it has issued a directive to officers that says the direction of the solicitor-general is "complementary" to existing policy for the Mounties.

"In addition to current policy, we have additional directions from the solicitor-general that we will follow," Sergeant Tim Shields, a spokesman for the RCMP in B.C., said yesterday, explaining the RCMP's action.

Mr. Braidwood is in the midst of a two-phase inquiry on the police use of tasers and the death of Robert Dziekanski, who suffered a fatal heart attack on Oct. 14, 2007 after a confrontation with Mounties at Vancouver airport. Globe and Mail

Hat Tip to the Nateo, blog which says,

This headline demonstrates a perfect way to communicate with cops who've proved themselves untrustworthy with implements of torture:
Follow new rules or lose tasers, Alberta police forces told
Sometimes the only thing children understand is the loss of toys.

And to be sure, police should not be trusted unsupervised with tasers:

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper is reporting that the Alberta Police Department must adhere to new Government guidelines or the police might be entirely relieved of these weapons.

Police in Alberta, including the RCMP, must adhere to new rules about when they can deploy tasers or face losing the weapons altogether, under government guidelines released Friday.

The 11 pages of regulations also say that it is appropriate to use conducted energy weapons, or CEWs, only when “there is a real likelihood of injury to the officer, subject, or bystanders.”

Fred Lindsay, Alberta Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security, said that while a suspect who is running away isn't a reasonable threat, someone in handcuffs or other restraints could still kick or bite. Globe and Mail

"Someone in hundcuffs or other restraints could still kick or bite", says the Minister of Public Safety, leaving me with the distinct impression that he is telegraphing to police and the public that police may still find or invent reasons to shock and electrocute people who are already virtually defenseless.

Meanwhile, police officials are claiming that they are already following the new regulations, which would seem to mean that any hopes for changes in officer behavior as a result of the new regulations will be hopes in vain:

He said Mounties in Alberta welcomed the new rules, adding that they are consistent with RCMP policy and enhance public trust.

Acting Superintendent Ray Robitaille said the Calgary Police Service is already following the guidelines.

Also read articles at these links about the ongoing debate in Cananda:

Police Executions Likely to Rise in Dekalb County, GA

2009-07-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Gangsters in Blue blog predicts, based on a report here at Electrocuted While Black, that police's electrical 50,000 volt shocking of resident of DeKalb County will soon increase, perhaps dramatically. Gangsters in Blue says,

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Who can forget this horrible video of a black man getting Electrocuted While Black in a Georgia police station a few years ago. Well, this may be become common place throughout Georgia if rogue police have their way.

Visit the Blog Tasered While Black.

David Simpson of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports about the gradual trend toward the use of Tasers by metro Atlanta police could dramatically surge soon with a plan to give the controversial stun guns to more than 1,000 DeKalb County police officers.

Police Electrically Shock and Pepper Spray Deaf, Mentally Disabled Man for Not Complying With Orders

2009-07-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Here's more evidence that many police officers are too obtuse and wantonly brutal to benefit from additional training and guidelines when it comes to the use of portable electrocution devices.

Hat Tip to JONATHAN TURLEY

"MOBILE, Ala. — Police in Mobile, Ala., used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf, mentally disabled who they said wouldn’t leave a store’s bathroom." Undercover 4 Liberty
"When Antonio Love failed to heed orders to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on him — ultimately arresting him for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer. The problem is that Love, 37, is deaf and mentally disabled.

Store employees called officers complaining that Love had been in the bathroom for more than an hour with the door locked. When Love did not respond to their knocks, police used a tire iron to pry open the door — which Love tried to keep closed. They then used pepper spray and once inside shot him with a taser." JONATHAN TURLEY

The victim's name is Antonio Love. Was he Black or Latino and what role may that have played in the treatment he received from police?

"After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges." Goat Hill News

There are some devices that are simply to inherently dangerous and subject to abuse for police to be allowed to carry them. Most people recover from pepper spray. But many "suspects" never make it to court after being electrocuted. Electrocution devices are too inherently dangerous to be entrusted to police.

If the rear seat of police cars were turned into electric chairs, is there any doubt that some police officers would execute arrestees and then try to justify the actions afterward?

Mother Loses Child to Murderer, So Louisiana Police Shock Her With Electrocution Device

2009-07-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hat Tip to African American Political Pundit,
editor of the Tasered While Black blog.

How should police handle a mother in shock over the shooting death of her six year old child? Naturally, they should try to soothe and calm her, call psychological specialists to her side, and perhaps offer her a cup of water, right?

That is, unless she is a Black woman in Louisiana. If she is a Black woman in Louisiana:

The frantic mother of a 6-year-old boy killed in this morning's triple murder in Terrytown was subdued with a Taser gun by Jefferson Parish deputies at the murder scene, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The mother of Four Overstreet grew irate with authorities when she arrived at the Monterey Court apartment where the rampage happened before 4 a.m. Saturday. When she got physical, deputies stunned [gave her a 50,000 volt electrical shock] her to bring the situation under control, Col. John Fortunato said. New Orleans Metro Real Time News

African American Political Pundit says,

One has to wonder if this would happen in a middle class community and the woman was of another color? . . . It's time to have Congressional Taser Hearings into Taser Torture in America. Sign the petition HERE.

According to New Orleans Metro Real Time News, polce are offering a $2,500 reward for tips:

The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to contact the Homicide Division at 504.364.5300 or Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll free at 877.903.7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify and can earn up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an indictment. New Orleans Metro Real Time News

Here's a tip: Charge the police officers with assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder for trying to electrocute a woman who just lost her child to murderers not on the police force.

And here's another tip for those who believe stronger Electrocution use guidelines will resolve this problem:

Electroction Guideline 664(b): If a woman has just discovered that her son was murdered, then giving her an additional shock of 50,000 volts might send her into cardiac arrest. That's not a good idea.

If police don't know that Blacks are human, will "guidelines" help them to learn this?

Police Electrically Shock Black Student for Wearing a Baseball Cap in City Council Chambers

2009-06-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Below, police electrically shock pregnant woman for attempting to leave her child with local police, as a recent state law permitted her to do.

Considering that many deaths have resulted from use of the above electrocution device, is it really appropriate to electrically shock an otherwise peaceful student for refusing to remove a baseball cap?

If so, shouldn't we also electrically shock people who carry eleven items into the ten-item check-out lane at the supermarket?

Hat Tip to Indigenist Intelligence Review Blog for the above videos.

Texas Police Electrically Shock White Woman, 72, Making Nightly News in Brazil

2009-06-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

The above film is from an unrelated police shocking incident
in Orange County, CA.

I live in Brazil and I just saw a scene on the nightly news here, from the US state of Texas (click here for video), that disgusted me, and will shock and astound Brazilians nationwide. A Texas police officer was arguing with a elderly white woman during a highway traffic stop, stemming from a speeding ticket. The police officer is easily a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than this slightly built white woman, and yet he ultimately fires an electrocution device at her and she can be seen falling to the ground. She is a wrinkle-faced white woman who is seventy-two years old.

Would the police officer have shot this woman with a handgun had he not had an electrocution device available? Of course not! Police officers don't shoot elderly white women at traffic stops. So, the electrocution device served as a new tool of curbside behavior management and pre-trial punishment that, unfortunately, often results in death or serious injury.

Should you really risk killing an elderly woman as part of issuing a traffic ticket?

There is no good reason for "Tasers" to exist in the USA today, any more than there was "an appropriate law enforcement role" for gas chambers in Auswhich, Germany. While it's true that people who died in the gas chambers escaped being burned at the stake, that is not a sufficient rationale for the existence of gas chambers. And the threat of being shot to death is not a sufficient rationale for being electrocuted instead.

Even as President Obama attempts to change the world's impressions about America's ruthlesseness and violence, local police officers are making television news around the world, electrically shocking little old white ladies into submission.

Tasered While Black Internet Radio Show Launched

2009-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today, my friend and afrosphere colleague African American Political Pundit announced that he has launched a new Tasered While Black Internet Radio Show, which I hope will include some call-ins by people who have actually had the experience of being tasered.

As I commented at AAPP's blog, I don't think you have to have been personally murdered to understand that murder is bad. Likewise, those of us who haven't been shocked with 50,000 volts yet need to work to make sure that it never happens to us, our children or our neighbors. Because often "tasering" results in electrocuting and dying. And that IS bad.

Of course AAPP and I differ on the role of electric shocks in law enforcement. AAPP believes that they can be used as an alternative to deadly force, but I think that, like choking, the application of 50,000 volts of electricity to people whose physical condition is a mystery to police is a practice that is inherently dangerous and inherently has a high risk that many people will die among those who are shocked. Particularly since that is sometimes the INTENTION of the police who use these weapons.

I don't think electrical shocks have any place in law enforcement, grammar schools, mental hospitals or playgrounds. Electrical shocks are inherently dangerous. Police in the United States operated for 300 years without these weapons.

AAPP says he is willing to see these weapons used as an alternative to deadly force. If he can show me ONE example of a city where deadly force decreased after police had access to electric shock devices, then I might be willing to listen to that argument. However, I suspect that police are continuing to shoot people and, in addition, are electrocuting people who would never have been shot.

Again, I challenge anyone to show me statistics that prove that police shootings decrease when police have access to taser electrocution devices. That's about as likely as rapists using less physical force because they have access to handcuffs. Let's give rapists handcuffs and see if that reduces the physical force used in rapes?

Online Petition Says, "Confirm Wise Latina Woman Judge Sonia Sotomayor Now."

2009-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Because Blacks and Latinos are more likely to suffer police brutality, including electrocution, than are others, we have a strong mutuality of interest when it comes to equal justice under the law. That mutuality of interests and our determination that the US Supreme Court no longer be monopolized by white men, who constitute less than 33% of the United States, are the reasons why we sign the petition in support of President Barack Obama's nomination of this wise Latina woman, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has more varied legal experience than any member sitting on the court now had when appointed.

View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition

To: Members of the US Senate
I strongly support and urge immediate Senate confirmation of President Barack Obama’s nominee for the US Supreme Court: “wise Latina woman”, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who now sits on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

At present, the US Supreme Court has nine members, of whom seven are white men. This is unfair and unbalanced. According to the US Census, the nation is less than 33% white male, while it is approximately 51% female, 15% Latino and 13% Black. Although white males are the minority of America, they remain the vast majority of the US Supreme Court, just as was the case before women and minorities gained the right to vote.

It is impossible in a pluralistic society for a Court comprised of 78% white men to make wise, reasoned and sound decisions affecting the lives of a nation which is less than 33% white male. A wise and just Supreme Court requires a diversity of experiences, with the participation of representatives of the majority of Americans.

For far too long, there has been a quota system at the United States Supreme Court. The de facto quota system required that all or the vast majority of the nine members of the Court be white males. In the history of the nation, there have never been more than three members of the court who were not white males at any one time. The anachronistic white male quota system is no longer tenable as the nation strives to treat all Americans equally and to have a government all of whose branches have the consent and participation of the nation’s diverse populace.

The US Supreme Court cannot function wisely, justly, and fairly without the full participation of wise women and wise members of the nation’s minority groups, including the nation’s largest minority – Latinos. Therefore, we urge our elected representatives in the US Senate to immediately confirm the “wise Latina woman” who has earned our respect and support: soon-to-be US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
Sincerely,
The Undersigned

View Current Signatures

Man Takes Police Officers Electrocution Device and Fires Uses it on Officer

2009-05-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Fifteen years is a long time to spend in jail for defending oneself from a police officer who has an electrocution device in his hand, by taking the device and shocking the police officer. But, many Black people believe it's better to electrocute the officer and take your chances in court than to be electrocuted over and over by the officer and perhaps dying at curbside, without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom first.

Many Blacks believe it's better to fight and live than to acquiesce and die. Perhaps police officers will consider the possibility that the same 50,000 volt gun they use on us may one day be used on them.

Hat Tip to Coversations with Brothers and Sisters blog for this story.

MAN GETS 15 YEARS FOR TASERING A COP

A Great Falls man who took a Taser from an officer during a scuffle and used it on the police officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Neal Walton was charged with assault on an officer. He appeared at the sentencing hearing in Cascade County District Court by video from Montana State Prison, where Walton, 34, is serving time on unrelated charges. The video can be seen at http://www.truveo.com/Police-taser-cam-video-released-prior-to-mans/id/2103264362

Click here for full story

Police Brutality Blog Selected 8th Among Top 100 Criminal Justice Blogs by CriminalJusiceCareersGuide.Com

2009-04-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Police Brutality Blog, started two years ago as a project of various AfroSpear members including myself, has now been recognized by the Criminal Justice Careers Guide the number eight blog among the "Top 100 Criminal Justice Blogs":

This diversity of issues makes criminal justice dynamic but it also makes it dizzyingly complex for someone trying to educate themselves in justice issues. Consequently, we have compiled this list to help anyone involved in the criminal justice field — including academics, practitioners and students — find information and resources about their niche, as well as any other aspect of criminal justice. Criminal Justice Careers Guide

Congratulations to all of the readers and writers at the Police Brutality Blog.

Black Bloggers Circulate Petition Against Police Pre-Trial Electrocution and Execution

2009-04-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

The AfroSpear's African American Political Pundit says,

Support our petition to Congress calling for public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding for the use of Tasers® against American citizens. The United Nation's Committee Against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens.

Place a link on your blog or website: http://taserhearings.blogspot.com/

I believe this is of critical importance because if the Obama Adminstration does not find a way to stop police pretrial curbside executions of Black children, women and men, then Blacks may well resort to self-help of a kind that is as predictable as whites' displeasure.

In fact, self-help and self-defense against police electrocution attempts have already begun. African American Political Pundit reports,

Woman tasers Male Cop with his own Taser
Take That!

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Police have arrested a woman they said used a Utah Highway Patrol trooper's Taser on him. Lisa Parker, 41, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of aggravated assault, interference with an arresting officer and unauthorized control of a motor vehicle. Authorities said a Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a truck he thought was stolen on Saturday.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said the officer attempted to arrest the female passenger but she hit him with her shoe and bit him.

Nigbur said the trooper tried to use his Taser but it didn't fire, so he threw it aside. But authorities say Parker picked it up and fired a shock called a "dry stun" into the officer.

A K-9 unit and back-up officer arrived, and Parker eventually was Tasered. More HERE

No word on if Lisa is a black woman. Tasered While Black

In my opinion, intentional or negligent pre-trial electrocution and execution of persons who have not even been arraigned is unlawful and constitues murder. Therefore anyone who believes that they are about to be a victim of this violence is within their rights to use such force as may be necessary avoid being murdered by a police officer or officers.

Certainly, if the police armed themselves with pitchforks to subdue witnesses, and these pitchforks sometimes merely perforated the skin while at other times perforated major organs, we would all agree that the police were exhibiting at least a wanton disregard for life, unecessary force, and we would acknowledge the need and even the responsibility to stop such violence by any means necessary.

An electrocution device is like a pitchfork. There is no way to know before using it whether the result of its use will be mere temporary immobilization, permanent injury or death. However, police using a pitchfork over and over again on the same person obviously increases the risk of death, and therefor also increases the urgency of self defense by the victim and "defense of another" by members of the public.

Because the use of electrocution devices often results in electrocution, no one should stand by and watch while another person is being electrocuted, particularly when the electrocution does not follow the due process hopefully would be available in a court of law.

Should Blacks Act in Self Defense When Faced With an Electrocution Device in the Hands of a Police Officer?

2009-04-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

Are there any circumstances under which a Black man has a right, derived in law or reason, to defend himself from a police officer who is armed with and threatening to use an electrocution device? During the era of slavery in the United States, the US Supreme Court announced that "a Black man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect." Since Blacks during slavery had no right to self-defense under the law, and could not even testify in court against a white man as to the circumstances under which a Black man had defended himself from a white man, therefore it was a foregone conclusion that a Black man who defended himself from whites by use of force would be convicted of a crime, if not lynched on the spot. When Blacks did offer resistance to white force, they were brutally repressed.

In spite of that, there were always so called "bad niggers" who preferred to lose their lives in a fight than to lose their lives and their dignity in a failure to fight.

Today, US police officers are armed with what Amnesty International has deemed potential instruments of torture, whose use may result in death, particularly if that is what was intended in the first place. Of course, I'm referring to the police's portable hand-held electrocution devices.

We've all seen videotape of police officers sitting or kneeling on top of a Black man, who was handcuffed, while shocking him with a taser. Since the Black man was already immobilized, the use of the electrocution device -- often repeatedly -- constituted torture and arguably attempted murder, that can easily end in death, and sometimes does. Let there be no mistake: That which is called a "taser" is, in fact an electrocution device that, like the devices used in capital punishment, may have to be replied repeatedly in order for the victim to finally die.

If the Black man in that situation somehow gets hold of the officers' gun and shoots the officer dead, should the Black man be tried and convicted of murder, or exonerated because legitimate self-defense is a complete defense to a charge of murder?

I think the Black man should be exonerated by a jury and perhaps even be given an award if, as so often happens, the Black man had done nothing to provoke the police action in the first place, or the police response was with the intention or willingness to kill rather than to merely subdue and arrest.

Am I saying that there are circumstances under which a member of the public should shoot a police officer? Obviously there are! Let us imagine that a police officer is holding his wife and children hostage, threatening to kill his family and then himself. If a member of the public has a clear shot to prevent the deaths of the members of the police officer's family, should he nonetheless allow the police officer to proceed, simply because the officer is wearing a blue suit and a badge at the time?

No, defense of another has long been recognized as a defense to a charge of murder and police officers, like other human beings, sometimes do kill others in a way and under circumstances that constitute murder.

Let us imagine that the police officer's wife is somehow able to wrestle the gun away from him and shoot him dead. Has she committed a crime or defended herself from a crime that was about to be committed against her? The answer should be obvious, and the fact that the murderous husband happens to be a police officer ought not blind us to reason.

The de facto and only rarely rebuttable presumption in American society is that police officers are always acting lawfully, and therefore no one is within his rights to resist the force of a police officer. And yet, as a matter of fact, we know that many police officers exceed that which is necessary to do that which is unnecessary and reprehensible.

If the Black man in New York who had a billy club stuck up his rectum had somehow gotten hold of the police officer's weapon and shot the police officer dead, would that have been a legitimate self-defense? That would be something for a jury to decide after the the fact.

In fact, what is legitimate self-defense is always a matter for a jury to decide (except when judges refuse to allow defendants to offer evidence about the circumstances and refuse to allow juries to hear evidence that would support a claim of self defense). But many Black men, for failure to act in self-defense, do not live to see their cases go before a judge or jury, and that is a shame for which the Black man himself may be responsible. It is not our fault when we are the targets of color-aroused violence, but it is our responsibility to act to defend ourselves. Whether we have acted in legitimate self-defense is a matter for a judge and jury to decide.

When a Black person is not threatening police but nonetheless believes that the only way to save his own life is by an act of self-defense, I believe the Black man (woman or child) should defend himself, and let a jury subsequently decide whether he has done the right thing, particularly if the alternative is to be killed by police.

In the case of electrocution devices, I once believed that it was useless to study the so-called "use of force continuum", because the police who most violate Blacks' rights are those who least care about such guidance. But, now I perceive a possible use for such official guidance: If Black people are aware of the use of force continuum and conclude that the police have exceeded the force authorized under the circumstances, and/or that the police have demonstrated a willingness or intention to unlawfully kill a Black person rather than merely arrest them (electrocution devices, when used, often electrocute people), then that should certainly be a moment when a Black person (or any person) would consider acting in self-defense. The question will then arise whether the person has acted in legitimate self-defense. I believe that will be a question for a judge and/or jury to decide.

Perhaps, many judges would not permit a defendant to offer statistical evidence that the threatened use of an electrocution device was excessive force that triggered a right to self defense, precisely because the actual use of an electrocution often results in electrocution. Without having reviewed the case law and precedents, I believe that if judges do not allow a defendant to prove that he acted to save his own life (or the life of another), then that is a failure of jurispudence that needs to be addressed, and not a failure on the part of the self-defendant.

How should we behave if we see a police officer coming toward us with a stun gun pointed at us or at someone else? Of course it depends upon the circumstances, but we must consider at that moment the possibility that we may become victims of pre-trial execution. I believe there may be cases in which we are compelled to act in self-defense, and to let a jury decide if we have acted appropriately.

And what should we do if we see seven police officers sitting on top of a woman in the street, shocking her repeatedly with an electrocution device? Again, I believe that Blacks should act "in defense of another" and let a jury decide, if necessary, whether we have done the right thing. If we are fortunate, there will be a videotape to support our testimony, although it may not make any difference if the case is tried to an all-white jury. Nonetheless, we must defend ourselves whenever it is legitimate to do so, and put our faith in the legal system.

The justice system is stacked against Black people, with the very people most likely to be shocked with electrocution devices often lacking the financial wherewithal to mount an effective defense; with juries often all-white; and with all-white juries again presuming that the police are always right. In a state without the death penalty, it may be better to spend one's life in jail than to give one's life to Taser international, as so many Black men have been compelled to do.

And in a state with the death penalty, it may be preferable effectively to take one's torturer to the grave rather than to go there alone. The important thing is to defend oneself first and then, if necessary, let the jury decide.

To say that Blacks should always submit to police violence, no matter how exaggerated and intentionally lethal, is to take us back to the days of Dread Scott, when Blacks had no rights that a white man was bound to respect.

At Least Five Seventeen Year-Olds Suffer Police Pretrial Capital Punishment by Electrocution This Year

2009-04-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

405 "Taser" Electrocutions in North America So Far

SIXTEEN Americans have died so far this year after they were tasered, including a 16-YEAR-OLD BOY, a 15-YEAR-OLD boy - and a 17-YEAR OLD boy who became AT LEAST the FIFTH 17-year-old to die in North America proximal to the taser.

At least SEVENTY-ONE North Americans died in 2008 after they were tasered, including at least FIVE (and possibly SIX) Canadians. At least SEVENTY-EIGHT North Americans (that we know of) died in 2007, FIVE of them Canadian. At least 405 people have died in North America proximal to taser use since 2001. TWENTY-FIVE (SIX?) people have died in Canada since 2003 after police used tasers on them. One person has died in Britain. One person has died in Australia.

The taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 50 of the deaths, according to Amnesty International(Dec. 16/08). That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - the weapon's manufacturer, to make a particular finding.

Electrocuted While Black

Federal Jury Awards $10 Million Against TASER International for Teenager's Death

They Electrocuted and "They Executed My Son," Says Middlebury Heights, OH Parent

Tasers Are Perfectly Safe as Long as They Aren’t Used on the People Most Likely To Be Tasered, Says "The Agitator" Blog.

A List of Persons Extra-Judicially Electrocuted by Police Using Taser (and other) Electrocution Devices

Electrocution Victim's Family Routed in California Taser Death Case

Justice Clarence Thomas's Nephew Treated Like a Black Man with Rasta Locks by West Jefferson Hospital Security

A Critical Look at TASER Policy and Effects

Zapped by Stun Gun: Breaks Both Arms of Deputy

Read New "Miranda Rights" Against Taser Abuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Important Taser Case is Must-Read for Taser Opponents

Federal appeals court sets limits on police use of Tasers

New Blog Follows Police Pre-trial Extra-judicial Attempted Murders, Electrocutions and Executions of Latinos

City of Columbia, MO Settles w/ Suicidal Man Police Tasered Off Bridge to Highway Below

Dozens of Blogs Joined 12/4 Day of Blogging Against Pre-Trial Extra-Judicial Electrocutions and Executions

U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit Court (AL, FL, GA) Says Police Can Electrocute Resister w/oTrial on the Merits

Police to Electrically Shock a Man's Testicles?

Taser Advisory to Cops: 'Our Guns May Cause Heart Attack'

Day of Blogging Against Police Pre-Trial, Extra-Judicial Taser Electrocutions, 12/4/2009

Ft. Worth SCLC Demands Resignation of Police Chief & Mayor Over Electrocution

Taser-related deaths in 2009 include two Michigan teens; company says devices reduce injuries

Man In Need of Mental Help - Tasered by police dies from subsequent heart attack

Visit the New "Stop Taser Torture Blog"

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Children Tased In Texas Schools for "interventions" involve "low-level, non-violent misdemeanors like disruption of class or disorderly conduct,"

58-year-old South Carolina manTasered to Death by Corpus Christi police

More Blogs Joining December 4 “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day.”

Ft. Worth, TX March Against Electric Execution Guns is Model for Nationwide Protests

Fort Worth residents marched calling for police to stop using Tasers

Man Tased While His Kent, OH Home Burns

By Sarah Steimer, KentNewsNet.Com

WOW ,,, just wow

Dec. 7 March Against Police Summary Electrocution ("Taser") Targets City of Fort Worth Texas

Major public rally taking place on Saturday, December 7 Against Summary Police Execution of Man

How Many Blog Posts Does it Take to Stop One Death By Summary Electrocution?

Do Police Correctly Record Electric Gun Usage and Death Statistics?

Electrocution Deaths Increasing as Tasers Use Becomes Widespread

Black Man with his Hands on a Squad Car Tasered on his Neck by Minneapolis Police

"Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on Dec 4, 2009.

There has been an annoucement of a “Stop Taser Torture – Blogging For Justice Day” on Dec 4 2009.

Stay tuned for more information. The post is being updated.

Police Beat and 3x Electrically Shock a 120 lb Black Woman on Her Own Front Porch

Police taser unarmed, legless black man in a wheelchair

Texas Death by Police Electrocution Device Ruled Homicide

Friday, August 28, 2009

City Councilman's Daughter Tased in Back While on Her Knees

City Councilman's Daughter Tased in Back While on Her Knees

Police Tase City Councilman's Daughter While She is Kneeling with Her Hands Up

Lawyer for White Woman Taser Victim Says Incident Raises Question Whether Tasers Should Be Used at All in Law Enforcement

14 Year Old Native American Girl Undergoes Surgery After Being Shocked by Police from Behind

Latino Grandfather, Pregnant Woman Tasered at Baptism

Debate Rages in Canada Over Use and Regulation of Shock and Electrocution Devices Police'

Follow new rules or lose tasers, Alberta police forces told

See also:

Police Executions Likely to Rise in Dekalb County, GA

Police Electrically Shock and Pepper Spray Deaf, Mentally Disabled Man for Not Complying With Orders

Mother Loses Child to Murderer, So Louisiana Police Shock Her With Electrocution Device

Police Electrically Shock Black Student for Wearing a Baseball Cap in City Council Chambers

Texas Police Electrically Shock White Woman, 72, Making Nightly News in Brazil

Tasered While Black Internet Radio Show Launched

Online Petition Says, "Confirm Wise Latina Woman Judge Sonia Sotomayor Now."

Man Takes Police Officers Electrocution Device and Fires Uses it on Officer

Police Brutality Blog Selected 8th Among Top 100 Criminal Justice Blogs by CriminalJusiceCareersGuide.Com

Black Bloggers Circulate Petition Against Police Pre-Trial Electrocution and Execution

Should Blacks Act in Self Defense When Faced With an Electrocution Device in the Hands of a Police Officer?

At Least Five Seventeen Year-Olds Suffer Police Pretrial Capital Punishment by Electrocution This Year

405 "Taser" Electrocutions in North America So Far

Stay tuned for more information.

The post is being updated.