I have a feeling that when a drug suspect dies of “whatever” when being arrested, a certain drug suspect’s family is going to get very, very rich.
Man dies after cop hits him with Taser 9 times
WINNFIELD, Louisiana (CNN) — A police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron “Scooter” Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge. He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner’s report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes’ January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, told CNN the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
“The family wants justice,” Lexing said. “This is just another example of why it’s very important to stay vigilant with these types of cases, on the injustice that’s been perpetrated on the disadvantaged.”
But Winnfield police Lt. Chuck Curry said race “isn’t an issue at all” in the matter.
“This has come down to a police officer that was trying to apprehend a suspect that they had warrants for,” he said. “He done what he thought he was trained to do to bring that subject into custody. At some point, something happened with his body that caused him to go into cardiac arrest or whatever.”
Gee, I wonder what that could have been?
The TASER company explains all.
Read on about striatal dopamine transporter levels and the riddle of the inverse causation error. Lots of footnotes so it must be true. Whatever.
The first delivered shock is for control. All subsequent shocks are delivered because the cop is mad. It is pre-trial punishment. And besides all of that, how’s a cop supposed to know that it will only take 7 shocks to kill someone? Everyone is different. You can’t blame the cop because he used two extra shocks. Get real!
“You can’t blame the cop because he used two extra shocks. Get real!”
Yes you can.
Now, I’m always at the forefront of giving the police/army/firemen/EMT’s the benefit of doubt. But nine times? Nine times would be seen as excessive by any jury of peers. Even I know that the combination of cocaine and electrical shock probably isn’t conducive to stuff like living.
A TASER is like any other tool in the policeman’s arsenal and he or she needs to know as much as possible about it’s use and limitations. I’ll go on record as saying 99.9% of all police officers understand this.
Is TASER co. responsible? No, just like Colt or Ruger or S&W isn’t responsible when a cop is involved in a wrongful death shooting.
The officer made a tragic mistake. Was it of murder or even manslaughter proportions? Not in my opinion. Could a case be made for negligent homicide? I think so.
I was trying to be cute and my sarcasm wasn’t really on target. Let me be absolutely clear. There is only one position in America that allows the office holder to summarily execute someone—on the spot, no questions asked. This killing can be done by and with whatever means this official deems necessary or just a personal preference. That official is a law enforcement officer. Not even a supreme court justice or the president of the United States has that authority or prerogative. That is why we must have control and absolute confidence in the people that hold such positions. They must hold their anger and adjudications in check. They are vested with absolute power and we must demand absolute competence.
CNN is the source for this story, and for that reason alone I would wait for independent confirmation of what they said. This fits too nicely with one of the MSM’s favorite memes: Killer Racist Cops On The Rampage.
Remember the Duke rape hoax, and how the MSM concealed facts in that case as well?
Labeling TASER weapons as less than lethal is a mistake. They have deadly potential in various circumstances. I think the weapon should be time limited to deliver not more than a two second shock, and then require an action by the operator to reset the device before another shock can be delivered. The reset could be simple, but enough to require some thought.
When a person recieves a shock, by electricity, or emersion in cold water, or falling down a ravine, the body floods itself with adrenaline, to take on whatever comes. If this guy was high on a stimulant like cocaine, adding a load of adrenaline to a body on hyperdrive could cause the heart to seize up.
The false impression that TASER shocks can’t really hurt you, invites misuse or abuse.
“Is TASER co. responsible? No, just like Colt or Ruger or S&W isn’t responsible when a cop is involved in a wrongful death shooting.”
The difference is that TASER sells itself as non-lethal, while the gun manufacturers explicitly tell you they are selling you a deadly weapon. Holding yourself out to the public and your customers as an alternative to deadly force, rather than another means of delivering deadly force, is definitely an invitation for a products liability suit. I’m not saying such a suit would or should ultimately succeed, but it’s infinitely more meritorious and arguable than the gun lawsuits.
“Was it of murder or even manslaughter proportions? Not in my opinion. Could a case be made for negligent homicide? I think so.”
Murder, obviously not: there’s no intent. But manslaughter? Maybe. Does this rise to the level of criminal recklessness, i.e., behavior where death was a reasonably likely foreseeable result? I’d say one would need more facts than we’re given in the story to specifically rule it in or out.
I agree with the need for independent confirmation of the facts of the story, but if it turns out to be true that the suspect was handcuffed before being shocked, this is pretty damn ugly, and the responsibility might need to go higher than just the offending officer. Any idea that it’s OK to shock a cuffed suspect like that is repulsive in the extreme, and empowers the idea of a totalitarian state. Imagine that it wasn’t a drughead, but was instead a law-abiding gun owner who had been framed by a rogue government agent (or agency) and was being coerced into surrendering his/her firearms, or telling who his-gun-owning friends were. Far-fetched? The Heller decision in SCOTUS was by one weak vote, and a President Obama would have the chance to nominate candidates for two or three vacancies that the current Leftist justices would trip over themselves in their glee to provide in an oh-so-timely manner.
I agree with Pat_s comment. Tasers are not mean’t to be used as weapons, only used to stop and stun. The first one was necessary, anything after that was excessive.