Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Federal Jury: Police Officers Did Not Use Excessive Force After Tasering Man 19 Times Leading To His Death

180px-m26_taserA federal jury in Tennessee ruled that three officers — Jason Creagan, Jonathan Mays and Jaime Scruggs — did not use excessive force in the death of Patrick Lee, 21, at a nightclub in 2005. Lee was tasered 19 times after he was seen acting strangely outside of a nightclub (ironically named the the Mercy Lounge) and allegedly resisted arrest.

Lee was high on LSD and naked at the time. He died two days later. Police said that Lee was sweaty, making it difficult to control him. They used batons and pepper spray as well. A video was viewed as supporting the family’s claim that the police acted improperly. At the time the video was discovered Nashville attorney Tommy Overton stated “[f]rom looking at the video for the first time, it looks more like a social event than trying to arrest somebody who was naked and unarmed. I look forward to allowing a jury of everyday citizens of this district to see what I consider is a disregard for human life.” More <a href="“>here. It does not appear that the jury was affected in the same way (a grand jury earlier rejected criminal charges, though some grand jurors expressed objections to the conduct of the police).

Lawsuits against Taser International by his parents, Bud Lee and Cindy Lundman, were dismissed earlier. For country music fans, Bud Lee co-wrote the Garth Brooks hit “Friends in Low Places.”

The Nashville case had some similarity to the case of Mace Hutchinson who was tasered 19 times and the Oliver case in Miami.

A coroner ruled that Lee was experiencing drug-induced excited delirium.

For the full story, click here and here.

62 thoughts on “Federal Jury: Police Officers Did Not Use Excessive Force After Tasering Man 19 Times Leading To His Death”

  1. This is not your Fathers Tazer.

    Have you been Tazed lately?

    There is no feeling like being Tazed.

    School Daze, Taze Dat, Reading, Writing, Rithmatick, all you kids are learning how many time you can be burned.

    Do they sell Taze butter, Yet?

    Safe Tazing.

    It is no worse than sticking your finger in a light socket.

    Better than a Bobby Pin.

    On the eight day, G-d tazed man.

  3. ann,

    I detest drugs and I never want to see them legalized as in some countries. However, this was another human being and I have little doubt that I could have subdued this young man without a Taser, especially with at least one other officer around.

    One major problem with many LEOs is they are unfit and they are taught to rely on their tools instead of *thinking* the process of restraint fully through.

    I still have not viewed the video.

  6. Ya, let’s all go back to forcing cops to having to physically overpower lunatics on drugs…..

  7. Tasers are supposed to cause paralysis by locking up the muscles but I wonder if that always happens. My suspicion is that they sometimes cause convulsions instead which the police then interpret as failure to comply resulting in a cycle of repeat taser application until death from “excited delirium” occurs.

  8. I get a 404 Error for the link to the video. Can others who have seen the video please provide another working link? Thanks.

    This seems excessive from the narrative, given the extensive physical restraint training LEOs receive.

  9. While everyone here knows my revulsion for Taser overkill, I must say this presents a difficult case for supporters of both law and order and civil liberties. The account from the Daily Tennessean shows a distraught man delirious on drugs fighting to avoid capture. Other, less lethal, means were employed without success, and then tasers were used. Two juries found the actions justified, and one must believe either two juries on two separate days were totally swept away in some conservative group think, or there was some justification for the amount of force used in the arrest. Here’s the entire account so you can judge for yourself:

    “Lee had been kicked out of Mercy Lounge twice on the night of Sept. 22 before police were called. Mercy Lounge employees told officers that Lee was “acting strangely inside and kept on trying to get onto the stage of the lounge,” Aaron said in a news conference after the incident.

    One officer said Lee told him his name was “Blue” and approached the officer, according to a press release. The officer said he told Lee to “keep his distance.”

    The officer said Lee was acting aggressively, removed his shirt and ran 40-50 yards, prompting police to use pepper spray. Officers later used batons and the Tasers.

    The video shows Lee stripping naked, and wildly running away from officers. Police at the time said Lee was sweaty, making it difficult for the officers to control him.

    Officer Jonathan Mays and Jamie Scruggs responded and shot Lee with their Tasers. The use of the Tasers occurs far from the camera in a darkened corner and cannot be discerned on the video.

    Part of the internal affairs investigation will center on whether the officers adhered to warnings from the Taser manufacturer, cautioning that repeated and prolonged shocks from the devices could be fatal, particularly to subjects under the influence of drugs.”

  10. People should realize that tazers are DEADLY FORCE. Tazers kill people even when excessive force is not used. Police can’t eyeball someone and tell whether or not they have hypertension/heart problems or anything like that. I am all for cops being able to protect themselves (and to use force when necessary), but the use of tazers is much more widespread than it needs to be. A seemingly healthy fit young man died at my undergraduate school when cops used a tazer on him. I also saw cops use a tazer on drunken students at a block party for refusing to get out of the road (even though the roads were closed for the party). This is really just excessive force, the tazer just gives the illusion of restraint while ultimately risking the person being tazed’s health.

  11. AY,

    I see it just fine. Don’t forget I’m from your neighboring state that even before Bush was known for it’s corruption, er, civil rights abuses, um, gentile and highly stratified culture, durrrr, ahh, Cajun and Creole cuisine . . . yeah, that’s it. Cuisine.

  12. Buddha Is Laughing

    “I believe the problem with The South and Civil Liberties is similar to the problem of Mars and Breathable Atmosphere.”

    Oh we do have them, they are reserved for the very “spacial” few. Not everyone is entitled to them, don’t you see.

  13. “I believe the problem with The South and Civil Liberties is similar to the problem of Mars and Breathable Atmosphere.”

    They radiated away into space?

    That would also explain the higher rates of mutation in Southern states as that would deplete ozone and let in those pesky old cosmic rays.

    You may be on to something Joe.

  14. Mike,

    I believe the problem with The South and Civil Liberties is similar to the problem of Mars and Breathable Atmosphere.

  15. There are a wide variety of situations where using a tazer is ineffective. The policy behind these situations is ‘pain compliance’, the steady escalation of pain until the subject submits to the police. That’s all well and good if you’re dealing with someone who is rational and mentally capable of submission. When dealing with an individual who is irrational and not in control of their own action… well, we see the results.

    Police aren’t being taught to think on their feet, why should they be? Acting outside of written policy is what causes lawsuits. No, the only way to stop frivolous lawsuits is to robotically follow instructions, even when they’re clearly not working.

  16. Lets hear it for the Great State of Tennessee. Texas not to be out done was already a post when a Police Chief Tasered his wife and was fired. Come on don’t take the attention off of Texas, we gotta be known as the Bad Boys.

  17. I am relieved to hear that it is not my computer. I searched for the video on you tube to no avail

  19. Maybe it was all the drugs in his system that caused him not to slow down when he was tased the first time. But wouldn’t it have stunned him at first at least?
    Why didn’t they jump him and handcuff him? Sure, no one wants to touch a sweaty, naked stranger, but that comes with the job of working with the public.

  20. Every time you think Texas is way out in front a State like Tennessee will work hard to catch up. what is it about the South and civil liberties?

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