Police Use of Taser Kills Teenager

Many wrongful death lawsuits have been brought against the manufacturer of the popular police taser device but according to the manufacturer’s boasts which are in the public record, no such lawsuits have been successful. And yet, practically every week it seems, another person is killed by the use of this product.
Our wrongful death and injury lawyers read last week a news article about a teenager who was killed by the use of a taser after an altercation inside of a grocery store near Charlotte, North Carolina. Apparently, a 17-year old teenager got into an argument with one of his supervisors at a grocery store and police officers were summoned to the scene. When the officers arrived, the teenager allegedly was highly agitated and allegedly refused all verbal demands. A police officer used a taser on the teen to subdue him. The taser killed the teenager, age 17. It appears from the news accounts of this incident, the death of this teenager was not warranted by his non-violent conduct as he had not committed nor was he charged with any crime. He was merely upset and agitated and was not a threat to anyone as he apparently had no weapons on his person.
Over and over again it seems that people are killed by this device and yet the device continues to be used by the police. While every case is different, of course, in many cases we read about the use of these tasers in cases where the suspect is not known to be violent, has committed no major felony or other violent crime, and yet is intentionally stunned with this product, sometimes with fatal results.
We would encourage the law enforcement community to reconsider its use of this product. Despite the protestations of the manufacturer, there is abundant anecdotal evidence in the public domain which suggests that this product can kill healthy people including healthy teenagers. The use of such deadly force in a context where the suspect is not known to be violent nor is armed seems questionable at best thus calling upon a review by the law enforcement community of their procedures and their use of this product.
Many times, litigation is the best tool available to address products like these. Other lawyers have tried to sue the manufacturer, apparently without success. Whether a successful wrongful death lawsuit can be brought based on this most recent incident remains to be seen but clearly there needs to be further review of this potentially dangerous product. Non violent persons encountered by the police should not be subject to the “death penalty” caused by the use of an unreasonably dangerous product.