Bipolar Man's Death by Taser Needs Jury Trial

One to watch, maybe the U.S. test case on how tasers will be used in the future in the United States of America - no more indiscriminate use!!!!

January 17, 2012
Tim Hull, Courthouse News Service

(CN) - Police may be liable for the death of a man who was shot twice with a Taser by a police officer trying to make him stop directing traffic naked, a federal judge ruled.

Brian Cardall, 32, had a psychotic episode in the car while he and his wife, Anna, were driving near Hurricane, Utah, with their infant daughter in June 2009.

Unable to get Brian back in the car, Anna called the Hurricane City Police Department. Officer Kenneth Thompson and Police Chief Lynn Excell found Brian standing in the road, completely naked and trying to direct traffic, when they arrived at the scene.

Thompson told Brian to get down on the ground 13 times, according to deposition testimony. After Brian failed to comply, Thompson deployed his stun gun twice at Brian without warning. Excell put Brian in handcuffs as officers radioed the paramedics. While waiting for the arrival of paramedics, however, a third officer noticed that Brian had stopped breathing and lacked a pulse. Brian was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Brian's widow, children and parents raised a series of constitutional and state-law claims against Officer Thompson, Chief Excell and the city of Hurricane.

Though the defendants claimed qualified immunity, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups ruled said the disputed facts make the case ripe for a jury.

Most significantly, there are "conflicting eyewitness accounts" as to whether the naked, unarmed man posed enough of a threat to the officers to justify the use of the Taser.

While the officers testified that Brian had "charged" Thompson, Anna Cardall and a passing motorist gave a different story, saying that he merely "turned toward the officer" or took "one small step" his way.

"If Brian suddenly charged at Officer Thompson in a violent manner, then he may have posed a threat to the police and there would be considerable justification for the Tasing," Waddoups wrote.

"If, on the other hand, Brian simply turned towards Thompson, or was taking a few steps in various directions as he had been since the officers arrived on the scene, then he was not a threat," the Jan. 11 decision states. "Brian was a considerable distance from the road, and did not verbally threaten the police, himself, or his family. He was naked and clearly unarmed, and outnumbered by the officers on the scene, who significantly outweighed him and were about to be joined by additional backup. If the facts are viewed in the light most favorable to Anna's claim, then Brian did not pose a threat."

"Brian was Tased although he was not guilty of any serious crime or attempting to flee," the judge added. "If all factual disputes are resolved in favor of Anna, Brian was not a threat to the officers who impatiently Tased him when, in his confusion, he was slow to comply with their demands. Tenth Circuit case law, as well as authority from other jurisdictions, explicitly holds that Tasings under similar circumstances violated clearly established Fourth Amendment law."

Immunity does protect the defendants from three claims alleging that officers violated Anna's constitutional rights by holding her illegally and failing to get her husband medical treatment.

Cardall family to push for mental health training for all law enforcement

November 4, 2010
By Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune

One son waited on a heart transplant and received a miracle as time was running out. The other died on the side of a southern Utah highway after police shocked him with a Taser as he suffered a bipolar episode they failed to recognize.

Two illnesses, two dramatically different outcomes.

Every day Duane Cardall ponders the two fates of his sons, musician Paul Cardall, who is thriving after undergoing a heart transplant to beat a congenital heart disease, and scientist Brian Cardall, whose tragic death on June 9, 2009, has spurred a statewide discussion on the level of training law enforcement receives on dealing with the mentally ill.

“Society has yet to come to grips with the reality of mental illness,” Duane Cardall said Thursday, speaking to a group of about 400 people gathered at the University of Utah student union for the annual National Alliance on Mental Health of Utah conference.

“There are mountains to climb before the stigma of mental illness is eliminated.”

Cardall wishes a Hurricane police officer who deployed a Taser on his 32-year-old son as a confused Brian tried to direct traffic while nude had chosen instead to respond with “a few kind words, a touch of compassion and a blanket to cover Brian’s nakedness.”

It’s why the director of editorials for KSL News and Radio is speaking out publicly about his son’s illness and death. He’s also working with NAMI of Utah to push for legislation that encourages all members of law enforcement to undergo a crisis-intervention training that research has found improves the outcomes of police officers’ encounters with the mentally ill.

The Cardall family and NAMI will work with state Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, to introduce legislation during the next session calling for initiatives to bring more education and training to law enforcement.

A draft of the legislation is still in the works, but Jones said she’d like to see more members of Utah law enforcement undergo a proven training sponsored since 2001 by the Salt Lake City police department known as the CIT Academy.

“That is the intent, to ensure that law enforcement officials do understand mental illness and how to handle it when they confront it,” Jones said.

Salt Lake City Detective Ron Bruno, who oversees the CIT Academy has previously said the Brian Cardall case appears to have motivated other police departments to enroll in the program. The Hurricane police department is among the agencies that started attending the CIT Academy after Cardall’s death.

About 12 percent of Utah’s 1,200 law enforcement officers hold a CIT certification, but more have likely undergone the training and since had their certifications expire, he said.

A recent study on CIT training unveiled last spring found that police officers who undergo CIT instruction are less likely to use force when handling a situation involving a mentally ill person. The study, published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin , surveyed 135 police officers from Atlanta about how they would handle three different scenarios involving mentally ill people. Forty-eight officers had received crisis-intervention team training, while 87 had not received the training.

Researchers discovered officers who underwent CIT training chose to use less force in the third scenario presented to them. Eight available options in the third scenario, the most escalated of the three, ranged from talking through the situation to using force, such as a baton.

Sherri Wittwer, executive director for NAMI of Utah, said CIT training and legislation that could mandate more police officers to undergo it, is a step to fostering a better understanding of how to interact with the mentally ill.

“We want as many officers as possible to go through the training,” she said. “CIT is shown to reduce officer injury, improve safety and be more cost effective. There’s great interest in seeing this program be successful.”

The Cardall lawsuit

The family of Brian Cardall has filed a federal lawsuit against two Hurricane police officers involved in the deployment of a Taser on the 32-year-old man as he suffered a bipolar episode on the side of State Road 59 near Hurricane on June 9, 2009. Anna Cardall had called 911 to report her husband behaving erratically, but told dispatchers her husband was unarmed, had bipolar disorder and had taken Seroquel, a medicine used to treat manic episodes associated with the disorder. Cardall was naked and had been trying to direct traffic. The lawsuit alleges police could have contained Brian Cardall differently. The complaint, which is pending in federal court, alleges several missteps made by officer Ken Thompson and Hurricane Police Chief Lynn Excell at the scene:

» Thompson deployed a Taser 42 seconds after arriving at the scene, despite information from a 911 dispatcher that Cardall was bipolar and had taken medication and was waiting for it to take effect. Dispatchers told officers that Cardall spoke of meeting the president and was jumping in front of cars on the road — indications of mental illness.

» Thompson and Excell responded to the scene, despite the fact that the incident was outside of Hurricane city limits and should have been handled by Washington County deputies, who were en route at the time Thompson used his Taser.

» When Thompson arrived at the scene, the 156-pound Cardall, nude and unarmed, was no longer running in the road. Thompson drew his Taser immediately and began shouting commands, without ever trying to engage Cardall in a conversation to defuse the situation. When Thompson yelled, “Come here,” Cardall put his hands in the air.

» Thompson and Excell did not make any efforts to take Cardall into custody after he was hit by a Taser once and remained on the ground. Cardall was breathing and moaning after the first Taser cycle. Thompson waited only two seconds before firing a second shot at Cardall and Excell then rolled Cardall face down in the gravel and handcuffed him.

» Thompson did not use a can of pepper spray as a first method of force. Neither officer tried to use their hands to restrain Cardall.

» Thompson and Excell did not render aid to Cardall before paramedics arrived, although the man appeared to not be breathing. They did not evaluate Cardall’s airway or turn him on his side so he could breathe more easily. Cardall was left handcuffed.

Peter Stirba, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the Hurricane Police Department, maintains Hurricane police responded to the Cardall situation in accordance with their training. After an investigation last year, Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap found the officers were justified in using a Taser on Cardall.

EDITORIAL: Taser trouble - stun guns are taking a toll

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

The autopsy results are in. But, despite the definitive findings the verdict is still out on the weapon that killed Brian Cardall.

Cardall, a promising research scientist and Utah native, died from "ventricular fibrillation following conducted energy weapon deployment ... ." In other words, death by Taser.

Here's what happened. In June, Cardall, 32, was returning to Arizona after visiting Utah when he experienced a manic episode brought on by his bipolar disorder. He pulled his car to the side of the road, got out, removed his clothes, and began flagging down vehicles on State Road 59 outside Hurricane.

Cardall's wife gave him medication, called the police, informed the dispatcher of her husband's psychotic condition and the fact that it would take a while for the medicine to take effect. But Cardall ran out of time.

Just 42 seconds after Hurricane Chief of Police Lynn Excell and officer Ken Thompson arrived at the scene, Thompson claims, a confused Cardall, who refused to get on the ground as ordered, stepped toward the officers. Thompson fired his Taser, striking a naked and unarmed Cardall in the chest over the heart. When the Flagstaff resident attempted to rise, Thompson gave him a second jolt. Within minutes, Cardall was dead, one of about 350 Americans to die after a Taser deployment since 2001.

Had the incident occurred 20 years ago, before Tasers came on the market, Cardall, who weighed just 156 pounds, would have been physically taken to the ground and handcuffed. He may have suffered bumps and bruises, cuts and scrapes. The police officers would have risked same. But nobody would have died.

Cardall's family says the officer used excessive force, a claim rejected by investigators, who determined that Thompson adhered to both his department's use-of-force policy and Utah law. No charges were filed. And, because the policy and not the officer was at fault, none was deserved.

Thompson certainly didn't mean to kill Cardall. In fact, along with officers in 14,200 police, military and corrections agencies in 44 countries, Thompson had been taught that the Taser can prevent physical altercations that cause injury, and negate the need for deadly force. That it saves lives. As a result, Tasers have become the "nonlethal" weapon of choice in law enforcement circles. But that could change.

In the months since Cardall's death, Taser International, which manufactures the stun guns, lost a wrongful-death lawsuit, a first. A California jury determined that the company failed to adequately educate police about the risk of cardiac arrest from using the weapon.

Plus, the Arizona-based company recanted its long-standing advice to aim at center body mass, and advised police not to shoot suspects in the chest.

And, the American Medical Association determined that Tasers can do more harm than good. In a report issued the same month Cardall died, the AMA said "Tasers are used too frequently ... and may contribute to the death of suspects directly or indirectly." The group said more research is needed to determine if Tasers are safe for use on suspects in altered states, like Cardall.

The next move belongs to police departments, which should change their policies regarding Taser use. Tasers should be used sparingly, a weapon of next-to-last resort, until all of the evidence is in.

Autopsy links Taser to Cardall's death - Coroner cites being stunned near the heart as a key factor

November 19, 2009
Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune

A Taser that twice shocked Brian Cardall contributed to or caused heart irregularities in the 32-year-old man that led to his death on the side of a southern Utah highway in June, the Utah Medical Examiner's Office has ruled.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Erik Christensen cited "ventricular fibrillation following conducted energy weapon deployment during a manic episode with psychotic features" as Cardall's cause of death.

The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a copy of the autopsy report Thursday from the Cardalls' attorney. The family chose to release it after Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said he will not prosecute the officer who deployed a Taser on Cardall.

Belnap said Hurricane police Officer Ken Thompson legally used a Taser on Cardall as the man suffered a bipolar manic episode June 9.

The Cardall family disagrees with Belnap's decision, said Karra Porter, who is advising the Cardalls on their legal options.

Christensen's report states that prongs from a Taser a Hurricane police officer deployed struck Cardall over his heart. While Christensen acknowledged other factors could have contributed to Cardall's death, he pointed out factors that indicate a Taser electrocuted a naked, unarmed Cardall.

"While it is generally acknowledged that [Taser] use is safe and represents an extremely low risk due to the electrical activity of the weapon, the circumstances in this case represent a combination of the factors that are believed to increase the risk of a potential electrical death," Christensen's report reads.

"These include the placement of the barbs over the cardiac axis, the penetration of the barbs deeply into a thin chest wall directly over the heart, absence of intervening clothing and more than one cycle of electrical stimulation.

"Additionally, the initial cardiac rhythm of ventricular fibrillation is consistent with findings seen in cases of electrocution."

Christensen's conclusion that the X-26 Taser, made by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International, played a significant role in Cardall's death is bold.

While Taser International has claimed its products are not risk free, it has publicly stated its products do not cause cardiac arrest. It has filed numerous lawsuits against medical examiners who have cited Tasers as a cause of death.

Christensen noted that because Cardall, a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, was in a manic state, he was at risk for a heart attack before the Taser struck him.

Christensen said Cardall did not die from excited delirium, a syndrome often cited as a cause of death when someone is agitated or delirious and then dies after forcefully being taken into custody.

Thompson twice deployed a Taser on Cardall on the side of State Road 59 near Hurricane after Anna Cardall called 911 to report her husband was behaving erratically.

Thompson, one of multiple officers on the scene, waited 42 seconds after arriving before he deployed a Taser on a manic and confused Cardall, according to 911 recordings.

The 156-pound Cardall is heard screaming for about five seconds after Thompson first deploys a Taser on him. After a two-second pause, Thompson deploys the Taser on Cardall again. He says in the recordings Cardall had tried to get up.

Mental health history

Christensen's report details Cardall's struggle with bipolar disorder, which surfaced with depression in high school. Doctors diagnosed him as bipolar in 2005 after a manic episode that required brief hospitalization.

Cardall suffered manic episodes in 2006 and 2007, which he believed was due to a lack of sleep and stress, the report states. Cardall had been on and off medication for his disorder; he had scaled back medication in January.

Christensen wrote that Seroquel, the medication Cardall took for bipolar disorder, likely didn't contribute to his reaction after being shocked. He detected trace amounts of marijuana in Cardall's system, but Cardall tested negative for other illicit drugs.

Cardall's family told Christensen that Cardall occasionally used marijuana, according to the report.

Taser International had not yet seen Christensen's report, company spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

"We have not been provided a copy of the autopsy for our medical advisory board to review the details of this tragic incident. Our hearts continue to go out to the Cardall family during this difficult time," Tuttle told The Tribune .

Peter Stirba, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the Hurricane Police Department, said only that Belnap's decision vindicates Thompson and was correct based on evidence.

Possible lawsuit?

The Cardall family is disappointed Belnap didn't hand off the case to another county, said Porter, of Salt Lake City-based law firm Christensen and Jensen.

"It would be awkward for a county attorney in a relatively rural area to prosecute people he works with every day," she said.

Utah law, however, says county attorneys handle use of force investigations.

Any lawsuit filed by the Cardall family will face fierce contention from Taser International, which has only lost one case in the 97 lawsuits filed against the company since its inception in 1993, Tuttle said.

But the tide is beginning to turn, said California attorney Peter Williamson, who, along with co-counsel John Burton, recently won the first suit against Taser International.

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California ordered Taser to pay $1.4 million in attorney fees to Williamson and Burton, who represented the family of Robert Heston, who was killed in 2005 after he was shocked multiple times while high on methamphetamine.

The 40-year-old man's father had called police for help to restrain his combative son. Five officers shocked Heston 25 times.

Judge James Ware ordered the company to pay attorney fees following a decision by a jury to award Heston's family $153,000 in damages. The jury found that Taser International didn't properly educate the police who stunned Heston about cardiac risks associated with the weapon.

In an explanation of why he awarded attorneys fees in the case, Ware wrote: "The notoriety of ... the first-of-its-kind verdict, in some circumstances, has prompted a number of Taser customers and prospective customers to consider the risk of repeated and prolonged Taser electric charges on individuals in an excited or delirious state."

Williamson said the company considers the verdict in the Heston case "a fluke."

"The only way we can get Taser to change its warnings and training is to sue them enough times that they finally capitulate," said Williamson, who believes the Cardalls have a strong case against Taser.

Changing targets

In an Oct. 12 bulletin, Taser told police not to aim a Taser at a suspect's chest. Shooting the device lower will incapacitate a suspect more effectively, it said. The bulletin notes police still can shoot at a chest lacking a better option.

Taser critics say the bulletin is the company's first admission that the weapons pose a cardiac risk --- an allegation the company denies. The company based its decision on best practices research and will help police avoid lawsuits from those who claim the devices cause injuries and other health problems, Taser's Rick Guilbault said in the bulletin.

Taser's bulletin states the risk of cardiac arrest when a Taser is deployed on a suspect is low, but notes reactions can't be predicted, particularly when other underlying medical conditions or drugs are added to the equation.

"We have not stated that Taser causes [cardiac] events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic," Tuttle said.

He added changes "specifically had nothing to do with the Cardall incident."

But Williamson is skeptical.

"It's interesting to note within the last 30 days, Taser has issued its [new training bulletin]," Williamson said, adding that in addition to the Cardall case, Taser is dealing with another pending California trial where a man died after being shocked in 2004.

Taser as a cause of death

Medical examiners nationwide have been sued for citing Tasers as a cause of death.

Last year, an Ohio judge ordered a medical examiner to remove Taser's name from three autopsies. The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office "offered no medical, scientific or electrical evidence to justify finding the stun gun was a factor in the deaths of two men in 2005 and another in 2006," The Arizona Republic reported in May 2008. Taser and the City of Akron had sued the medical examiner, claiming the examiners didn't have the proper education to decide whether Tasers contributed to the death.

The county's chief medical examiner contested the ruling, according to The Arizona Republic.

Taser also sued Indiana coroner Roland Kohr, who found the weapon contributed to a man's death in 2004.

Taser International dismisses what it calls misconceptions that the company targets medical examiners who make unflattering reports.

"This is simply not true," Tuttle said. "In the two instances that Taser has brought legal action regarding medical examiners, the lawsuits were to correct scientifically baseless opinions that resulted in very negative consequences to numerous entities and people."

Williamson disagrees. He said Taser intimidates medical examiners who find the stun guns lead to death.

"Very few medical examiners will stick their necks out on the line," he said.

Excited delirium theory nixed

Christensen's finding that Cardall did not die of excited delirium in Cardall is noteworthy. Speculation that the controversial syndrome killed Cardall has been widespread among law enforcement since he died. In a letter to the editor The Tribune published in June, University of Minnesota biomedical engineering professor Mark Kroll suggested excited delirium killed Cardall.

Kroll, a member of Taser's scientific and medical advisory board, wrote that: "Excited delirium is a widely accepted entity in forensic pathology and is cited by medical examiners to explain the sudden in-custody deaths of individuals who are combative and in a highly agitated state."

"The fundamentals of an excited delirium death are not that difficult to understand," Kroll wrote. "Our bodies have limits to exertion... If these limits are sufficiently exceeded, we will die."

Christensen's report states that Cardall displayed some symptoms of excited delirium, but he did not show signs of hyperthermia, a condition where the body produces more heat than it can expend. He wasn't involved in a physical struggle and didn't show "feats of superhuman strength," which is common in excited delirium cases.

"His initial cardiac rhythm is also different from the usual rhythm in cases of [excited delirium]," the report states.

Porter said Christensen's findings support the Cardall family's efforts to expose Brian Cardall's mistreatment. The family may file a lawsuit so that "the full truth emerges regarding Brian's death."

"They also want to feel reassured that steps are being taken to prevent other senseless deaths in the future," she said.

'Excited delirium,' not TASER, killed Brian Cardall

June 26, 2009
By Mark Kroll

I sit on the scientific and medical advisory board for TASER International and wish to comment on the column "Police search for a defense in death" by Rebecca Walsh ( Tribune, June 21).

Commenting on the tragic death of Brian Cardall, Walsh states that the TASER Electronic Control Device was "zapping Cardall full of 50,000 volts" and implies that it contributed to his death.

The actual pulse voltage delivered by the TASER X26 is 600 volts and that is in very short pulses.

This 100-fold exaggeration is provided by Amnesty International material. This anti-police activist group has long used exaggeration and innuendo against TASER ECDs as a significant fundraising tool.

It is helpful to discuss the most common electronic control devices -- electric fences. The TASER X26 ECD satisfies the Underwriters Laboratory electric fence standards and puts out only 40 percent of the output allowed. If the TASER ECD were actually dangerous, the ranchers in your readership would have to remove their electric fences lest they risk electrocuting the next person that walks into one.

Walsh scoffs at the deadly condition known as "excited delirium" syndrome. She states, "Promoted by a retired Texas medical examiner, excited delirium is not accepted by either the American Medical Association or the American Psychological Association." This represents another of the statements of Amnesty International.

Your readers can see what the AMA actually says about excited delirium by going to their website.

"Excited delirium" is a widely accepted entity in forensic pathology and is cited by medical examiners to explain the sudden in-custody deaths of individuals who are combative and in a highly agitated state.

Excited delirium is broadly defined as a state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, aggression and apparent immunity to pain, often associated with stimulant use and certain psychiatric disorders.

The signs and symptoms typically ascribed to "excited delirium" include bizarre or violent behavior, hyperactivity, hyperthermia, confusion, great strength, sweating and removal of clothing, and imperviousness to pain.

Excited delirium deaths have been reported in the medical literature for over 150 years. The exact term is found in medical textbooks beginning in the 1800s.

The fundamentals of an excited delirium death are not that difficult to understand. Our bodies have limits to exertion. If we were to run rapidly we would eventually tire and slow down or stop because our brain recognizes signals of overexertion such as acid in our blood. If we were to continue -- because our brain ignored such signals -- we would exert ourselves until we died. The body has limits for a reason. If these limits are sufficiently exceeded we will die.

Walsh adds, "Brian Cardall is missing key symptoms of excited delirium: He had no cocaine in his system. He was not massive or obese."

If your readers read the AMA statement on excited delirium, they'll see that these criteria are actually not required.

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the Cardall family that is suffering from their sudden loss. It does them a great disservice to repeat exaggerations and innuendo from the fundraising material of an activist anti-police group to incorrectly imply that police officers killed their son.

Mark Kroll teaches in the biomedical engineering department at the University of Minnesota.

*******************************************************************

Comment by Excited Frauds: 6/26/2009 3:35:00 AM

Taser Spokes-Puppet, Mark Kroll, knows his medically invalid Taser Propaganda quite well. "Excited Delirium" was first used by the director of an insane asylum in the 1800's, and the gentleman was regarded as a QUACK.

As Mark knows, no one has ever been diagnosed as having died of "Excited Delirium" without 2 factors being present: 1.) A law enforcement officer 2.) A method of restraint being used or abused.

That makes "Excited Delirium" one of medicines MIRACLES! A "medical condition" which only occurs in the presence of a police officer or jail guard, who is trying to control a person with a method of restraint. And those taser shockers are often the restraint being used, although hand-cuffs and hog-ties also appear, as well as an officer putting his weight on the person.

Ask yourself this question: "If excitedly delirius persons are on a One Way Path to Certain Death, why aren't at least 25% or 50% of these persons dying BEFORE the taser or hog-tie is used? Why aren't excitedly delirius people dying when the officer yells "Taser! Taser! Taser!" once in a while?

The ANSWER is that the simple presence of the law enforcement officer can not trigger a "medical condition", and if it could, suspects should be dying WITHOUT the restraint or taser being applied.

There is a principle of Logic called Occam's Razor, which roughly says that usually the explanation using the fewest variables will be the correct explanation.

What killed Brian is quite simple ~ he was agitated for a period of time, then confronted and assaulted by a peace officer using a Taser and he died ~ Occam says the Taser killed him, as it should, since the Taser barbs were lodged below his skin and across his heart, which is a muscle and is directly affected by a Taser "electro-muscular control device". The Taser worked perfectly to control Brian's most important muscle - his HEART, and it went into fibrillation, eventually leading to his death.

Comment by Excited Frauds: 6/26/2009 7:39:00 AM

Mark Kroll mentions Underwriters Labs and Electric Fences ......"The TASER X26 ECD satisfies the Underwriters Laboratory electric fence standards and puts out only 40 percent of the output allowed.

"Sorry, Mark, but that is a LIE in sheep's clothing. Tasers have NEVER been submitted or reviewed for electrical safety by Underwriter's Labs. In fact, Tasers can't be used in the rain, because they will short-circuit. They aren't even "water-proof".

Mark's company - Taser International - was WARNED by "UL", in a letter, to Cease using its name or logo, in any Taser marketing material, since UL had never been asked to test Taser electrical properties or safety.

Mark knows this, yet he uses the "UL" name to make it seem that Tasers are safe, and UL agrees. Early Tasers were sold to law enforcement, using marketing materials which fraudulently mentioned "UL" Standards, to make foolish cops believe they are "UL Safe". That was a Taser LIE, and UL threatened Legal Action, if the stun gun maker didn't remove ALL references to their Labs.

The fact that Mark Kroll would use the "electric fencing" comparison, shows how shallow and deceptive he is.

Mark holds no medical degrees. He's not a medical doctor.

I suspect that Mark Kroll knows full well that Tasers can kill, and he even knows the medical path to Taser electrocutions.

Why don't you request UL to test your dangerous devices, Mark? Are you afraid of the results? Why don't you ask the FDA to approve your Taser "medical device", since it works just like those FDA Approved heart devices you are associated with?

Sadly, in many situations Tasers can induce irregular heart rhythms, especially when the Taser barbs puncture the skin across the heart. That's when they are deadliest.

"Excited Delirium" doesn't pass the Laugh Test. It is Junk Medical Science, used to hide police and Taser International responsibility in unfortunate, but too common, Taser electrocutions.

************************************************************************

See also: Electrical Standards (March 4, 2005 - Arizona Republic) which said, in part:

Underwriters Laboratories, which has certified billions of consumer goods for electrical safety, says the graph that Taser is using does not reflect any study of the stun gun's safety. UL spokesman Paul Baker says the graph is supposed to apply to an electric fence. "We take issue with that data in relation to Taser," he said. "Underwriters Lab does not agree with Taser." The graph is based on a decades-old study that measured how much current passing through an electric fence it would take to induce ventricular fibrillation. Baker said he is surprised that Taser is still using the graph since the lab publicly stated last month that it has no bearing on the stun gun. As for the IEC standards, Ruggieri sits on the committee charged with developing and maintaining those standards. He has also helped write standards for Underwriters Laboratories. He said the standards Taser cites do not address repeating pulses used by the stun gun.

Utah citizen review panel asks law enforcement to halt Taser use

June 24, 2009
By Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune

A citizen review panel in southern Utah's Washington County is asking law enforcement agencies to stop using Tasers until an investigation into the death of 32-year-old Brian Cardall -- who was shocked twice with a Taser on a highway earlier this month --is completed.

The St.George Citizens Review Panel includes a former Nevada corrections officer, a former Los Angeles police officer and a St.George attorney among its members. The group contacted the Hurricane Police Department last week to ask Police Chief Lynn Excell to put a "temporary moratorium on Taser use," said Ronald Smith and Antonio Calderon, who are members of the panel.

Excell told Smith he won't ban Taser use as the Washington County Critical Incident Task Force continues to investigate events leading up to Cardall's death on June 9, Smith said Wednesday.

But that's not stopping the citizen review panel, which is considering legal action against the Hurricane Police Department and may ask for a temporary injunction from the court to keep Tasers from officers until the county's investigation is complete.

"We want to avert another tragedy," said Calderon, a former corrections officer, in a Wednesday interview.

"Here was this 32-year-old man who was unarmed and completely naked. And he was subdued with a Taser. We're wondering if the Tasers are defective, we're wondering if people with mental health issues act adversely to Tasers," he said.

Excell, who was at the scene when a Taser was deployed on Cardall, did not return a message seeking comment on Wednesday.

Smith said he worries Hurricane police officers aren't properly trained on when and how to use Tasers.

The Hurricane Police Department has not yet received the crisis intervention training the state's mental health advocacy organization sees as critical, according to Sherri Wittwer, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Utah.

Modeled after a Memphis program, the Utah training is run by the Salt Lake City Police Department. If Hurricane police had received mental health training, the outcome of the Cardall case might have been different, Smith said.

"I want to make sure that the (Hurricane) police department isn't responsible for anybody else's death. Why not find out if something is wrong with these Tasers before they are used again? I don't think that is an unreasonable request," he said.

Hurricane police officer Ken Thompson twice deployed a Taser on Cardall on the side of a State Road 59 near Hurricane after Cardall's wife called 911 to report her husband behaving erratically while having a bipolar episode.

Cardall was shocked once when he failed to respond to an officers' commands to get down on the ground, according to recently released 911 call recordings of the incident.

Cardall was shocked a second time with a Taser when was already on the ground.

Salt Lake City attorney Peter Stirba, who is representing the Hurricane Police Department during the investigation into the Taser incident, has maintained the officers acted appropriately. The family of Brian Cardall has said a Taser should not have been used in the situation.

Hurricane police have declined to comment as to why the officer chose to use a Taser instead of attempting to subdue Cardall with other methods. Thompson, one of multiple officers on the scene, waited 42 seconds after arriving before he deployed a Taser on a manic and confused Cardall, recordings show.

That move is concerning to Calderon, who said he doesn't understand why police are so quick to use a Taser. The devices weren't around when he worked in corrections from 1993 to 1998.

"Indiscriminate use of Taser guns is a cop out. There should be better training and stricter parameters before the use of a Taser gun is permitted," Calderon said.

Officers responding to the scene were informed by dispatchers that Cardall was bipolar and had taken Seroquel, medicine used to treat manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Anna Cardall told dispatchers she had given her husband the medicine 15 minutes before calling 911, but the drug usually takes an hour to "kick in," the recording shows.

Brian Cardall was naked and had been trying to direct traffic, the recording shows.

Anna Cardall told a dispatcher that her husband didn't have weapons on him. She stated he hadn't been drinking and wasn't under the influence of drugs, outside of the Seroquel.

Brian Cardall is heard moaning and screaming for about five seconds after Thompson first deploys a Taser on him. Following a two-second pause, Thompson deploys the Taser on Cardall again. He says in the recordings Cardall had tried to get up.

After the Taser was used on Cardall a second time, he quit breathing and had no pulse, officers state on the recording.

Washington County Undersheriff Jake Adams said Wednesday that his agency hasn't been contacted by the citizen review panel with a request to stop using Tasers, but would take such a request "into consideration."

He said the investigation into the Cardall case by the critical incident task force is continuing. The task force is comprised by 12 detectives from the Utah Highway Patrol, St. George Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Ivins Police Department and Washington City Police Department, Adams said.

EDITORIAL: Subdued to death

"As nonlethal weapons go, the Taser is by far the most lethal."

June 19, 2009
Salt Lake Tribune

The commands from police came in machine gun bursts -- loud, agitated, insistent, repeated. "Come here! Get down on the ground! Get down on the ground, now!" But Brian Cardall, naked and disoriented, didn't, and arguably couldn't, obey.

Cardall had an excuse for his actions -- stopping traffic, stripping, behaving irrationally. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was suffering a mental health episode.

The same can't be said for Ken Thompson, the Hurricane police officer who shocked Cardall with a Taser capable of delivering 50,000 volts, then jolted him again when the Flagstaff, Ariz., resident allegedly attempted to rise.

After Thompson arrived at the scene along State Road 59 in southern Utah at 1:17 p.m. June 9, it took just 42 seconds until he deployed his stun gun. Within minutes, Cardall was dead, the third Utahn to die after being shot with a Taser.

Not to reduce Cardall, 32, to a statistic. He was much more -- scholar, researcher, artist, musician, husband, son, father of one with another on the way. But the statistics are telling.

As nonlethal weapons go, the Taser is by far the most lethal. According to Amnesty International, which tracks Taser deaths and advocates for a moratorium on their use until the devices can be more extensively studied, at least 350 Americans have been subdued to death with the instruments since 2001.

Thompson says Cardall stepped toward him, a claim that one witness confirms, and another disputes. Cardall's family says Thompson used unnecessary force. The attorney hired by Hurricane says the officer acted appropriately.

Cardall was unclothed, so he was obviously unarmed. He was young and in shape, but hardly a physical menace. And his wife had told dispatchers that he had taken medication that would calm his behavior if given time. But Cardall ran out of time.

We won't attempt to try the case here. The Washington County Critical Incident Task Force is investigating. The county attorney will review the reports and decide if the use of force was justified under Utah law. A jury, either criminal or civil, may be asked to render a final verdict.

But there's a more wide-ranging problem to be addressed.

Arizona-based Taser International has sold stun guns to more than 13,400 police, military and corrections agencies in 44 countries. And while the company contends that its products are safer than other "nonlethal" weapons, the death toll continues to rise.

Law enforcement agencies that arm officers with Tasers need to revisit their use-of-force policies, which often put Tasers on par with pepper spray. It's time for police departments to reduce the seemingly casual use of the device; to make it the weapon of next-to-last resort.

Taser makers, users should reassess the device's safety

June 16, 2009
The Salt Lake Tribune

As a kid, Brian Cardall already had a bucket list -- dozens of "to dos." He wanted to be an Eagle Scout. Go on a mission. Get married in the temple. He planned to hike the Inca Trail and climb Mount McKinley.

It's safe to say: Cardall never got a chance to check all of them off. A week ago, he died after a Hurricane police officer jolted him with 50,000 volts of electricity.

Monday, family and friends, professors and students gathered at a Millcreek Stake Center to remember a young father and scientist cut down on a barren southern Utah highway.

He composed music, painted brilliant redrock hoodoos, wrote poetry. He balanced art with an agile, biologist's mind, collecting all manner of slimy specimens he crammed into his mom's fridge (with one nasty dinnertime surprise after she mistakenly cooked his research). His brother David envied his mountain man beard. He was always there to pull the fish off the line for his sister Jane.

"We will all feel that void. It will never be filled," said Carol Cardall Burgoyne, his older sister. "He had a profound impact on each of us."

Cardall's funeral was not about the way he died. But his muddled encounter with law enforcement in southern Utah -- the inexplicable waste and needless grief of it all -- hung over the mourners.

His father, KSL Editorial Director Duane Cardall, made allusions to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, another naked man "being treated ill by officers of the law."

The family and police dispute what happened when Brian Cardall's wife Anna called 911. Cardall, who was recently diagnosed as bipolar, became disoriented on the drive home to Flagstaff, Ariz. His wife said he had "full-blown lost it," stopped the car, took off his clothes and started walking on the road. Worried he would be hit by another car, she called police. Officers repeatedly told him to get on the ground. Then, one witness says, Cardall stepped toward them and an officer pulled his Taser. Cardall, 32, died almost instantly.

Hurricane's attorney, Peter Stirba, says the officer used his Taser appropriately. The family says the city has selectively edited the transcript; they plan to release recordings later.

"It is our hope as a family that we can follow the savior's example and hold no animosity, nor vindictiveness," Duane Cardall said Monday. "That doesn't suggest that there doesn't need to be accountability."

I feel for the officer. He has to live with the knowledge that his "non-lethal" weapon of convenience killed a brilliant young man with a young daughter, another on the way, and the prospect of a promising career as a teacher.

Ten years ago, police would have tackled Cardall and wrestled him to the ground. But now, Tasers are much more convenient, less messy. They've been used on grandmothers and autistic teenagers alike. UCLA police shocked a student who refused to leave the campus library. In Florida, officers zapped a student who wouldn't stop asking Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry questions. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled his electrocution-in-a-can a few years ago when a motorist argued about a speeding ticket.

Manufacturers have convinced U.S. law enforcement that Tasers are a harmless gadget just short of a gun. And while that may be true for most people who get zapped, the exceptions are piling up. Amnesty International estimates at least 300 people have been killed by Tasers since 1999.

"Tasers are being used as tools of routine force rather than as weapons of last resort," the human rights group says.

Maybe it's time Utah law enforcement started questioning the Taser manufacturers' propaganda -- so another Brian Cardall doesn't have to die.

KSL-TV editorial director's son dies after being tased by police

Taser International responds to yesterday's needless death of Brian Cardall, son of KSL-TV editorial director Duane Cardall. Taser International's response completely IGNORES the elephant in the room. At least 412 dead and counting.

June 9th, 2009 @ 11:00pm
Statement from Taser:

Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions on the cause of death. We believe that TASER® technology protects life and if called upon we are prepared to help the investigation of this unfortunate incident.

Although, no use of force device is risk free including TASER technology, when used properly, medical and law enforcement experts have concluded that TASER technology is among the most effective response to resistance available to law enforcement officers to halt potentially violent situations that may pose a safety risk to an officer, suspect or innocent citizens.

For the past two years, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has conducted a review and study of in-custody deaths which have occurred following the use of a TASER brand devices. The interim report, release last summer concluded in its findings that:

"Although exposure to CED is not risk free, there is no conclusive medical evidence within the state of current research that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of CED exposure. Field experience with CED use indicates that exposure is safe in the vast majority of cases. Therefore, law enforcement need not refrain from deploying CEDs, provided the devices are used in accordance with accepted national guidelines."

"While we continue to acknowledge that TASER® technology is not risk free, the NIJ report speaks volumes affirming our previous statements concerning the safety of TASER devices and provides an invaluable independent report to our critics.

STATS: As of March 31, 2009 TASER International has sold approximately 406,000 TASER® brand electronic control devices (ECDs) to more than 142,200 law enforcement and military agencies. There are 177 law enforcement agencies in Utah that deploy our TASER technology.

Sincerely,
Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications

Son of KSL-TV editorial director dies after tased by police
June 9th, 2009
By John Hollenhorst, KSL.COM

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A 32-year-old man died Tuesday afternoon after he was tased by a Hurricane police officer. Brian Cardall is the son of KSL's Editorial Director Duane Cardall.

He and his wife, who is six months pregnant, were traveling south on State Road 59 just outside of Hurricane after visiting his family in Salt Lake City.

According to his wife, Cardall, who has a recent history of mental illness, was having an episode prompting them to pull over to medicate.

Once stopped, Cardall got out of the vehicle and began to run down the road.

His wife called 911.

Not long after, she found out he had been tased and was unresponsive.

CPR was administered on scene. Cardall was taken to the Dixie Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

In a press release on its website, the Sheriff's office writes:

Police and medical personnel responded to a call for assistance with an agitated subject on State Route 59 this afternoon in Washington County. During the incident, a Hurricane City Police Officer deployed a taser and the subject lost consciousness. The subject was treated within moments by EMS personnel, but was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital.

Cardall was a doctoral candidate in biology at Northern Arizona University.

In a statement his family said, "Brian is a wonderful son, brother, father, and husband who loved being with people. He was full of personality and wanted to make a difference in this world. He was working on his PhD in Molecular Ecology at Northern Arizona University. He loved being in the outdoors and with his daughter Ava and beautiful wife Anna. We will miss Brian but are comforted by our faith."

Related: Police chiefs want more training for officers who deal with mentally ill
Officers are responding to an increasing number of calls for help or assistance and finding that someone involved is suffering from mental illness. Some police chiefs say more training is needed. The Washington County Sheriff's Office is investigating.