Parents tell Taser inquest they hope son's death will bring change

July 19, 2013
Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press

MIDHURST, Ont. -- There's no doubt Aron Firman's death moments after he was Tasered by police was tragic -- all parties at the inquest examining the case of the mentally ill Ontario man agreed on that point.

But just how much of a role the electric stun gun played in the 27-year-old's death was the subject of much contention Friday before a jury retired to deliberate what's been described by Ontario's top pathologist as an "index case."

"There's clearly controversy around this case...specifically around the cause and manner of Mr. Firman's death," presiding coroner William Lucas said in his charge to the jury.

"The circumstances of the death of Mr. Firman have raised some questions."

Firman, a man with schizophrenia, died in June 2010 after an encounter with Ontario Provincial Police in Collingwood, Ont. Ontario's police watchdog cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, but said the Taser's deployment caused Firman's death.

Lucas suggested there were two possible ways to characterize Firman's cause of death -- "accidental," as Firman's family has suggested, or "undetermined," as Taser International has argued.

As he urged the jury to weigh all the evidence and testimony that has come before them, he warned the five-member panel not to resort to an "undetermined" cause of death as a matter of convenience.

"Finding a manner of death of "undetermined" should not be used simply as a means to avoid having to reach a conclusion which may be unpopular," he said.

The inquest, which has been sitting intermittently since April, has heard vastly different testimony from experts. Some have suggested that the use of a Taser on Firman was a key factor in his death. Others argued the stun gun had little to do with the fatality.

Firman's parents, who have maintained that their son would be alive if it hadn't been for the Taser, said they wanted his death to be a catalyst for change.

"I hope with all my heart that Aron's death will not be for nothing," father Marcus Firman said as he choked back tears. "My hope would be to come away from the inquest with a vision on how to go forward with dealing with mental illness."

Aron Firman was described by his father as a gentle, artistic and inquisitive man who was keenly aware of his "terrible illness." Both parents said their son's loss had left an aching void in their lives.

The lawyer for the Firman family suggested the jury deem Firman's death an accidental one in which the Taser was an important factor.

His argument was based largely on previous testimony from Dr. Michael Pollanen, Ontario's chief pathologist, who conducted Firman's autopsy and found the Taser was the "most immediate factor" in his death.

"If you find that the Taser was related in that death...the world will not end," lawyer Sunil Mathai told the jury.

"If you make that finding, you're not standing alone on that. You're standing with the chief pathologist of Ontario -- a man recognized worldwide as a leader in pathology."

Mathai also assured the jury that Firman's family was not seeking an eradication of Tasers.

"The family takes the position that Tasers have proper place in policing," he said. "This is not a Spanish Inquisition into Tasers. We are not seeking to remove them."

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Taser International has suggested Firman could have died from cardiac arrhythmia brought on by "excited delirium" -- a condition sometimes cited as a cause of death in people using cocaine or those with severe mental illness.

David Neave urged the jury to label the cause of Firman's death as "undetermined."

"The preponderance of the evidence that is now before the jury is that the Taser played no role in his death," Neave told The Canadian Press outside the inquest.

"I don't think it's an index case...This case is not about Taser discharge. This case is quite frankly about the state of excited delirium that Mr. Firman was in and the medical conditions or medical changes that that syndrome causes."

The jury is now considering how it can characterize Firman's death and may put forward recommendations on what can be done to prevent similar deaths in the future. It is expected to return with a verdict next week.

The use of Tasers by police has come under increased scrutiny over the years, particularly in the high-profile death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after he was Tasered several times during an altercation with RCMP officers at Vancouver's airport in 2007.

A public inquiry into Dziekanski's death has said multiple deployments of the Taser along with a physical altercation contributed to the circumstances that lead to Dziekanski's heart attack. The BC Coroners Service agreed with the conclusions of the inquiry.

Dziekanski's death led to a number of recommendations, which were implemented by all police officers working in British Columbia, including the RCMP. They included getting better training on Tasers, using the weapons only if there's a danger a suspect will cause bodily harm, and training officers in crisis management.

Firman's family made similar suggestions in 21 recommendations submitted to the jury on Friday.

They included asking the jury to recommend that Ontario Provincial Police provide annual, mandatory crisis intervention and resolution training, which would have input from mental health professionals and those with mental-health issues, and that the province appoint a co-ordinator for implementation of that training.

The family also wants the jury to recommend the OPP revise its use-of-force policy for conducted energy weapons so an officer is prohibited from using one unless satisfied that de-escalation or crisis intervention techniques haven't worked and no option involving less force will work to eliminate the risk of someone getting hurt.

A comment received today from "Gilbert"

I can’t believe the number of Canadian cops and even some coroners and judges who are still accepting Excited Delirium as a ‘cause-of-death’. Neither the CMA or AMA recognize it. Then the Braidwood Inquiry looking into the death of Robert Dziekanski blew the ED idea out of the water, as a concocted concept to help police explain away ‘unintended consequences’ during and after Taser incidents. Have you ever heard of ED mentioned in anything other than Taser-related fatalities?

Mother Jones published an eye-opening piece in 2009, right around the time when Taser International quietly announced in a training bulletin that officers should avoid chest shots because of proximity to the heart. That flies in the face of the claims made by the company a decade earlier, when its executives crowed about Tasers being safe to use on any assailant. Mother Jones reported the manufacturer’s questionable methods of promoting ED to anyone who would listen—mainly police and lawyers- through a second-party organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada! The article is a bit dated now, in that Taser has lost at least one other major product liability case- that being the late 17-year old Daryl Turner, who was stunned twice in the chest by a cop in North Carolina. The Turner family won a $10-million dollar jury judgement, although it was halfed on appeal. Taser was rapped for 'failure to warn' about cardiac risks; these are risks TI executives were told about in 2006 by one of their own scientists after one of their own healthy volunteers suffered a heart attack during a controlled experiment. Luckily a defib was nearby and the volunteer survived. They company kept selling product, only issuing the chest-avoidance warning in late 2009. That case set the legal precedent that Tasers can kill. Commissioner Braidwood concluded that too. And now, if you read the fine print you'll see TI itself is admitting its products can cause cardiac and metabolic changes that can lead to death.

Taser 'key factor' in Ontario man's death, says Ontario's top pathologist

Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press

Published Thursday, June 6, 2013 6:35AM EDT 

Last Updated Thursday, June 6, 2013 6:43PM EDT

MIDHURST, Ont. -- The death of a mentally ill man after he was Tasered by police three years ago was described as an "index case" by Ontario's top pathologist Thursday, as he identified the electric stun gun as a key factor in the fatality.

Dr. Michael Pollanen spent hours testifying at the inquest into the death of Aron Firman, a 27-year-old schizophrenic who died in June 2010 after an encounter with Ontario Provincial Police.

Pollanen called the incident "an accident" -- echoing a finding by Ontario's police watchdog that cleared the officers dealing with Firman of any wrongdoing.

"I have never seen a case where I was confident that you could link a Taser as factor in death, until this case," he told the five-member jury at the inquest.

"This is a first of its kind in Ontario."

Pollanen acknowledged there would be some who disagreed with his finding, particularly as the use of Tasers and their effects is still a growing field of study.

"There is unlikely to be entire uniform agreement on this case," he said. "But I would say it's too parsimonious to say the Taser was uninvolved in death."

Pollanen was careful to note, however, that while the Tasering of Firman was the "most immediate factor" in his death, it was not the only factor.

He described Firman's cause of death as "cardiac arrhythmia precipitated by electronic control device deployment in an agitated schizophrenic man."

But he also said Firman had a "moderately" enlarged heart -- though he did not have a specific heart disease -- and carried a gene which may possibly have made his heart more vulnerable to injury.

"The fatal outcome in this case likely presents the conjunction of many factors coming together at the same time," he said.

Pollanen made it clear he believed the use of Tasers by authorities had its benefits, and the electric stun gun's role in a fatality was rare, but nonetheless, he said, in some cases the use of a Taser does lead to death.

One possibility the chief forensic pathologist largely dismissed was a suggestion Firman could have died from a syndrome known as "excited delirium," which is sometimes cited as a cause of death in people using cocaine or those with severe mental illness.

A lawyer representing Taser International, which has standing at the inquest, took Pollanen to task on that point, arguing that Firman could very well have died due to excited delirium.

"I'm saying many factors of excited delirium are here," argued David Neave, who also said Pollanen had shown no objective published data which demonstrated that a Taser discharge can cause death.

For his part, Pollanen repeatedly told the inquest it was hard to determine the dividing line between severe agitation and excited delirium.

On that point, the lawyer for the Firman family argued that Firman had been severely agitated in the past but died after he was Tasered.

"It is the family's position in this inquest that if the Taser was not deployed and used on him, he would not have died," Sunil Mathai said outside the inquest.

Mathai added that the family agreed with Pollanen's noting of other factors which could have contributed to Firman's death, saying those elements contributed to "the susceptibility of his heart being captured by the Taser."

Firman's parents were present at Thursday's proceedings, as they have been throughout the inquest.

"It's been a very hard process for us to go through," Firman's father, Marcus Firman, told The Canadian Press.

"This is three years after the event and it brings everything back fresh."

The family is hoping that the inquest will lead to better guidelines around the use of Tasers by authorities and improved response techniques when police have to deal with agitated mentally ill people like their son.

The inquest began in April and was expected to hear from about 20 witnesses.

Aron Firman was a resident at a group home in Collingwood, Ont., at the time of his death.

A December 2010 report from Ontario's Special Investigations Unit said that on June 24 of that year two OPP officers responded to an assault complaint about Firman and found him sitting in a chair outdoors.

Both officers attempted to speak to "an agitated" Firman, according to the report. When they moved to apprehend him Firman got out of his chair and "moved aggressively" towards an officer, it said.

The second officer tried to intervene but was unable to do so as Firman hit her in the face with his elbow, said the report. Firman then moved toward the first officer who responded by discharging his Taser gun at him.

Firman was able to take a few additional steps before falling to the ground and losing consciousness, the report said. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In commenting on the case, the SIU director singled out the use of the Taser on Firman.

"In this incident, the Taser's deployment in my view caused Mr. Firman's death," Ian Scott said in his report.

While noting the responding officers had the authority to arrest Firman for assault and had not done anything wrong, Scott pointed out that the Taser is characterized "as a less lethal or intermediate weapon."

"In these circumstances, and in light of Mr. Firman's demonstrated degree of aggression, I am of the opinion that the Taser's deployment was not excessive, notwithstanding the fact that it caused Mr. Firman's demise."

The use of Tasers by police has come under increased scrutiny over the years, particularly in the high-profile death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after he was Tasered several times during an altercation with RCMP officers at Vancouver's airport in 2007.

A public inquiry in Dziekanski's death has said multiple deployments of the Taser along with a physical altercation contributed to the circumstances that lead to Dziekanski's heart attack. The BC Coroners Service agreed with the conclusions of the inquiry.

Deaths in Police Custody: Excited Delirium

Next On: Tuesday, 20:00 on BBC Radio 31 Jan 2012



SYNOPSIS

Inquests in England are increasingly hearing a new term to explain deaths in police custody: Excited Delirium. It's a diagnosis with origins in the United States, where it has been associated with consumption of massive doses of cocaine. People with ED are said to possess super-human strength and to be largely impervious to pain. They behave bizarrely, sometimes destructively. They often seem paranoid and frequently resist arrest. As police struggle to restrain them they overheat and die.

But critics -- including some British Pathologists -- point out that Excited Delirium is not recognised by the World Health Organisation and that there is a lack of valid research. Civil liberties organisations fear that the diagnosis might be employed to excuse improper use of restraint techniques by police.

For 'File on 4' Angus Stickler has travelled to the cocaine capital of the United States, Miami, where police and scientists are attempting to define and deal with the controversial condition.

And in England he speaks to families whose loved ones have died after being restrained by the police. Is Excited Delirium well-enough understood to be used by courts? And just how many people are dying while being restrained -- either in custody or while being arrested? Are the official figures reliable?


Producer: Andy Denwood.

BROADCAST
Tue 31 Jan 2012
20:00
BBC Radio 4

(There will be a transcript after the program)

Editorial: Delirious Fatality report

January 7, 2012
Calgary Herald

The fatality report into the death of Gordon Bowe adds ammunition to the argument that public inquiries too often become a waste of time and money.

Provincial Court Judge Heather Lamoureux’s recommendations are curious, in that they are almost entirely built around the theory that excited delirium is a legitimate medical condition, an assertion that’s controversial and widely disputed. She concluded Bowe, 40, died as a result of excited delirium syndrome, which she says was brought on by cocaine use, and not from the deployment of a Taser gun, used by Calgary police trying to subdue him.

Her nine recommendations in the seven-page report almost all deal with developing protocols around excited delirium, treating it as a legitimate condition without reference to the controversy or debate in the medical community. She calls for mandatory training of emergency response workers, police and dispatchers in identifying excited delirium, and wants a national database established, where police chiefs across Canada would “record and share information relating to death associated with Excited Delirium.”

There’s another school of thought that warns the controversial diagnosis of excited delirium is a distraction from the true cause of the medical condition that caused the death, and is used to justify use of force by police.

The exhaustive Braidwood inquiry into the Taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski heard overwhelming evidence that, while delirium is real, excited delirium is “NOT a valid medical or psychiatric diagnosis.” Moreover, it “provides a convenient post-mortem explanation for in-custody deaths where physical and mechanical restraints and conducted energy weapons were employed.”

Just a year ago, another provincial court judge in Halifax, who presided over an 11-month inquiry and wrote a far more comprehensive 460-page report, to Lamoureux’s seven pages, reached conclusions similar to Braidwood’s.

Provincial Court Judge Anne Derrick rejected excited delirium as the cause of death of a man Tasered repeatedly by police. She warned: “This case should sound a loud alarm that resorting to ‘excited delirium’ as an explanation for a person’s behaviour and/or their death may be entirely misguided.”

Excited delirium is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the medical community’s bible for diagnosing psychiatric illness. Even an independent report commissioned by the RCMP criticized the term and concluded it is sometimes used as an excuse to justify using a Taser.

All that aside, asking police officers to diagnose the mental state of an agitated suspect in the midst of a crime scene places too much responsibility on those who are not trained psychiatrists.

John Dooks, president of the Calgary Police Association union, offers another perspective. Dooks supports any tools that can help better educate and train officers, so that they are able to identify the symptoms described as excited delirium, regardless of whether or not excited delirium is a legitimate medical condition.

We agree there are physical attributes that are common in all of these cases that police would do well to understand and recognize. When these symptoms present themselves, police should refrain from using stun guns on the suspects, and call for medical help immediately. A public inquiry isn’t needed to reach that conclusion.

EDITORIAL: Delirious over delirium

The Globe & Mail NAILED IT in yesterday's editorial!!

January 4, 2012
Globe and Mail

Canada does not need a national delirium over “excited delirium.” This supposed cause of many deaths in police custody, including those involving the use of tasers, was laid to rest after the exhaustive Braidwood inquiry following the 2007 death of the Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

Why then has an Alberta judge ruled that Gordon Bowe, tasered and restrained by several officers, died from “excited delirium syndrome”? Why is Judge Heather Lamoureux of Alberta Provincial Court proposing everything from the training of police dispatchers in diagnosing “excited delirium” to the creation of a countrywide “excited delirium” database?

“Excited delirium” (overheating and wild behaviour) is a blind alley, not a recognized medical condition. It is a convenient way to avoid tough scrutiny of police practices that may contribute to death.

Mr. Braidwood, a retired appeal court judge, spent two years and oversaw two inquiries, one on the overall safety concerns around the taser, and one on Mr. Dziekanski’s brutal death after being tasered five times by the RCMP at the Vancouver International Airport. He spoke to experts in emergency medicine, cardiology, electrophysiology, pathology, epidemiology, psychology and psychiatry. Judge Lamoureux did not refer in her seven-page ruling to Mr. Braidwood’s 1,000-plus page reports.

Mr. Braidwood concluded that “excited delirium” is not a medical condition. By contrast, delirium is a recognized cognitive and brain dysfunction that is a symptom of an underlying medical condition. This is not just semantics; it points to the real problem – dealing with a sick individual without killing him. “It is not helpful to blame resulting deaths on ‘excited delirium,’ since this conveniently avoids having to examine the underlying medical condition or conditions that actually caused death, let alone examining whether use of the conducted energy weapon and/or subsequent measures to physically restrain the subject contributed to those causes of death.”

Mr. Bowe was on cocaine and acting wildly in a dark house. The tasering and heavy-handed restraint by Calgary police may or may not have been justified – though the judge should have questioned “kicks to the side of Mr. Bowe’s body.” Any policy built around “excited delirium” would be an irrational response to such a death. Judges and policy-makers should read Mr. Braidwood’s reports.

Alberta judge suggests database for excited delirium

WHO substaniates ED as being anything, beyond a wide list of symptoms? (Dr. Christine Hall?!) The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) doesn't recognize it. And Braidwood concluded ED is hokum. Who's right? Where is the definitive science on the subject?

WHY do you only hear of ED in the wake of CEW-related deaths?

WAS the output of the CEW 'measured'? If not, the ME acted without full information. In other words his conclusion is flawed.

Even if the CEW was measured, there would still be the little problem of protocol. The CPRC, RCMP, BC Solicitor General's Office and probably the Alberta government, have accepted the 600 Ohms test protocol from TI. This is exactly the same mistake made over a decade ago- no one in government verifying the scientific or medical claims. In this case it is a mode of measurement that is flawed: it is admitted by the developers from Carleton/MPB/Datrends that their test is 'uncomprehensive' and NOT independent. An inflated resistance value in the protocol IS, however, a good way to cover the tracks of past mistakes, as now virtually all CEWs will pass!

And if Gordon Bowe WAS suffering a truly psychotic episode (from cocaine or anything else) this is exactly the worst thing an officer could do. When in a state of fear, pain, high stress and agitation, your PH level in the blood is already plummetting; to add the pain and fibrillation of lactic-acid-producing muscles to the mix can be enough to take a vulnerable person over the edge.

January 3, 2012
CBC News

A fatality inquiry into the death of a man during an encounter with Calgary police recommends a national database on excited delirium.

It’s just one of nine recommendations released Tuesday into the man’s death after Calgary police used a stun gun to arrest him three years ago.

Officers found Gordon Bowe from Castlegar, B.C., behaving erratically in the basement of a vacant house in the southeast community of Fonda Park in 2008.

Police described Bowe as jumping and diving off walls, saying he fought against officers for several minutes during the arrest then was "very still and did not look like he was doing well."

Bowe was being restrained by four city police officers who had been called to investigate a possible break and enter. The 30-year-old had also been shocked with a Taser, although the stun gun did not appear to work according to officers.

The medical examiner's report said Bowe's death was caused by excited delirium due to high levels of cocaine, not the use of a Taser.

At the time, Bowe's family said the arresting officers should have recognized the state he was in and treated him accordingly.

Provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux had nine recommendations, including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police create a database to record and share details about deaths due to excited delirium.

"For the same rationale as a provincial system is required, similar reporting on a national scale would provide an enormous amount of data upon which the Canadian police chiefs could conduct research," wrote Lamoureux.

Officials with the organization were unavailable for comment.

More training needed

Another key recommendation is that all police agencies in Alberta train their officers annually in the identification and management of excited delirium incidents, and that training should involve real case studies and scenario-based training.

Lamoureux noted Calgary police are already training officers about the condition, but it's not being done throughout the province.

The report also suggests that all 911 call takers and dispatchers providing services to police agencies receive updated training on excited delirium.

Excited delirium, also known as autonomic hyper-arousal, is characterized by increased strength, paranoia and suddenly violent behaviour. It is further marked by profuse sweating and an elevated heart rate.

Dr. Christine Hall, an expert on excited delirium from Victoria, is attempting to document all excited delirium cases across the country which involved police restraint.

Hall testified last year at the inquiry there is insufficient data to determine whether all cases of excited delirium lead to death. But she said the risk of death increases with physiologic stress, such as a physical encounter with officers.

She suggested police need to better recognize the symptoms of the condition and try to reduce the stress of people they are placing under arrest.

"It was Dr. Hall's observation that more time must be taken to teach police that individuals who 'give up' suddenly during a physical interaction with police may in fact be in need of urgent emergency care," said the judge's report.

Controversial diagnosis

Two years ago, a judge examining the death of a man Tasered by Halifax-area jail guards ruled out the cause of death as excited delirium. The judge in that case, Anne Derrick, ruled Howard Hyde died because jail guards applied restraint techniques that interfered with his breathing. Hyde was a longtime paranoid schizophrenic.

Derrick noted there is considerable controversy within the medical community as to whether excited delirium is a legitimate condition.

The issue came under scrutiny during the public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died in 2007 after he was Tasered by a Mountie at Vancouver International Airport.

A subsequent independent report commissioned by the RCMP also criticized the use of the term excited delirium. It said the condition is sometimes used as an excuse to justify firing stun guns.

In 2009, the RCMP restricted the use of stun guns to cases involving threats to officers or public safety, because officers had been instructed to use the weapons to subdue suspects thought to be in a state of excited delirium.

That term no longer appears in RCMP operational manuals, because the force believes officers can't be expected to diagnose it.

Montreal police officer blamed for the abuse of the Taser

Google auto-translation
This article has been translated from French to English, with a little help from me.  French version follows at the end.

September 28, 2011
Caroline Touzin, La Presse

The Police Ethics Committee reprimand a Montreal police officer for using a stun gun six times in less than a minute against Quilem Register, who died in hospital four days later.

In a decision that has not yet been made ​​public, but La Presse has obtained, the Committee concludes that the officer Yannick Bordeleau has "abused his authority, using a greater force than necessary to accomplish what he was permitted to do."

His colleague Steve Thibert is also blamed for "not having respected the rule of law by not intervening in the abuse of the DAI (stun gun) by the agent Bordeleau."

October 14, 2007, in the Saint-Michel, the two officers wanted to challenge Mr. Registre because he failed to make a stop at the wheel of his car. The 38-year-old driver refused to stop and collided with three parked cars on 23rd Avenue before stopping.

Police then noticed that the driver, still in his car, was intoxicated and agitated. The agent Thibert shouted "Taser! Taser!" to his colleague, who was holding the man, his hand resting on his chest, while the latter gave him a kick.

According to the two officers, Mr. Registre had symptoms of a person suffering from "excited delirium". The officer Bordeleau said that the suggestion of his colleague to use the stun gun was "ideal circumstances", it said in the 27-page decision of the tribunal.

The agent Bordeleau gave a first discharge. "Would not it have been more appropriate for police to get Mr. Registre out of his car and control him immediately? asks the decision's author, Richard W. Iuticone.

Although this control was necessary, the Committee gives the benefit of the doubt to officer Bordeleau as to his decision to deploy the DAI (stun gun) once on Mr Registre. "

The five other discharges were "exaggerated", the Committee concludes, however. From the first shock, Mr. Registre fell to the ground, face down, hands under him. The police did not move. But they knew that the muscle contraction caused by the discharge lasts five seconds. "So, enough time for them, being a few feet from Mr. Registre, to fall on him, grab his arms and handcuff him," says the Committee.

"Officer Bordeleau approached Mr. Registre only after the fifth discharge, simply, during the second, third and fourth shock shouting at Mr. Registre to show him his hands," says the Committee.

The tribunal noted the testimony of a use of force expert from the National Police Academy, Bruno Poulin, who said a person with "excited delirium" cannot understand the orders of a police officer.  The Committee was also "troubled" by the slow reaction of Officer Thibert, who approached Mr. Registre "only during the second shock" and did not physically neutralize him until after the fourth discharge.

At the time of his arrest, Registre was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. He was taken to hospital. He lost consciousness in the ambulance. His condition rapidly deteriorated to the point where he had to be operated on four times. He died Oct. 18.

At the conclusion of an investigation in August 2008, coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier concluded that stun gun discharges were not sufficient to cause the death of Mr. Registre, but that they were "possibly involved." He received a total of six discharges for a total of 300 000 volts in less than a minute. He had liver, colon and small bowel necrosis.

Last year, the Registre family filed a $500,000 civil suit against the City of Montreal and the two officers involved. The case is still before the courts.

Le Comité de déontologie policière blâme un policier de Montréal pour avoir utilisé un pistolet électrique six fois en moins d'une minute contre Quilem Registre, mort à l'hôpital quatre jours plus tard.


**********French Version*************

Dans une décision qui n'a pas encore été rendue publique, mais que La Presse a obtenue, le Comité conclut que l'agent Yannick Bordeleau a «abusé de son autorité, en utilisant une force plus grande que celle nécessaire pour accomplir ce qui lui était permis de faire».

Son collègue Steve Thibert est aussi blâmé pour ne pas «avoir respecté l'autorité de la loi en n'intervenant pas lors de l'utilisation abusive du DAI (pistolet électrique) par l'agent Bordeleau».

Le 14 octobre 2007, dans le quartier Saint-Michel, les deux agents ont voulu interpeller M. Registre parce qu'il avait omis de faire un arrêt obligatoire au volant de sa voiture. Le conducteur de 38 ans a refusé de s'arrêter et a heurté trois voitures garées sur la 23e Avenue avant de stopper sa course.

Les policiers ont alors remarqué que le conducteur, toujours dans sa voiture, était intoxiqué et agité. L'agent Thibert a crié «Taser! Taser!» à son collègue, qui retenait l'homme, la main appuyée sur sa poitrine, pendant que ce dernier lui donnait des coups de pied.

Selon les deux agents, M. Registre avait les symptômes d'une personne atteinte de «delirium agité». L'agent Bordeleau a estimé que la suggestion de son collègue de se servir du pistolet électrique était «idéale dans les circonstances», peut-on lire dans la décision de 27 pages du tribunal administratif.

L'agent Bordeleau a donné une première décharge. «N'aurait-il pas été plus convenable pour les policiers de sortir M. Registre de sa voiture et de le contrôler immédiatement? se demande l'auteur de la décision, Me Richard W. Iuticone. Bien que ce moyen de contrôle s'imposait, le Comité donne le bénéfice du doute à l'agent Bordeleau quant à la décision qu'il a prise de déployer le DAI (pistolet électrique) une première fois sur M. Registre.»

Les cinq autres décharges étaient «exagérées», conclut toutefois le Comité. Dès la première décharge, M. Registre est tombé au sol, à plat ventre, les mains sous lui. Les policiers n'ont pas bougé. Or, ils savaient que la contraction musculaire provoquée par la décharge dure cinq secondes. «Donc, assez de temps pour eux, étant à quelques pieds de M. Registre, pour se jeter sur lui, lui saisir les bras et lui passer les menottes», conclut le Comité.

«L'agent Bordeleau s'est approché de M. Registre seulement après la cinquième décharge, se contentant, pendant les deuxième, troisième et quatrième décharges, de crier à M. Registre de lui montrer ses mains», relève le Comité.

Le tribunal souligne à grands traits le témoignage d'un expert en utilisation de la force de l'École nationale de police, Bruno Poulin, selon qui une personne en «delirium agité» ne peut pas comprendre les ordres d'un policier.

Le Comité se dit aussi «troublé» par la lenteur de réaction de l'agent Thibert, qui s'est approché de Registre «seulement pendant la deuxième décharge» et ne l'a neutralisé physiquement qu'après la quatrième décharge.

Au moment de son arrestation, Registre était sous l'influence de l'alcool et de la cocaïne. Comme c'est l'usage, il a été transporté à l'hôpital. Il a perdu connaissance dans l'ambulance. Son état s'est rapidement détérioré, au point où il a dû être opéré quatre fois. Il est mort le 18 octobre.

Au terme de son enquête, en août 2008, la coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier avait conclu que les décharges de pistolet électrique n'étaient pas suffisantes pour causer la mort de M. Registre, mais qu'elles y avaient «possiblement contribué». Il a reçu en tout six décharges pour un total de 300 000 volts en moins d'une minute. Il avait le foie, le côlon et l'intestin grêle nécrosés.

L'an dernier, la succession de Registre a intenté une poursuite civile contre la Ville de Montréal et les deux policiers en cause. Elle réclame 500 000 $. La cause est toujours devant les tribunaux.

Family finds closure in fatality inquiry of man who died after being Tasered

August 26, 2011
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

The family of a man who died after being jolted by police with a stun gun during an arrest nearly three years ago walked away from a fatality inquiry Friday with a better understanding of what happened.

However, although they now know for sure Gordon Bowe was afflicted with cocaine-induced excited delirium syndrome, they say they still are not totally clear about why he died on Nov. 1, 2008, after allegedly breaking into a home on 42nd Street S.E.

“It answered a lot of questions for me,” Robert Bowe of Vancouver, the father of the deceased, said outside court. “I still have some doubts about some of the things that happened, but I don’t put any blame on the police officers or anybody else involved.

“Some of the procedures and training (of police) may be inadequate when it comes to this type of thing.”

Robert Bowe said he still believes the use of a stung gun should be a last resort and, if possible, officers should avoid trying to restrain someone in such a heightened state for as long as possible.

“Let it run it’s time out and if the person doesn’t survive, there’s even more evidence to try to help educate people,” he said. “I feel good about the outcome of this (evidence). It’s just a sad thing my son happened to be one of the very few.”

He said it was more likely his son, in the state he was in, was not trying to hurt anyone, but it was a chemical imbalance and he was fighting for his life.

It was determined after the fact that Gordon Bowe, 30, suffered from excited delirium and that the stun gun deployed by the city police officer, one of four officers trying to restrain him, did not play any role in his death.

The devastated father also warned all young people that they should never take illicit drugs even once, because they are then susceptible to excited delirium.

John Chernenkoff, the deceased’s father-on-law, said he feels a lot better after hearing the evidence at the inquiry, but said he is not happy with the discrepancies between the evidence of the police officers and the report by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

“What happened in this incident, as far as the outcome, is still up in the air,” he said. “We will be making some recommendations. We’ve drawn up a few, but we want to finalize them before presenting them to the judge.”

Mary Erschbamer, Gordon Bowe’s stepmother, said she was happy to find “he was not a criminal, that this was an illness.”

Dr. Christine Hall of Victoria, who has done extensive research on excited delirium for the past decade, told court that it would be beneficial to better understand the rare illness. She added it would be beneficial if police agencies keeping track of all such in-custody incidents were to provide better data to herself and other researchers.

Currently, she said, they are only scratching the surface and still face great opposition from critics in the medical field.

She told Crown lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess said she wished more physicians were involved in assisting the study, but it’s a tough sell because of the level of personal criticism she faces from a skeptical portion of the medical field.

“It’s difficult to engage physicians in a controversial topic, but if we had better data and better understanding scientifically, that would be much easier,” Hall testified.

“Also, just for people to realize we’re talking about a very, very small proportion of people, as we understand at the moment. So changing things isn’t rapid, but we need to follow it. . . . This notion that it’s all a giant coverup and it’s all a big conspiracy theory, we’re really ignoring the medicine.”

Robert Bowe said he was pleased with the studies Dr. Hall is doing on the illness now and will continue in the future.

“She’ll possibly have some recommendations to have better procedures for the future to stop deaths when police encounter this situation,” he said.

Provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux invited all interested parties — the family, Calgary Police Service, Taser International, Alberta Health Services and Emergency Medical Services — to provide suggested recommendations to her by Oct. 31.

She will then file a report outlining the evidence and recommendations, if any.

'Excited delirium' very real, MD says

August 26, 2011
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

The officer who fired his Taser at a man who had allegedly broken into a southeast residence says it would have been difficult to do things any differently, given the information he and his fellow officers had.

"If at the time we knew the house was 100 per cent vacant, our tactics could have changed," Const. Stefan Van Tassell testified Thursday at a fatality inquiry.

"If there was nobody else in the house and he only could have harmed himself, we could have bought more time."

Van Tassell said it was only later determined that Gordon Bowe, 40, was in a state of excited delirium when he and other officers arrived at what they believed to be an occupied home in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E. on Nov. 1, 2008.

The four police officers involved in subduing Bowe, including Van Tassell, were subsequently cleared of any potential wrongdoing and the investigation concluded the stun gun did not play any role in the man's death.

Dr. Christine Hall, a Victoria emergency room physician who has spent the past 10 years researching excited delirium syndrome, said Calgary police are "the gold standard" in incorporating training of the rare affliction.

"We're trying to give police agencies enough to know what to deal with," she testified. "A lot of people don't believe there is something significantly different about people who die in custody and the thinking is 'whoever touched him last must have caused his death.'

"But as a medical researcher, you look at the cases, you change the names, places and dates, and it's the same symptoms."

Hall said some doctors have never seen excited delirium and "think it's crap," but hers and other researchers' goals are to define the factors that police should be aware of when dealing with someone who has excited delirium.

She said such people are agitated, incoherent, are often partly naked and exhibit enormous strength.

Hall said she has submitted a research paper on the subject to the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, to help identify the symptoms and how to handle someone with excited delirium.

"It's very easy after the fact to look back and have all the cards fall and say, 'How couldn't I see that?' " she told provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux, who is hearing the inquiry into Bowe's death.

"But it might not be an obvious thing while it's going on. Even though you're educated, you're not expecting that to happen. You have no idea somebody is going to die."

Court previously heard that Calgary police dealt with 37 arrests of people with excited delirium over the most recent three-year period examined.

She said it is being examined where such a suspect might be sedated from a distance, but that is difficult because of dosages and concerns the person might flee before it takes effect and either be injured or passed out somewhere unknown.

Van Tassell told Crown lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess that he and his partner arrived at the home and he used his flashlight to see the intruder through a broken window into the dark basement.

"I observed him in the baseent," Van Tassell said, alludng to Bowe.

"He was very irritated and aggressive. He was shouting, flailing his limbs about. I announced, 'Calgary police, you are under arrest,' several times. He didn't acknowledge me. I continued to issue challenges to him."

The officer said he then drew his Taser gun and deployed it through the open window and saw the man fall backwards, but he got up again fairly quickly and began moving toward him.

Van Tassell said he then went into the basement and saw Bowe running back and forth. He fired the stun gun two more times, but believed he missed the target at least once before he went down.

"I pulled the Taser, because it was the most effective means of taking him under control without injury," the officer told court.

Van Tassell said it took four officers, including himself, to finally handcuff Bowe. It was only after they got the cuffs on him that they suspected he was in an excited delirium and they summoned paramedics.

Van Tassell said he could not specifically recall if he had warned Bowe that he was intending to use his Taser if Bowe didn't comply.

The officer said the man was grunting and snorting heavily and never did give a verbal response. It was only at the point that he was handcuffed and subdued that it was suspected he might be in a state of delirium from use of illicit drugs.

"He wasn't communicating properly, just grunting, and I realized excited delirium was a possibility," Van Tassell recalled, "but I couldn't say with certainty he had excited delirium.

"He had been running around flailing, not fully clothed, but it was not until after the cuffs were on we thought it might be excited delirium."

The fatality inquiry continues today.

Police defend use of stun gun on delirious man

August 25, 2011
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — The city police officer who fired his stun gun at a man who had allegedly broken into a southeast residence says it would have been difficult to do anything differently, given the information he and his fellow officers had at the time.

“If at the time we knew the house was 100 per cent vacant our tactics could have changed,” Const. Stefan Van Tassell testified at a fatality inquiry.

“If there was nobody else in the house and he only could have harmed himself we could have bought more time.”

Van Tassell said it was only later determined that the man they encountered, Gordon Bowe, 40, was in a state of excited delirium when he and other officers arrived at what they believed to be an occupied home in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E. on Nov. 1, 2008.

The four police officers involved in subduing Bowe, including Van Tassell have been cleared of any potential wrongdoing and the investigation concluded the stun gun did not cause the man’s death.

Van Tassell, now in his seventh year with Calgary police, told Crown lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess that he and his partner arrived at the home and he used his flashlight to see the intruder through a broken window into the dark basement.

“He was very irritated and aggressive,” Van Tassell said. “He was shouting, flailing his limbs about. I announced ‘Calgary police, you are under arrest,’ several times. He didn’t acknowledge me. I continued to issue challenges to him.”

The officer said he then drew his stun gun and deployed it through the open window and saw the man fall backwards, but got up again fairly quickly and began moving toward him without saying anything coherently.

Van Tassell said he then went into the basement and saw Bowe running back and forth. He fired the stun gun again twice, but believed he missed the target at least once before he went down.

“I pulled the Taser, because it was the most effective means of taking him under control without injury,” the officer told court.

Van Tassell said it took four officers, including himself, to finally handcuff the large man while he was on the basement floor.

It was only after they got the cuffs on him that they suspected he was in an excited delirium and they summoned the awaiting paramedics.

Van Tassell said he could not specifically recall if he had warned Bowe that he was intending to use his Taser if he didn’t comply, but said it was standard practice to do so.

He said once Bowe was under control and searched for any weapons, some of the officers went to clear the residence, to be certain there was nobody else inside.

The officer said the man was grunting and snorting heavily and didn’t give a verbal response. It was only at the point that he was handcuffed and subdued that it was suspected he might be in a state of delirium from use of illicit drugs.

“He wasn’t communicating properly, just grunting, and I realized excited delirium was a possibility,” Van Tassell recalled. “But I couldn’t say with certainty he had excited delirium.

“He had been running around flailing, not fully clothed, but it was not until after the cuffs were on we thought it might be excited delirium.”

Excited delirium is described as a condition that includes a combination of delirium, physical agitation and anxiety that can include hallucinations, speech disturbances and disorientation that can lead to an elevated body temperature and superhuman strength.

Court heard previously that police deal with about a dozen cases a year of excited delirium. Although they are trained how to deal with such suspects, it is not always apparent initially what they are facing.

The inquiry continues through Friday.

Cops unable to curb excited delirium custody deaths, inquiry told

August 24, 2011
Kevin Martin, Calgary Sun

Regardless of restraint method, police forces continue to have in custody deaths related to excited delirium, a senior Calgary officer told a fatality inquiry Wednesday.

Insp. Chris Butler said cops have tried various methods to limit the number of suspects who succumb to the syndrome, including Tasers.

But despite efforts to find ways to subdue out-of-control individuals, police haven’t been able to find a way to reduce such deaths.

“No matter how we change the method of restraint to try to maximize the rate of survival, we still have in-custody deaths,” Butler testified.

He said the Calgary Police Service abandoned neck restraints in the early 1990s, using pepper spray instead, when it was believed the choke holds were causing deaths.

But when fatalities continued in North America, groups such as Amnesty International called for the banning of OC spray, believing it was to blame, Butler said.

Since then, the CPS has resumed training officers to use neck restraints in some instances when trying to subdue individuals, he said.

Butler was giving evidence at a fatality inquiry into the death of Gordon Walker Bowe, who succumbed to excited delirium on Nov. 2, 2008.

Bowe was shot with a Taser gun during his arrest the previous evening, when he was found in an agitated state in an under-construction home on 42 St. S.E.

A report from Taser International said the weapon discharged an electrical current for two to five seconds, but officers on the scene said it appeared to have no effect on Bowe.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for the U.S.-based company said his client is not looking at developing suspect-debilitating dart guns.

Inquiry Judge Heather Lamoureux had asked in June, whether “medical restraints” could be delivered through weapons.

“I raised the issue with Taser, they’re not working in that area at all,” David Neave told Lamoureux.

“It’s difficult to, from a distance, provide, or administer a drug that will calm a person down sufficiently to take them into custody,” Neave said.

The hearing, which can make recommendations to prevent similar deaths, but cannot find blame, resumes Thursday.

Four officers fought to subdue man in tragic struggle

June 15, 2011
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Police had no alternative but to use physical force to subdue a man who was combative in resisting arrest, one of four officers who struggled with him at a southeast home testified at a fatality inquiry on Wednesday.

Const. Aron Johnston said it was believed that Gordon Walker Bowe, who allegedly broke into the unoccupied home on Erin Meadows Close on Nov. 1, 2008, was in a state of excited delirium.

“It was like bull wrestling ... he had incredible strength,” Johnston told lawyer Chad Babiuk, who represents Bowe’s relatives. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.

“Excited delirium has been recognized for 25 years. The best example I can use to describe it is ‘an adrenalin overdose.’ ”

Bowe, 40, was Tasered by one of the officers and died later at hospital, although it was subsequently determined by the medical examiner and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team that the Taser played no role in his death.

Court heard earlier he had consumed cocaine prior to the incident.

Johnson said he never saw the Taser being used, but did see the stun gun laying on the floor by the door after the struggle, picked it up and put it into his pocket.

He said he and his partner were about the fourth police car to arrive at the home that night.

Johnson said he looked in through a basement window into the dark bedroom and saw what looked like an intense struggle between Bowe and other officers.

“The officers were challenging someone to stop resisting and show his hands,” Johnston told Crown lawyer Cynthia Hykaway. “They were trying to get him to co-operate and restrain him. They were almost pleading with him to stop fighting.”

The officer said he entered the home and joined the other three officers.

They soon got Bowe to his knees, but he wasn’t giving up.

“I thought the officers were losing grip on the fight, so I kicked him, jumped on top of him and held him. It was like wrestling. I held him tight.”

Johnston said the suspect continued to wriggle and kick, trying to break free, then suddenly “the movements of his body were less and less” and after 15 seconds he stopped resisting.

The constable looked up and saw fellow officers Dave Stewart and Stefan Van Tassel were pouring sweat and breathing heavily.

It was only then, he said, that the rest of the house was checked for other people and EMS personnel who had been waiting outside the home were summoned to come inside.

When asked by Babiuk why the paramedics were not called in earlier, so they would be available immediately after Bowe was subdued, Johnston said they could not come in while a struggle was ensuing and the house was not cleared to ensure no other suspects were inside.

“We would never call EMS into a scene we don’t feel is safe. It was a fast-paced situation when we have someone who has committed a break and enter to a house and we don’t know if anybody else is in there,” he answered.

“I’d find it extremely difficult to have medical personnel standing behind us when there was a struggle with Mr. Bowe. Having medical personnel in the room when there is a major struggle would be dangerous.”

The inquiry before provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureaux wraps up later today (Wednesday), the resumes on Aug. 24.

The judge in a fatality inquiry cannot find fault, but can make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Taser CEO testifies at fatality inquiry

June 14, 2011
Kevin Martin, Calgary Sun

Startled, a Calgary judge nearly jumped from her chair Tuesday when she thought a witness had activated a Taser gun.

But Rick Smith, CEO of Taser International Inc., assured provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux the weapon he held on the witness stand was completely harmless.

Smith, using a Taser borrowed from the Calgary Police Service, was showing Lamoureux how the weapon is deployed by peace officers.

But when he clicked a disposable cartridge which contained the weapons darts and wires, Lamoureux jumped back.

“Ew, did you load it?” the judge said.

“No, because the battery is not in,” Smith said.

Smith, who founded the company which makes the law enforcement weapon, was testifying at a fatality inquiry into the death of a man in police custody.

Lamoureux is presiding over the hearing to determine what, if any measures, might be implemented to prevent deaths in the future like that of Gordon Walker Bowe’s.

Bowe’s November, 2008 death is being blamed on excited delirium syndrome, a drug-induced condition.

The 30-year-old was shot by police with a Taser when they found him in a vacant house under construction in the 500 block of 42 St. S.E., although the device didn’t conduct an electrical shock.

Smith testified that while there has been significant litigation commenced over the use of Tasers in the U.S., only one case in 140 that have been settled found any fault for his company.

In that instance, the weapon was determined by a jury to be a 15% contributor in the plaintiff’s death, he told inquiry lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess.

But while his company now instructs cops to aim towards the abdomen of suspects, instead of chest areas to avoid the risk of cardiac arrhythmia, there’s no evidence linking Tasers to heart attacks.

The hearing, which can’t find blame, resumes Wednesday.

Officer says man 'appeared crazy'

June 15, 2011
By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

A city police officer called to a break and enter at an Erin Woods home on Nov. 1, 2008, testified on Tuesday that it quickly became apparent the intruder was in a state of excited delirium.

"He appeared crazy," Const. Dave Stewart told Crown lawyer Cynthia Hykaway during the second day of a fatality inquiry into the death of Gordon Walker Bowe.

"His speech . . . I couldn't make out what he was saying. There was incredible jumping and sweating."

Stewart said he had some experience dealing with delirium in recruit training, but never dealt with a suspect before or since that day.

Bowe, 40, was Tasered by a fellow officer and died in hospital, but it was later ruled the stun gun did not play a role in his death. Rather, it was deemed to be from the delirium caused by use of cocaine.

Dr. Sam Andrews, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Bowe, earlier told co-Crown lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess there was no physical evidence that both probes from the Taser struck Bowe. He agreed that even if the Taser was properly deployed and successful in giving a deceased electrical charge, it had no prolonged effect on him.

Andrews said the state of delirium was caused by the use of cocaine, likely from a binge situation.

Rick Smith, CEO and founder of Taser International in 1993, told court there have been 170 civil litigation cases in the United States where the weapon was used and of the 130 or so completed cases, only once has Taser been deemed even partially responsible -and it was only for 15 per cent of the cause of a death.

He said most of the cases have been triggered by the victim taking toxic doses of amphetamines.

Smith, who demonstrated the use of the gun while in a safe mode without its battery, said they are now being equipped with video cameras to see what occurs for the five seconds or so they are being deployed.

However, he added, officers are using head cams to be able to capture not only the firing time, but what leads up to it and afterward, to give it context. That, however, was not the case in the confrontation with Bowe.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) investigated the actions of four Calgary police officers in the death of the Castlegar, B.C., resident, who travelled back and forth to Calgary for work, and reported there would be no charges laid against the officers.

ASIRT concluded Bowe, 30, was high on cocaine and died of excited delirium and not as a the result of a Taser or police actions.

The fatality inquiry continues today, then will be adjourned until Aug. 24 for continuation. A fatality inquiry cannot find fault, but the judge can make recommendations.

Inquiry probes 2008 arrest death

June 13, 2011
CBC News

An inquiry began Monday about a B.C. man who died after Calgary police used a stun gun to arrest him three years ago.

Gordon Walker Bowe, a 30-year-old resident of Castlegar, B.C. died one day after he was arrested in Calgary while intoxicated by cocaine on Nov. 1, 2008.

The father of two was taken into custody after officers found him behaving erratically in the basement of a vacant home in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E.

Staff Sgt. Jim Gamlin — who was a team commander for the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which probes any use of force by police that results in serious injury or death — told the inquiry that officers struggled to subdue Bowe, even with several Taser shots.

ASIRT's probe concluded in 2009 that while a Taser was fired during the arrest, Bowe had "life-threatening levels of cocaine in his body."

Bowe's death was caused by excited delirium due to the ingestion of cocaine, ASIRT said, citing the medical examiner's report. The medical examiner is set to testify on Tuesday along with a representative from Taser International, the makers of the stun guns.

Provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux will hear three days of testimony from witnesses before the proceedings adjourn, to resume again in August.

N.S. government trying to hide cause of Hyde's death, sister says

May 13, 2011
By MICHAEL MacDONALD The Canadian Press

The sister of a mentally ill Nova Scotia man whose death in a jail cell prompted a public inquiry is accusing the Nova Scotia government of trying to hide the cause of Howard Hyde's death.

Joanna Blair has written a scathing letter to Premier Darrell Dexter, saying she is ``shocked and saddened'' by the government's official response to the inquiry, released Thursday.

Blair's letter says the government has ``failed'' her brother and all Nova Scotians because its response is at odds with the inquiry's conclusion that Hyde's death was caused by a struggle with guards whose restraint techniques may have interfered with his breathing.

Instead, Blair says, the government's response revives a medical examiner's conclusion that Hyde died of a condition known as excited delirium due to paranoid schizophrenia — a controversial finding rejected by the head of the inquiry, provincial court judge Anne Derrick.

``This 52-page brochure ... succeeds only in propounding the use of the term 'excited delirium,''' Blair writes in the letter, released Friday.

``We requested the inquiry because we did not believe my brother died of the now renamed 'autonomic hyperarousal state.'''

The government's response says the province has yet to clarify its guidelines for Taser use, saying a ``clear understanding of how the use of conducted energy weapons may affect individuals in an autonomic hyperarousal state is needed.''

A spokeswoman for Dexter confirmed his office received the letter, but the premier had yet to read it.

In her inquiry report released in December, Derrick said she agreed with one expert who testified that citing excited delirium as a cause of death resulted in Hyde being ``identified as the culprit.''

``The only useful approach is to understand that Mr. Hyde died because of physiological changes in his body brought on by an intense struggle involving restraint,'' Derrick wrote. ``He did not die because he was mentally ill.''

She also said there is considerable controversy within the medical community as to whether excited delirium is a legitimate medical condition.

The issue received considerable scrutiny during Derrick's 11-month inquiry, as it did during the public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died in October 2007 after he was Tasered by a Mountie at Vancouver International Airport.

A subsequent independent report commissioned by the RCMP also criticized the use of the term, saying the condition is sometimes used as an excuse to justify firing stun guns.

In February 2009, the RCMP restricted the use of stun guns to cases involving threats to officers or public safety, confirming that officers had previously been instructed to use the weapons to subdue suspects thought to be in a state of excited delirium.

That term no longer appears in RCMP operational manuals because the force has taken the position that its officers can't be expected to ``diagnose conditions.''

In her letter, Blair also suggests it was wrong to describe her brother as mentally ill.

``That the government of Nova Scotia could attempt to mask the actual cause of death, restraint, and couch my brother's fate within the fabrication of the ignorant and unthinking terminology of 'mental illness' — a term he never agreed with — is staggeringly disheartening.''

During Derrick's inquiry, which wrapped up last June, the judge was told Hyde had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was in his 20s.

Fatality inquiry to focus on drug-induced delirium

April 7, 2011
Kevin Martin, Calgary Sun

The fatality inquiry into the death of a man who died shortly after his arrest by Calgary police will focus on “excited delirium,” the judge hearing the case said Thursday.

But the family of Castlegar, B.C. resident Gordon Walker Bowe said they don’t accept the drug-induced syndrome is what caused his death.

Widow Zoya Chernenkoff and her father, John, will be in attendance when the inquiry begins June 13 into Bowe’s Nov. 2, 2008 death following his arrest.

“I seen Gord when he was hooked up to life support in the hospital,” the man’s father-in-law told the Sun from his B.C. home.

John Chernenkoff said Bowe’s neck was swollen, leading him to believe police had knelt on him to subdue him, cutting off oxygen to his brain.

“It’s obvious he received a heck of a beating,” he said.

“That’s what caused the circulation to his brain to be cut off and that’s what caused his death,” he suggested.

Calgary provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux told a pre-inquiry conference with lawyers handling the case she wants the hearing to centre on police and paramedic training in dealing with excited delirium cases.

“I think the focus is to see exactly what the police are doing now (in terms of education) ... and what the current education is for paramedics on what excited delirium is,” Lamoureux said.

“Paramedics are the first responders” in most cases, she said.

In August, 2009, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) released findings that exonerated police in Bowe’s death, saying it was a result of excited delirium syndrome, due to, or as a consequence of cocaine toxicity.

ASIRT said at the time police attempted to Taser Bowe, 30, to subdue him after finding him in a vacant house under construction in the 500 block of 42 St. S.E., but the device didn’t deploy.

Among the witnesses Lamoureux will hear from is someone from Taser International, which will have counsel representing it at the inquiry.

The judge also wants to hear expert evidence about excited delirium, the results of the ASIRT investigation and the medical examiner’s findings.

Taser shocks didn't kill Galeano: expert Steve Gray

March 24, 2011
Sydney Morning Herald

A man repeatedly tasered by police did not die from the shocks, an inquest into his death has been told.

Pathologists said Antonio Galeano, 39, died as a result of his drug use and advanced heart disease.

Mr Galeano died in June 2009 after police were called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's house in the town of Brandon in north Queensland.

Senior Sergeant Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times, although the Taser he used registered 28 applications.

Professor David Williams said he did not believe the Taser had caused Mr Galeano's death. He said the man had an enlarged heart, severe coronary heart disease and was in a state of "excited delirium" caused by his methamphetamine use. Mr Galeano was "a man walking a tightrope", Prof Williams said. He was at risk of dying at any time, particularly when in a state of excitement or after blood loss, he said. He said Mr Galeano's heart weighed 500 grams, compared with 350-390 grams expected in a man of his size.

Prof Williams told the inquest he had no previous experience of Taser post mortems and little experience of people who died in a state of excited delirium.

"I felt there was no connection between the tasering and the death, because tasering is an external event and shouldn't affect the heart," he said.

"Tasers are not a threat to life, that's my bottom line," Prof Williams said.

Questioning of the professor about an Amnesty International report into 334 deaths attributed to Tasers was delayed after objections from some of the 13 lawyers attending the inquest.

World-renowned cardio-pathology expert Professor Steven Karch agreed that excited delirium or the condition of Mr Galeano's heart were the likely causes of death, but it could not be confirmed.

While he could not prove excited delirium could be fatal, he said he was "pretty sure" it was.

He said one study showed a 10 per cent mortality rate from excited delirium but "in anecdotal discussion with emergency department doctors they say it's common as dirt".

The San Francisco-based professor said he believed Mr Galeano was "stimulated maximally" and would have been impervious to pain, with a brain "short-circuited" from dopamine release.

"They could have tasered him all day long ... it wouldn't have made any difference."

Prof Karch said he believed heart failure or drug use were the likely causes of death.

The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements.

Fatality inquiry scheduled for Gordon Walker Bowe

November 5, 2008: Clifton Purvis, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, said the autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. The results, including toxicology tests, will take weeks, he added. "It would be inappropriate to comment on the actions of police officers at this time," said Purvis. "That's what our goal is, to examine the actions of the police officers and determine what their conduct was, whether it was appropriate or inappropriate." He said the team is made up of civilian investigators and seconded police officers who report to him, not their police chiefs. "I can tell you it will be independent because I'm heading the investigation, reviewing the investigation, and I'm the one deciding whether charges should be laid against police officers or not," said Purvis. "I'm not a police officer. I'm a lawyer with the prosecution service and I'm not beholden to anybody," he said.

May 8, 2009: "The Taser was deployed once, I don't know if he was struck." Alberta Serious Incident Response Team director Clifton Purvis

August 6, 2009: The taser was deployed three times, he [Alberta Serious Incident Response Team director Clifton Purvis] said, and twice it was not effective due to the missing prong. It was fired in “stun mode” a third time during the struggle with Mr. Bowe. Mr. Purvis said he's satisfied that Mr. Bowe died of excited delirium syndrome related to cocaine toxicity, not as a result of the taser.

Well, then, it's a foregone conclusion, isn't it??

OOPS - Wait just one minute:

"It is not helpful to blame resulting deaths on “excited delirium,” since this conveniently avoids having to examine the underlying medical condition or conditions that actually caused death, let alone examining whether use of the conducted energy weapon and/or subsequent measures to physically restrain the subject contributed to those causes of death." - Braidwood Report, July 2009

BOWE, Gordon Walker, 30, Calgary

On November 1, 2008, Gordon Bowe became unresponsive after being restrained as a result of an altercation with police. He was transported to hospital and died November 2, 2008.

Inquiry Date Scheduled: June 13-21, 2011, 9:00 a.m., Calgary Provincial Court, Judge H.A. Lamoureux

Pre-Inquiry Conference Date Scheduled: May 9, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Calgary Provincial Court