Was Justice Served in Nashville Police Taser Verdict?

From Nashville Scene - Photo Caption: "Say hello to my little friend, Mr. Excited Delirium"

May 20, 2009
By Jack Silverman, Nashville Scene

If Metro police did not use excessive force in the controversial 2005 death of Patrick Lee after a Taser incident, as was determined by a federal jury this week, I'd hate to see what happens when they do use excessive force.

Lee, who was under the influence of LSD and had stripped naked in the Mercy Lounge parking lot, was surely acting strangely. But clearly he wasn't armed, and at worst he was a public nuisance. That three Metro cops would need 19 Taser shots to subdue an unarmed, naked 21-year-old seems suspect, to say the least. And if he was that hard to subdue, what was the urgency if he wasn't threatening anyone?

The verdict is particularly troubling because the listed cause of death, "excited delirium," seems to have become a vaguely defined code term for unexplained deaths in police custody, particularly involving Tasers, as can be seen over and over and over and over again.

In a story reported shortly after the death, Metro medical examiner Bruce Levy told the Scene that, after a preliminary autopsy, "There was no clear-cut cause of death," and that he found "a multitude of superficial injuries" consistent with a parking lot struggle, but no broken bones or internal injuries.

And for those who think the LSD might have killed Lee, they're wrong. Pretty much any medical text on the subject will tell you that, while the drug can make you act pretty crazy, it won't kill you, even in very large doses.

I'd be curious to know how many deaths attributed to "excited delirium" did not involve Tasers, or at least police intervention of some sort.

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas' thoughts on the subject? "The Metropolitan Police Department continues to believe that Taser devices are an asset to law enforcement that actually help save lives and reduce injuries to officers and suspects."

19 stuns from Tasers not excessive in Patrick Lee's death, jury says

"The officers "were doing their best with the tools they were given," said John M.L. Brown, Mays' attorney."

Sickening.

May 18, 2009
By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN

A federal jury decided Monday night that Metro police officers were not at fault in the death of a man who was shocked as many as 19 times by Taser stun guns in 2005.

After deliberating for most of the day, the jury decided the three officers — Jason Creagan, Jonathan Mays and Jaime Scruggs — did not use excessive force in their handling of Patrick Lee, a 21-year-old who acted strangely and resisted arrest outside a downtown nightclub.

Lee was under the influence of LSD and stripped off all of his clothes during the incident. He died two days later.

Lee's parents, Bud Lee and Cindy Lundman, sued the officers, Metro government and Taser International in 2006. U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger dismissed all claims against Taser and some against Metro in January.

The officers "were doing their best with the tools they were given," said John M.L. Brown, Mays' attorney.

Dan Ruiz, Lundman's brother, said the family was very upset by the jury verdict.

"I don't know how that could happen with the evidence that was presented," Ruiz said by phone from West Palm Beach, Fla. "But that's the court system.

"My sister is pretty devastated. Her boy was killed, and she wanted vindication. But that's not going to happen right now."

Ruiz said he didn't know if his sister, a missionary in Ecuador, would appeal the verdict.

Officers removed from taser death lawsuit

Patrick Lee, 21, was HIT WITH A TASER NINETEEN (19) TIMES in September 2005. He died.

Official cause of death? "Excited delirium" of course. That thing that conveniently kills people dead when police are involved.

Taser International has been dismissed from the family's lawsuit. "Not enough evidence to try them." And the taser that was used NINETEEN TIMES on Patrick Lee? It was fine, just fine!! "There was nothing defective about it. There was nothing UNREASONABLY DANGEROUS about it, BASED ON ALL THAT THE PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEYS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DISCOVER ABOUT THE WEAPON over the course of a couple years."

(For more on what UNREASONABLY DANGEROUS means, see: Taser subtly shifts its safety claims again.)

The city of Nashville will remain part of the lawsuit. The judge said the use of a Taser was legitimate, but she wasn't sure if the officers were properly trained. "It is safe to say that Metro's own student guide left TASER-CERTIFIED OFFICERS with A POTENTIALLY CONFUSED UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHEN AND HOW THE TASER DEVICE SHOULD BE ACTIVATED, particularly if the first application did not have immediate effect."

And where on earth would the potentially confusing training material have come from? You guessed it!!

Meanwhile, over in New Orleans, Winnfield Police Officer Scott Nugent, was fired from his job and faces manslaughter charges after he shot Baron Pikes, also 21, with a taser gun ONLY NINE TIMES within 14 minutes in January 2008. The coroner found the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes to be homicide by Taser.

January 28, 2009
Reported By Dennis Ferrier, WSMV Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Patrick Lee was thrown out of the Mercy Lounge for bizarre behavior several years ago. The bouncers called police, and the trouble began.

Lee, 21, was hit with a Taser 19 times. More than a dozen police officers couldn't control the shirtless and seemingly super-strong young man.

Lee died there in police custody. The coroner called it drug-induced excited delirium. His dad, songwriter Earl Bud Lee, called it excessive force.

"I would just hope everybody would please, please not let this go away and respond to that Taser situation, because I do believe that's what killed him," Earl Bud Lee said in 2005.

But a grand jury decided nothing criminal happened, and so the family filed a civil suit for excessive force.

All of the officers on the scene, Taser -- the company that makes the weapon -- and the city for not properly training its officers were all sued.

Monday night, more than three years after the lawsuit was filed, Judge Aleta Traugher dismissed seven officers from the lawsuit as well as the company, Taser. There was not enough evidence, she said, to try any of them.

"The Taser weapon, the gun, performed just as it is supposed to perform," said Darrell Townsend, attorney and case analyst. "There was nothing defective about it. There was nothing unreasonably dangerous about it, based on all that the plaintiff's attorneys have been able to discover about the weapon over the course of a couple years."

What's left are three police officers -- the two that fired the Taser 19 times and the officer who held Lee with a knee in his back -- and the city, because while judge Traugher said the use of a Taser is legitimate, she said she isn't sure if the officers were properly trained.

Metro makes every officer take a four-hour Taser course before being issued a weapon. Each officer, including the chief of police, is also shot with a Taser just to understand how it works.

Traugher said, "It is safe to say that Metro's own student guide left Taser -certified officers with a potentially confused understanding as to when and how the Taser device should be activated, particularly if the first application did not have immediate effect."

That's why part of this lawsuit will go to trial.

After Lee's death in 2005, Metro police were stripped of their Tasers. Now only shift supervisors carry the weapons and must be called to a scene if responding officers believe a Taser is needed.

Treating "excited delirium" in Nashville

May 30, 2008
The Tennessean

Excited delirium often leads to difficult arrests because people are agitated, difficult to control and often violent. Metro police officials say it's a medical emergency that often appears to be a police emergency.

After Patrick Lee's death, the Nashville Fire Department developed a protocol to identify people in the heightened state and administer a shot of Versed, medicine similar to Valium, to calm agitation.

Fire department officials said they've used Versed five times since the policy was put in place in February 2006. Nashville Fire spokeswoman Kim Lawson said she is not aware of any situation in which a Taser was also used to subdue the patient.

Metro police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said the department doesn't track Versed use and can't say whether police were involved in the incidents or any patients were arrested.

Nashville police to return tasers to any trained officer

May 29, 2008
By KATE HOWARD, Tennessean.com

Metro Police announced today plans to return Taser stun guns to its regular arsenal, almost three years after removing them from all but high-ranking officers in the wake of a controversial death.

Police Chief Ronal Serpas said he’s carefully considered the medical research on the weapons, and he’s confident that the benefits — fewer fistfights with suspects who resist arrest — outweigh the perceived risks. Serpas said there is no credible research to suggest the Taser causes significant injury.

He said the department currently has no plans to make the $799 Taser X26 a tool on the belt of every Metro officer. Instead, the department will have a total of about 200 Tasers, enough for each on-duty officer who wants one to check it out for a shift. Only officers who take an eight-hour certification class will be allowed to use the Taser, Serpas said.

While Serpas said he thinks the Taser is a safe and useful tool that can prevent stronger use of force during an arrest, he said he won’t insist that any officer uncomfortable with the tool must use it.

“This is all about reducing injury and the number of times we have to go hand-to-hand with people,” Serpas said.

The 2005 death of 21-year-old Patrick Lee raised questions about the safety of Taser use. Lee was shot with a Taser 19 times outside a Nashville nightclub and died two days later. The autopsy cited his cause of death as excited delirium, a medical condition often associated with in-custody deaths of suspects using illegal drugs.

Taser jolts didn't lead directly to man's death

October 15, 2005
IAN DEMSKY, The Tennessean

Metro announces Patrick Lee's cause of death

October 14, 2005
By Bill Harless, Nashville City Paper

The state and Metro investigation of the Sept. 24 death of Patrick Lee has concluded, officials announced Friday.

The cause of death of Patrick Lee has been ruled as "Excited Delirium" and the manner of death could not be determined, according to a statement released jointly by the state and Metro medical examiners offices.

Lee died of cardiac arrest at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center a day after police shot him multiple times with a Taser the previous night at the Mercy Lounge music club.

Excited delirium is a condition under which "people who are under the influence of certain drugs or suffer from some types of mental illness suffer a cardiorespiratory arrest after a period of agitated and bizarre behavior," the statement said.

"This sudden cardiorespiratory arrest typically occurs after the person is subdued and restrained by either law enforcement or medical personnel, and happens with the use of many different restraint techniques."

LSD and marijuana were found in Lee's blood. "LSD intoxication is a known cause of excited delirium," the statement said.

"There is no evidence that any of the restraint techniques used that night on Mr. Lee by the Metro Police, including the Taser, directly caused Mr. Lee's cardiac arrest and death," said Davidson County medical examiner Bruce Levy in the statement.

"However, the combined effects of multiple applications of the Taser, pepper spray and physical force on someone in excited delirium are unclear and require additional research."

Police chief Ronald Serpas has directed the department to develop a "best practices" guide for officers when they encounter people with excited delirium.