The Associated Press reports:
A medical examiner must change her autopsy findings to delete any reference that stun guns contributed to the deaths of three people involved in confrontations with law enforcement officers, a judge ruled.
Friday's decision was a victory for Taser International Inc., which had challenged rulings by Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler, including a case in which five sheriff's deputies are charged in the death a jail inmate who was restrained by the wrists and ankles and hit with pepper spray and a stun gun.
Kohler ruled that the 2006 death of Mark McCullaugh Jr., 28, was a homicide and that he died from asphyxiation due to the ``combined effects of chemical, mechanical and electrical restraint.''
Visiting Judge Ted Schneiderman said in his ruling that there was no expert evidence to indicate that Taser devices impaired McCullaugh's respiration. ``More likely, the death was due to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia brought on by severe heart disease,'' the judge wrote.
Schneiderman ordered Kohler to rule McCullaugh's death undetermined and to delete any references to homicide.
The judge also said references to stun guns contributing to the
deaths of two other men must be deleted from autopsy findings. Dennis
Hyde, 30, died in 2005 after a confrontation with Akron police, and
Richard Holcomb, 18, died the same year after being hit with a stun by
a police officer in suburban Springfield Township.
John Manley, a Summit County prosecutor who represented
Kohler, said the judge's order went too far. The county is considering
an appeal, he said.
``Taser is quite a force to be reckoned with and does
everything to protect their golden egg, which is the Model X26,''
Manley said.
That blue wall of silence just got a little thicker...corrupt judge protects pigs and money interests...what else is new?
Obviously this judge is in the wrong field. He's exactly the sort of expert we need in the morgues. What makes these "medical examiners" so special anyway? What qualifies them to determine a person's cause of death? All autopsies should go to trial from now on so we don't end up with these medically trained jackasses shoveling more of this "objective truth" down our throats.
quote: What qualifies them to determine a person's cause of death?
how about years of study?
the judge studied law and not medicine. so what is his excuse to be a bigger jackass ? (by your definition)
I am not a lawyer or a doctor, but i know enough that electricity and bodies don't mix well, and its bollocks to say there is no chance a combination of attacks/defenses used couldnt have added to impaired respiration..
ever seen someone that takes a small shock? (think electric fence) .. muscles contract and you can not stop your body from doing so - period (watch the brainiac simple tests to see if you can do 'random activity' while getting small shocks - all failed but made entertaining tv)
there are loads of muscles in your body, and i can perfectly envision a person having a hard time breathing while getting sprayed and receiving shocks - you do realise tazers are a bit more powerfull as your regular electric fence to keep cows in ? - and being restrained by several people ...
but yeh.. go ahead and think what you want
I would bet money the second commenter was being sarcastic :/
The judge was probably paid off, the three men probably DID die from being tased, and the judge telling the medical examiner to not use words inferring homicide was ridiculous. It sounds like yet another public service official is in the business of being "bought".
this is not the judges fault, he was constrained by statute. this is one case where the law is indeed and ass.
Someone should investigate that judge. It looks like he was obviously bought off.
He should get charged with conspiracy to commit murder/obstruction of justice.
28 year old kid with severe heart disease? Doubtful, but can't they verify wether or not he even HAD heart disease? That judge doesn't sound like a doctor, but they surely could get a doctor to make that judge sound more like a jackass
Ignore me I'm talking bollocks
Tasers and stun guns are the "restraining weapons" of the past. Now there is the microwave gun, it is much more accurate, powerful, and deadly.
However, maybe you think that since you are a law abiding citizen, "they" are providing you with safety and protection. Sheeple, look up! Your skies are filled wiuth the ABC's of chemtrails, aluminum, barium and cadnium. All heavy metals. All for your greedy little lungs to inspire and expire you with!
Silly Yanks !!!!
The 'Law' as you will know, is based upon logic, and is a branch of Philosophy.
If we here in Limeyland have a system of law that is quite unaffected by idiots with vested interests, why do you not ???????
Quite clearly, if they fellow died due to 'Fatal cardiac arrhythmia brought on by severe heart disease ' then that too would show in the Autopsy Report ????
Also, it is clear that quite a few people have died, after being Tased, so for any sort of Judge to hand down a decision like this, runs counter to what the public can actually percieve, ergo, you people need to sort out your system of Jurisprudence.
Man the truth is going out the window all around us these days.I don't know about your god but my god isn't going to like this excuse for injustice.man has lost his conscious and is no longer interested in humanity or compassion or justice.We all know tasers kill people.WE do not need a judge to hide these findings from official reports for us to know the facts.There are other official records aside from his to keep track of all those murdered by the taser.Many Thanks to John Alexander and his work with the the pentagon's obsession with death and suffering for inventing such a potentially lethal control weapon.Im sure he and his cohorts will burn in hell for eternity for all the suffering they have caused upon humanity.Its a wonder they can sleep at night.
I bet if a paramilitary policeman had a taser used on him at a demonstration while he and 6 of his buddies were beating the shit out of a bystander and he died, you or I would be charged with murder.
These fuckers might as well be called double 00's they have a license to kill any time they choose to.
The law is not an ass, only lawyers and judges can do that. And dumb juries.
This reeks of corruption and politically correct speech.
Tasers kill and everyone knows it.
Truth and justice are not found in court. Once you understand this fact you will never be upset with any ruling and you will begin to see the logic behind them The entire system is corrupt from the top to the bottom.
There a few honorable attorneys and judges, but not many.
Surely there will be an appeal.
I have a good idea. Let us take this bush terrorist kangaroo court "judge" and tase him. Now that would be taxpayer money well spent!
Would this freedom, constitution hating criminal change his mind?
You can bet on it!
The TASER manufacturer was recently exposed as having lied. The company wrongfully claimed that they prevailed in all of the lawsuits over their product.
Sadly, this grim tool is here to stay so, try really hard not to get arrested. But, if arrest is imminent, remember, one thing hasn't changed; "You can beat the charge but you can't beat the ride!" Because folks, if you get Tasered or stomped and/or bludgeoned into a coma the cop will likely beat the rap because you resisted.
The only people who should be getting Tasered are those who are combative because they're literally out of their minds and don't see it coming. Those who are warned but continue to "argue their case on the side of the road" are just plain stupid because the arrest will stick and the charges against the cop won't.
Because the TASER reduces injuries to cops (because it ends confrontations so quickly) and its use doesn't look nearly as violent as the "Rodney King Rhythm Stick Party" video, the Taser is probably here to stay.
It's just a matter of time before some court rules that "those who were TASERed then died during arrests succumbed as a result of their own misadventure-resisting a police officer in the lawful performance of her/his duties." This is a fundamental plank of common law, and will likely be extended to fatal TASER use soon. And, barring some startling new medical evidence that decision will be upheld and stand forever.
____________________________________
Some folks go to political protests knowing that they may never be the same after horsies step on their faces, and some folks just have to resist arrest, and I understand that. Personally, I'd rather make my stand in court where I have a chance of winning because a jury, not a cop is the final arbiter in the matter.
I cannot live within a society of so many fat, stupid, ignorant, and false religious morons. Please get me off this God Damned Planet and to somewhere where truth, justice, logic, books, study, science, love, excellence, quality, and compassion reign. I truly wish the religious right mutants which number in the hundreds of millions could be helped, yet they are perfectly possessed and beyond all reason. In effect, they are already in hell.
Same as always, cops kill and walk, judge supports it. Now its back to age where you do as you are told and dont walk outside your ruler's lines.
Jim
Schneiderman is now an accessory to serial murder.
He was a visiting judge, of course he was paid off.
Visiting Judge Ted Schneiderman. And doesn't the last name spell it out for you?
SEVERE HEART DISEASE AT AGE 28???!!! I don't think so. I think Taser International gave the "visiting" judge a "gift."
Wait, so a Doctor -- an expert trained in medical examination -- states his point of view... and a Lawyer that cheated & lied his way into the Courtroom says that there's no expert medical evidence...
what???