Subject:  Fieger to Represent Family of Tasered Teen |
Author:
Chris
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 03/29/09 7:33pm
Posted: Tuesday, 24 March 2009 7:09PM
Attorney Fieger to Represent Family of Tasered Teen
Southfield (WWJ) -- Geoffrey Fieger and his law partner Ven R. Johnson announced Tuesday that they will represent the family of 15-year-old Brett Elder who died shortly after police used a taser to subdue him.
Amnesty International, an outspoken critic of Tasers, said that Elder's incident illustrates the dangers of the weapon.
Bay City police answered a disturbance call about 3:40 a.m. Sunday and said an officer used a Taser on Brett Elder after he tried to fight with them. An autopsy was conducted on Monday, but a cause of death has not yet been determined, said Lt. John Card, commander of the state police's Bay City post. He said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Amnesty International's London office issued a statement Tuesday saying the death ``reinforces the need for greater caution'' before Tasers are distributed more widely.
The group issued a call for further tests of the safety of the weapon.
``Tasers should only be used in life-threatening situations, and this doesn't appear to be such an instance,'' said Oliver Sprague, director of Amnesty International's arms program in Britain. ``Surely another form of restraint could have been applied in this case.''
Bay City police turned the case over to Michigan State Police for investigation and placed one officer on administrative leave while it conducts an internal probe of whether its rules were followed.
City police Chief Michael Cecchini defended his officers' actions at a news conference Tuesday.
Cecchini said officers were trying to settle a verbal dispute between Elder and a man. Officers stepped in when the youth became unruly and took a ``fighting stance'' against the police, the chief said.
The youth ``attempted to go after the other man he was arguing with,'' Cecchini said. ``Officers intervened, and a Taser electronic control device was deployed for one five-second cycle to subdue Brett.''
The officers handcuffed Elder but saw he was having a medical problem and gave assistance while calling an emergency medical crew.
Attorney Fieger said in a statement Tuesday, "Less that 48 hours since Brett's death and the Bay City Police Department has already cleared the perpetrator. Even worse the Michigan State Police is conducting an independent investigation into this matter and it was improper for Bay City to announce any conclusions without an independent investigation."
Fieger also stated that although the results of the autopsy are pending, he expects that they will show the Elder died from being electrocuted by the taser causing his heart to defibrillate.
Amnesty is ``inappropriately jumping to conclusions'' about the incident in Bay City, said Steve Tuttle, spokesman for Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International.
``The Taser itself has saved thousands of lives, and medical science has shown it to be the safer alternative compared to any other tool on an officer's belt today,'' Tuttle said.
Tuttle said individual law enforcement agencies design protocols for use of the Taser, but most use it under the same rules as pepper spray.
``We stand behind the safety of our Taser devices, and medical science supports this stance, especially in terms of human testing,'' he said.
Elder's father, Eugene Elder, told The Bay City Times that while his son was unruly, police shouldn't have used the Taser on him.
``There's no reason to kill my boy,'' the father said.
Amnesty International said the death was the second of a minor in the U.S. this year and one of 351 deaths after use of a Taser in the U.S. since June 2001. Tuttle said the Taser has been exonerated as a cause or contributing factor in the vast majority of deaths.
Brett Elder would have turned 16 on Tuesday.
(AP contributed to this report.)
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 