A Detroit family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Warren police and the city after their son died of sudden cardiac arrest back in April of this year, when he was stunned with a Taser. After performing an autopsy, the medical examiner concluded that the boy had a genetic heart condition that caused him to have an irregular heartbeat, which also made his heart too weak to withstand the shock from the Taser.
The boy, just 16 years old, fled the car he was travelling in with his cousin after the police pulled the two boys over for having an expired license plate. The boy then ran into an empty house and attempted to resist arrest, at which point the police used the Taser to shock him. He immediately collapsed and the police continued to handcuff him until they discovered that he wasn’t breathing. They then attempted to resuscitate him without success.
Many residents in Warren are in an uproar over the police forces’ continued use of Taser guns. However, the Warren Police continue to defend the officers’ actions during the incident, saying they were simply following the department’s policy and the Taser is a non-lethal weapon. However, this is the second Taser-related death in Michigan this year alone.
recently named in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyer's In America, David Mittleman has been representing seriously injured people since 1985. A partner with Church Wyble PC—a division of Grewal Law PLLC—Mr. Mittleman and his partners focus on medical malpractice, wrongful death, car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home injury, pharmacy/pharmacist negligence and disability claims.
One Comment
tom
What I want to know is what lawyer made the facts in the case "disappear" (I am sure because the Police did not recover the bag of drugs)
Authorities told Local 4 Mitchell, who was a passenger in the car, had a black bag in his hand and bolted out of the car and ran into a vacant home on Pelkey Street.
"He came running down the stairs, he was sweating profusely, there was a struggle between him and the officer, and then second officer Tasered him," said Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Jere Green. The teen's family said he suffered from asthma. Police said an autopsy showed Mitchell had an enlarged heart but the Taser should not have affected that condition. Toxicology reports are still pending to identify an exact cause of death.
The bag that the teen threw on 8 Mile Road while he was running was not recovered. Police said somebody picked up the bag.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19148335/detail.html
Comments for this article are closed.