Deacon Frederick Williams Tasered to Death
Ahnimus
Posts: 10,560
I saw this video on shoutfile.com
I knew something like this would happen.
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/hpZvsY6J/Cops_Kill_A_Man_By_Tasering_Him._His_last_words_quot;dont_kill_mequot;.
Police taser a man while he screams "Don't kill me!" as the police are tasering him and his body is convulsing they yell back "Stop resisting!" the man dies in custody.
As for prosecution of the officers involved the DOJ has this to say:
To establish a criminal violation of the applicable federal civil rights law, prosecutors must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer “willfully” deprived an individual of a Constitutional right, such as the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force. Under the federal statute, to act “willfully” means to act with the specific intent to disobey or disregard the law. Accident, mistake, negligence, or bad judgment is not sufficient to prove such a violation.
After a careful and thorough review of the events leading up to Mr. Williams’ death, including examination of the videotape showing the use of the taser, we have concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that a willful violation occurred. Because the government could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that any law enforcement officer willfully deprived Mr. Williams of his Constitutional rights, federal criminal prosecution is not appropriate.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/09-27-2005b.html
Apparently being a negligent police officer and killing people is ok. So long as you are incompetent, you can murder people, but then you probably shouldn't be a police officer.
I couldn't find any major news articles mentioning this case except this one from ABC
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=2919037&page=2
Which reads (in part):
Balaban said that what cops and medical examiners are call excited delirium is really just routine mental illness. "The symptoms — unpredictability and irrationality are also the symptoms of mental illness. The mentally ill living on the streets often self-medicate by using drugs. Officers need to recognize the symptoms of mental illness rather than treat it with weapons." But physicians who have seen people in the throes of excited delirium insist it can't be mistaken for anything else.
Dr. Gary Vilke, an emergency room physician at the University of California at San Diego, said excited delirium causes police intervention, not the other way around. "These are people running around naked, breaking the windows of cars and getting the attention of police. … They are excited and delirious, hence the term. … Cops have to intervene, and a struggle is inevitable."
What's really killing these people isn't police brutality but an overdose of adrenaline, said Dr. Assaad Sayah, chief of emergency medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. According to Sayah, when people are abused by cops, the trauma is obvious. Excited delirium deaths, he said, are "not related to an actual trauma to the patient." Patients are having a "physical response to an actual psychological problem resulting in their autonomic systems producing too much adrenaline. It's like having too much nitrous in a car; eventually the engine will blow up. If there's any pre-existing condition, or if the patient is under the influence, there is an increased risk."
The use of electric stun guns or Tasers has also raised alarms. Activists like the ACLU's Eric Balaban believe that it's in the best interests of both the police and Taser International, the company that produces the weapons, to insist that excited delirium is real.
"The problem is police departments may be using what they call 'excited delirium' as a training tool to teach rookies what to do when confronting aggressive arrestees. Cops are told arrestees under excited delirium have superhuman strength, and cops escalate the confrontation because they've been trained to believe their lives are in danger.
Taser International is currently being sued by the family of Frederick Williams, who died in May 2004, when prison guards shocked him five times with a Taser. The medical examiner could not determine an exact cause of death. Taser International claims neither its weapons nor excessive force were the cause of Williams' death, but blames his death instead on excited delirium. No drugs were found in Williams' body at the time of his death.
I knew something like this would happen.
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/hpZvsY6J/Cops_Kill_A_Man_By_Tasering_Him._His_last_words_quot;dont_kill_mequot;.
Police taser a man while he screams "Don't kill me!" as the police are tasering him and his body is convulsing they yell back "Stop resisting!" the man dies in custody.
As for prosecution of the officers involved the DOJ has this to say:
To establish a criminal violation of the applicable federal civil rights law, prosecutors must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer “willfully” deprived an individual of a Constitutional right, such as the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force. Under the federal statute, to act “willfully” means to act with the specific intent to disobey or disregard the law. Accident, mistake, negligence, or bad judgment is not sufficient to prove such a violation.
After a careful and thorough review of the events leading up to Mr. Williams’ death, including examination of the videotape showing the use of the taser, we have concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that a willful violation occurred. Because the government could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that any law enforcement officer willfully deprived Mr. Williams of his Constitutional rights, federal criminal prosecution is not appropriate.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2005/09-27-2005b.html
Apparently being a negligent police officer and killing people is ok. So long as you are incompetent, you can murder people, but then you probably shouldn't be a police officer.
I couldn't find any major news articles mentioning this case except this one from ABC
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=2919037&page=2
Which reads (in part):
Balaban said that what cops and medical examiners are call excited delirium is really just routine mental illness. "The symptoms — unpredictability and irrationality are also the symptoms of mental illness. The mentally ill living on the streets often self-medicate by using drugs. Officers need to recognize the symptoms of mental illness rather than treat it with weapons." But physicians who have seen people in the throes of excited delirium insist it can't be mistaken for anything else.
Dr. Gary Vilke, an emergency room physician at the University of California at San Diego, said excited delirium causes police intervention, not the other way around. "These are people running around naked, breaking the windows of cars and getting the attention of police. … They are excited and delirious, hence the term. … Cops have to intervene, and a struggle is inevitable."
What's really killing these people isn't police brutality but an overdose of adrenaline, said Dr. Assaad Sayah, chief of emergency medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. According to Sayah, when people are abused by cops, the trauma is obvious. Excited delirium deaths, he said, are "not related to an actual trauma to the patient." Patients are having a "physical response to an actual psychological problem resulting in their autonomic systems producing too much adrenaline. It's like having too much nitrous in a car; eventually the engine will blow up. If there's any pre-existing condition, or if the patient is under the influence, there is an increased risk."
The use of electric stun guns or Tasers has also raised alarms. Activists like the ACLU's Eric Balaban believe that it's in the best interests of both the police and Taser International, the company that produces the weapons, to insist that excited delirium is real.
"The problem is police departments may be using what they call 'excited delirium' as a training tool to teach rookies what to do when confronting aggressive arrestees. Cops are told arrestees under excited delirium have superhuman strength, and cops escalate the confrontation because they've been trained to believe their lives are in danger.
Taser International is currently being sued by the family of Frederick Williams, who died in May 2004, when prison guards shocked him five times with a Taser. The medical examiner could not determine an exact cause of death. Taser International claims neither its weapons nor excessive force were the cause of Williams' death, but blames his death instead on excited delirium. No drugs were found in Williams' body at the time of his death.
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
There has been a green light on torture for detainees. In response to opposition, Bush passed further laws eroding prisoners rights. How nice. This kind of action and mindset spills over too all areas of legislation apparently. Set the standard others will follow.
Pretty messed up... Welcome the new Nazi mindset...
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")