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Hillsborough widow sues Taser maker

She says the Taser model used to subdue her husband was defective and caused his death in Polk County.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published December 1, 2005

TAMPA - A Hillsborough County woman whose husband died last year after a Polk County sheriff's deputy shot him twice with a Taser is suing the weapon's maker.

Georgina Yeagley filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Hillsborough Circuit Court against Taser International Inc., alleging the M26-model Taser used on 32-year-old Jason D. Yeagley was "defective and unreasonably dangerous."

"If the Polk County deputy had known the truth about the potentially lethal effects of the Taser weapon, the deputy would have been dissuaded from shooting Mr. Yeagley," Pinellas Park attorney Joseph H. Saunders asserts in the 25-page suit.

A Polk County medical examiner concluded in March that Yeagley succumbed to withdrawal from the prescription drug Xanax and not the electric jolt he received from the Taser, a gun lookalike that shoots electrified wires instead of bullets.

Yeagley died from excited delirium, a psychotic and typically drug-induced state in which the heart is susceptible to cardiac arrest, the autopsy found.

But Yeagley's widow maintains her husband of seven years had "no drugs or alcohol in his system." Taser International failed to warn customers that the device is a "potentially lethal weapon" that can "cause severe electric shock injuries, including fatal cardiac arrest," according to the suit.

Georgina Yeagley, 35, is seeking damages to cover the financial and emotional losses she and their two young children have suffered as a result of Yeagley's death.

Taser officials could not be reached Wednesday, but they have long stood by the safety of the device, saying it reduces injuries and saves the lives of officers and civilians.

Yeagley, the first Polk County person to die after being shot with a Taser, got into a confrontation with a deputy on Aug. 28. Sheriff's officials say he wandered into traffic on U.S. 92 and was acting erratically. When a deputy tried to guide him out of traffic, Yeagley refused.

The deputy shot him with a Taser when he grew more violent, then shocked him again when he continued to struggle against her attempts to handcuff him. Yeagley went into cardiac arrest and later died at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

Georgina Yeagley's lawsuit is not the first filed against Taser International, a more than decade-old company that has faced increasing criticism in recent months.

In Phoenix, a former deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is suing the stun gun maker, saying he suffered a spinal fracture as a result of being shocked with a Taser in 2002 while he was being certified to carry the weapon.

Samuel Powers said the injury forced him to retire early after 16 years with the department.

Taser maintains its weapon wasn't responsible for the injury, pointing out that Powers had osteoporosis and had previously suffered two herniated disks in his back.

More than 7,000 police, detention and military agencies in 43 countries now have Tasers, reports Taser International. They are used by deputies in Pasco and Citrus, and police officers in Clearwater, Temple Terrace, Dade City and Port Richey. Tarpon Springs and St. Petersburg police got the okay to carry them a few months ago.

Taser's stock prices and sales have suffered amid reports of people dying after Taser hits and the lawsuits that followed.

Amnesty International has documented more than 120 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers. Most deaths were later attributed to drugs, pre-existing heart problems and excited delirium.

Henry Lattarulo, a Seffner man, died in May 2004 after a Hillsborough sheriff's deputy hit him with a Taser. The medical examiner's office concluded the cause of death was "accidental cocaine-induced agitated delirium."

Earlier this year, a medical examiner in Chicago became the first in the United States to attribute a criminal suspect's death to a Taser. The suspect had methamphetamine in his system when the officer stunned him, the Chicago Tribune reported.

This summer, Taser International issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration." For subjects in the state of excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks," Taser officials stated.

Later, Taser co-founder and president Tom Smith told the Times the bulletin simply "updated" warnings given in previous training manuals.

"We've gotten a ton of lawsuits this year against us," Smith said. "And we felt - and our attorney advised us - it was time to go out and say "Hey guys, here's the warnings again."'

Information from Associated Press was included in this story.

--Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 1, 2005, 01:06:06]