Nude Man Tasered, Causing Him To Fall To His Death

[Julius Civitatus]

Source: The Huffington Post, NY Post

NEW YORK — A naked, distraught man fell to his death after a police officer shocked him with a Taser stun gun as he stood on a building ledge, authorities said.

The man, Iman Morales, 35, was pronounced dead at a hospital after his nearly 10-foot fall Wednesday. Police said he suffered serious head trauma when he hit the sidewalk.

The death of the man, who witnesses and neighbors said had become distraught and had threatened to kill himself earlier in the day, brought renewed focus to the use of Tasers by the police.

It also raised questions over why Morales was shocked with the stun gun when there was no inflatable bag placed on the sidewalk to catch him if he fell.

"They didn't try to brace his fall. They did nothing. I've seen a lot of things in my time. But what they did was wrong," said neighbor Kirk Giddens, 39, in Thursday editions of the Daily News.

In a video posted on the Web site of the New York Post, Morales can be seen clambering along a building's fire escape until he reaches a ledge and begins swinging a large fluorescent light bulb at officers below. One of the officers raises a Taser at Morales, who freezes and topples over headfirst.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/nude-man-tasered-causing_n_129194.html

---

You can see the video here:

http://www.nypost.com/video/

[bowens43]

1. the a**hole who did this needs to go to jail. nt

[Warpy]

11. Pretty clear case of manslaughter, IMO

That cop knew tasering somebody would make him fall.

[VeraAgnes]

15. Sounds to me that he, the dead guy, that

he was severely disoriented. I think the Taser was intended to stop him in effort to try and prevent harm. The intent on the police were to secure his safety since he was unsafe at the time of the action. Shirt happens even when good intentions sadly fail.

[Warpy]

16. So they made him fall to prevent him from jumping?

Sure, perfect logic there....

[VeraAgnes]

17. The intent was to stop him.

I see no malice in this event. Sorry, the choice was not thought out in my opinion. It was my understanding that the police need to call a superior before using a Taser......maybe not, but if so, then the Officer had clearance....just a bad outcome unforseen.

[WattleBreakfast]

20. STOP HIM FROM WHAT???

You are arguing "the intent was to stop him." What where they intending to stop?

Can answer this question in any logical way? If you can't then you are just being an apologist.

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. Silence came the stern reply. What sort of malevolent half-wit would have

authorised the use of a tazer on the man? Oh, yes, an American police officer in a position of some responsibility. Seems that word will need to be redefined.

[Warpy]

21. Anybody with the faintest knowledge of physics

meaning stuff high up will fall off if you push it plus the taser training that demonstrates that tased people will fall should have known what would happen.

If not, he's too stupid to be trusted with a taser and should be put into a group home where he can be supervised.

[yellowcanine]

22. "just a bad outcome unforseen" What is not forseeable about it? Seems pretty clear to me that if

you taser a guy standing on a ledge he is going to fall off. Doesn't exactly take a lot of thought to figure that out.

[tabasco]

38. You're a fucking idiot

without a goddamn clue.

[crossroads]

37. The logfic boggles my mind! nt

[struggle4progress]

28. Cops: Taser on nude man apparently violated guidelines

NYPD reassigns cops involved in using stun gun on disturbed man who fell to his death in Brooklyn

BY JOHN VALENTI AND ROCCO PARASCANDOLA
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
12:11 PM EDT, September 25, 2008

... "While officers had radioed for an inflatable bag as the incident unfolded, it had not yet arrived at the scene when Morales fell," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said in a prepared release. "None of the . . . officers on the scene were positioned to break his fall, nor did they devise a plan in advance to do so."

Police said the order to use a Taser in such circumstances appears "to have violated guidelines," reissued on June 4, 2008, which specifically state: "When possible, the CED should not be used . . . in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface." ... http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nytase0926,0,4323189.story


Statement From the New York City Police Department
Published: September 25, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/nyregion/25taserletter.html

[1monster]

29. If that is the case, then the police officer doesn't have the brain power to be allowed to

even look at a tazer, let alone touch and operate one.

Any resonable person, especially a person who has had any kind of training with tazers, would know that tazering a person who is standing on a ledge is going to make the person fall off the ledge.

That's murder in my humble opinion, not poor judgement with good intentions.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Fucking cops. It's a good thing I don't have a taser.

[fascisthunter]

3. Tasers Should Be Outright Banned

[VeraAgnes]

19. That will not happen.

They have upgraded the Taser in many ways. One that I read about here on DU is that they have wireless tasers. They shoot it with a shot-gun and any shot-gun will work with the cartridges..

[fascisthunter]

24. I Could Care Less If They Were Upgraded

what do sell these things too?

[VeraAgnes]

31. Market Target

is Law Enforcement and Swat as well as some military.

Hey, I'm just the messenger.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/07/taser-goes-wire.html

[fascisthunter]

32. Yeah But You Blame the Victim in order to defend a Taser Gun

I think that's a bit ....odd. Is using a taser THAT important... is it a power tripping thing or the sheer enjoyment of zapping people with a new weapon?

[VeraAgnes]

33. Whoa..........you can't be directing that post towards me.

If so, you are filling in data not there with your own speculation and falsehoods.

[fascisthunter]

34. well you did defend the use upthread

and you never answered that poster's question regarding what the Taser was supposed to stop. Seems like you were defending it's use....

[Joe Chi Minh]

26. don't bank on it. I notice you didn't answer the poster's question,

"Stop him from what"?

[grannie4peace]

4. i don't like them doing that--tasers are wrong!!!!!

[Demit]

5. Sounds like murder to me.

[jrockford]

14. Nothing will happen. Rarely does and that's sad. nt

[VeraAgnes]

18. Oh you can not be serious.

:shrug:

[Demit]

35. Oh but I am.

[yellowcanine]

23. Probably not murder but could be negligent homicide. The ONLY justification for tasering this guy

would be if he had a weapon and if his hands were empty it is pretty clear he wasn't hiding a weapon somewhere.

[ManiacJoe]

27. A common misconception.

If he had had a weapon in his hands, the cops would have shot him with a real gun. Tasers are used in response to non-lethal threats.

But, yes, the cops were negligent and in violation of their training.

[crim son]

6. Ooooooh! A deadly fluorescent light bulb.

If that cop isn't permanently relieved of his duty... I will not be surprised. What WOULD surprise is if there was any repercussion for this incident. Tasers must GO.

[lostnotforgotten]

7. The Police Are "Out Of Control" With Tasers IMHO

eom

[Indenturedebtor]

8. The police are out of control period!

They're charging people with assault for farting! FARTING! They tased this guy to death over a lightbulb! What the hell? Are they going to start shooting people for not offering them milk and cookies when they come to search your house?

[Blaze Diem]

9. Agreed. Could have just pulled out his gun & shot the guy off the ledge

Or climbed up there and shoved the man off the ledge.

Stupid fuck.

He needs to be imprisoned for murder.
They knew NOTHING about this man.

[Sam Ervin jret]

10. I don't have any HOs. I've stated mine about tasers before. They are meant to be an alternative to

lethal force. Was the only other alternative in this situation to shoot the man? If not then the taser was used inappropriately.

There needs to be a "taser use incident report" like there is an officer shooting incident report in every police station in every city in this country. We need to know who is using this technique and when. If education for the officers is needed and I'm more than convinced it is, it should be done. If there is no improvement the officer should be replaced.

Non lethal methods are important and can offer safety to our police. If however these methods are misused the people will lose faith in the police and safety will be jeopardized.

[Ignis]

30. ----> "There needs to be a "taser use incident report"..."

THIS! :woohoo:

[libodem]

12. Suicide by cop

We've had our share of lethal force killings around here in the last 10 years. Before that it was never heard of. Every inquiry that follows exonerated the police.

[Sam Ervin jret]

13. The non lethal use of tasers should be reported and studied as much as the lethal.

Excessive force by use of taser and just plain bad policing are the outcome when we do not use this equipment the way it was intended.

[crossroads]

36. This is sick!

Too many policemen are using this power tool unnecessarly and killing people in the process... there must be another way! What warped mentality!

CR