The company that makes Tasers has lost its legal bid to quash a high-profile report that found the weapons can kill.The British Columbia Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a legal challenge by Taser International to overturn results of the inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.
The company was trying to quash retired justice Thomas Braidwood’s findings that the weapons increase the risk of fatal heart failure.
Dziekanski, 40, died on Oct. 14, 2007, at Vancouver International Airport after being Tasered five times by four RCMP officers responding to a 911 call.
“Obviously I am very pleased,” said Braidwood, shortly after the decision was released Tuesday. “The court found there was fairness in the report for Taser International. They had full opportunity to present evidence.”
In his report, Braidwood concluded that Taser hits contributed to Dziekanski’s death.
“Conducted-energy weapons do have the capacity to cause serious injury or death,” he wrote, adding that risk increases with multiple uses, specifically when aimed at the chest near the heart
