"I don't see where it's going to be that hard to apprehend her."
by digby
When the Taser's prongs hit her back, Danielle Maudsley spun backward and smacked her head on the pavement.
A nearby dashcam recorded the fall, even capturing the sound of her head cracking on the asphalt.
Maudsley, 20, clutched her head and struggled to rise. "I can't get up," she moaned, her final words.
Then she went still.
She has been in a vegetative state ever since. Doctors have told her family she likely will never wake up.
It happens. It happens a lot. If an allegedly life saving drug killed this many people, it would be banned:
This week, two state agencies cleared Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Cole of any wrongdoing in the September incident, which occurred as Maudsley tried to escape from an FHP station in Pinellas Park.
But several experts and researchers who reviewed reports and video of the incident said the case raises questions...
"It just doesn't make any sense," said Greg Connor, a professor at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute who specializes in use of force. "I don't see where it's going to be that hard to apprehend her."
Cole, who at 267 pounds weighed about three times as much as Maudsley, told investigators he used his Taser because he was concerned one or both of them would be injured if he tackled her. He worried she was headed toward heavy traffic on U.S. 19.
The scrutiny of the Maudsley case comes amid calls from some national groups for police agencies to take a closer look at how and when they use Tasers.
The human rights organization Amnesty International called this week for stricter limits on Taser use after an intoxicated Georgia man died hours after police shot him with one. The group believes there should be a national policy on Taser use.
Florida has had 65 Taser-related deaths since 2001, the second highest total behind California, which had 92.
I will be shocked if the federal government issues a national policy. If there's one thing the states' rights fanatics guard heavily it's their right to create their own policing policy. It would be a very heavy lift.
I'm counting on large punitive damage awards and public opinion to turn this one, and that's a heavy lift too. When they don't think tasering is a hilarious joke or well-deserved instant justice, most people think it's a fairly harmless tool that doesn't really hurt anyone. Educating them to the danger is going to take some work. And getting juries to hold the Taser manufacturer and lax police agencies liable to the point where it hurts is a long term project.
The good news is that it finally seems to be penetrating the consciousness a little bit. I suppose hundreds of deaths will do that.
Maybe a good place to start on this would be to convince Hollywood that using this deadly torture device for cheap laughs is sadistic and irresponsible.