Pathologist Tells B.C. Taser Inquiry That Weapons Don't Cause Unique Injury
Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 18:00 CDT
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER - A forensic pathologist says Tasers can be lethal but they are also used hundreds of times a day without being so.
Dr. John Butt told a B.C. public inquiry into the use of the shock weapons that there are no fatal features unique to the Taser that show up in an autopsy or pathological exam.
He says the weapon can be a contributing factor in a sudden death after a person has been hit with a Taser and cannot be claimed to be non-lethal.
But Butt says to be fair, the weapon is deployed about 600 times a day in North America without such consequences.
The first phase of the public inquiry is looking into general use of Tasers by law enforcement, before moving on to a second phase that will look specifically at the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski last fall at Vancouver airport.
Dziekanski died after being hit twice with an RCMP Taser in the international arrivals area of the airport.
Source: Canadian Press
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