Taser Lawsuit: Judge Awards $1 Million to Family of Brett Elder (Bay City, MI)

The powers-that-be in Bay City (MI) realized that the "excited delirium" excuse they had been using for the taser-killing of 15-year old Brett Elder might not survive a trial ... so they decided to settle a wrongful death lawsuit by paying the boy's family $1 million. [SOURCE]

Eugene Elder Sr. filed the lawsuit against the city and Cpl. James Lyman in December 2009, nine months after his 15-year-old son died at a party on South Catherine.

An autopsy showed the teen died of “alcohol-induced excited delirium” coupled with “application of an electromuscular disruption device.” I guess that is the official description of a "taser gun" in Bay City.

Officers were called by party-goers who said the teen attacked a woman, placing her in a headlock.

Bay County Prosecutor Kurt Asbury has said the teen was intoxicated, “highly agitated and combative” and “took a fighting stance” against three officers. The part he doesn't mention is that the boy stood 5'5" tall and weighed less than 150 pounds. Are the Bay City police so ineffective in their training that they can't subdue an UNARMED weakling like Brett Elder without pumping his body with 50,000 volts of electricity?

Lyman deployed his Taser, the probes of which struck Brett Elder in the torso, according to reports. Witnesses claimed the teen had his hands cuffed behind his back when the Taser was fired.

Based on the state police investigation, Asbury declined to authorize criminal charges, saying the evidence did not prove any officers committed criminal acts.

Acting on the recommendation of retired Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Pamela Harwood, who served as mediator, U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington signed an order for the disbursement of $1 million to four of the teen’s family members and the family’s attorneys.

The settlement provides $219,554 for Eugene Elder Sr.; $200,000 for Eugene Elder Jr. and Eric Elder, Brett Elder’s brothers; and $1,000 for Nancy Malucci, Brett Elder’s grandmother, court records show. The rest of the settlement goes to the attorneys who handled the case.

I suspect that Bay City police officers will think twice before using their taser guns in future domestic disturbances with UNARMED teenagers. That is a good thing in my view as our nation's weekly taser-killings need to be slowed down somehow!

Trial Date Set in Lawsuit About Taser-Killing of Michigan Teenager Brett Elder

Brett Elder

Villagers my recall that the father of 15-year old Brett Elder filed a lawsuit a couple of years ago seeking damages from Bay City (MI) officials because of his son's unwarranted electrocution-by-taser.

The lawsuit will go to trial on October 4, if the city refuses to come to an agreement with the family of Brett Elder. [SOURCE]

Prosecutors claim the teen was intoxicated and combative, however, they declined to press charges. On the other hand, witnesses claim Elder was already handcuffed when police pumped 50,000 volts of deadly electricity into his body with their taser guns.

An autopsy performed by Dr. Kanu Virani, a forensic pathologist, found a two-part cause of death for Elder: "alcohol-induced excited delirium" and "application of an electromuscular disruption device."

I suspect that law enforcement officials won't figure out a different way to use their near-lethal tasers until a few of these lawsuits go against them.

Taser Lawsuit: Brett Elder (Bay City MI)

The father of a Bay City teen who died after police used a stun gun to subdue him has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court. Eugene E. Elder Sr. figures police killed his teenage son unjustifiably with a Taser, and he plans to fire back with a lawsuit. [SOURCE]

"I'm going after the city. I don't care," said Elder, 55, of Bay City. "There's no reason for killing my boy. He didn't do nothing wrong."

"He didn't like cops because he knows the rest of us don't, but he wasn't out to get them," Elder said.

Brett "Dewey" Elder, 15, stood 5-foot-6 and weighed about 140 pounds ... he was no match for three Bay City Police Department officers who encountered him in Cindy Hernden's apartment.

Elder came to Ms. Herndon's apartment early Sunday morning ... he had been drinking alcohol.

"Brett's been coming to my house regularly since he's been 3 years old, and his mom (the late Jodi Elder) died in September of last year and since then Brett has been in daily contact with me," Hernden said.

"When his mother died, I was like his surrogate mother."

Cindy Hernden said six people were spending the night at her apartment, and one of them told Brett Elder to quiet down, "and at that point he kind of grabbed her and put her in a headlock."

Hernden said she then dialed 911, and believes the boyfriend of the woman also called police.

"The other people in the apartment were trying to subdue Brett and calm him down," Hernden said. "Three police officers came in the door and asked what was going on. Everybody at this point was screaming and yelling at each other, and it was getting out of hand."

Police came to the apartment to quell a reported fight. Hernden said police managed to calm Brett Elder - temporarily.

"The officers had calmed Brett down and he was sitting on a couch, and then one officer said something to him, and Brett stood up like he was maybe going to lunge at the police," Hernden said.

"And right then and there is when they put the handcuffs on him. They knocked him on the ground and that's when they Tasered him."

Hernden said Brett Elder vomited "immediately" after police used the Taser.

"I told the police 'He's not breathing, he's not breathing,' and I told them I know (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and one of the officers told me to shut up," Hernden said.

"They told me to stand back and wait for a medical professional to arrive, so that's what I did."

Hernden said Brett Elder wasn't armed when he moved toward officers inside her apartment. Brett Elder's aunt, Dorothy A. Hendrix of Bay City, said Brett Elder was "devastated" by the death of his mother in September.

"He didn't even weigh 150 pounds," Hendrix said. "They Tasered a little kid."

In May, Bay County prosecutor Kurt Asbury said officers would not be charged in Elder’s death, citing that "there isn't evidence that officers committed any criminal act that caused or contributed to the death of Brett Elder."

An autopsy performed by Dr. Kanu Virani, a forensic pathologist, found a two-part cause of death for Elder: "alcohol-induced excited delirium" and "application of an electromuscular disruption device," or Taser.