Simi Valley District Attorney Clears Police Officer James Wismer in Taser-Related Death of Charles Torrence

It took over a year ... but the Ventura County District Attorney issued a 37-page report clearing the Simi Valley police officer James Wismer and the others involved in the taser-related death of 35-year of Charles Torrence.

Torrence was killed back in July 2009. The coroner never came to a definitive conclusion about whether or not the 50,000 volts of electricity jolted twice by Wismer's taser gun into Torrence had anything to do with his death.

Torrence was not a nice man. However, he was an UNARMED man. That didn't seem to matter in the post-death analysis. In a 37-page report, the District Attorney’s Office said the force used by police was “fully justified.” The report also says there was insufficient evidence that the police actions were even a factor in Torrence’s death.

“The DA’s report confirms the officers did the right thing,” Simi Valley Police Chief Mike Lewis said. “I know it’s reassuring to the officers involved in this. They were traumatized, too, in this unexpected death.”

Officer Wisner involved told investigators he pulled his Taser out because he could see Torrence was acting violently, sweating profusely, likely on drugs and yelling that he was thirsty. Torrence was 6-feet tall and 240 pounds.

A test of the officer’s Taser showed it was fired three times, but an autopsy found no physical evidence on Torrence’s body that the gun’s electrical probes ever entered the skin. The police officer switched the Taser to “drive-stun” mode in an attempt to control Torrence, who was flailing his arms and punching at him with fists, the reports show. The stun mode requires the Taser be applied directly to the skin. The officer could not restrain Torrence until additional officers arrived and helped hold Torrence down until handcuffs could be applied.

Officers carried him by his arms and legs to a police car, but decided to put him down outside the car because Torrence continued to resist, the reports show.

Torrence stopped breathing while laying face down with his hands and feet restrained and at least one officer putting pressure on his upper back. Officers said he continued moving around and making grunting noises until he stopped breathing.

Officers rolled him over, paramedics performed CPR and Torrence was rushed to a Simi Valley Hospital, where he died the next day.

Autopsy Report: Coroner Won't Admit Taser Involved in Death of Charles Anthony Torrence

The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office completed autopsy on 36 year-old Charles Anthony Torrence. Torrence is the Simi Valley man who died after struggling with several police officers who were trying to arrest him last week.

Chief Medical Examiner Ronald O'Halloran said his staff is still "unsure" of how he died. O'Halloran said he is waiting for toxicology results, which can take up to four months to be released.

Read more here.

Does anyone know where we can get a copy of either the police report or the autopsy report for this case?

Another Taser Death in America - Charles Anthony Torrence (California)

Simi Valley police decided that they were tired of running after a suspect in a domestic dispute call over the past weekend. Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, was pronounced dead at Simi Valley Hospital on July 18, after a confrontation with Simi Valley officers near his home on Parker Court. [SOURCE]

Police say that they responded to a reported domestic dispute between Torrence and his girlfriend. During the incident the police fired a Taser stun gun and physically restrained him after he pulled a neighbor from her house, ran from officers and then fought with them. Relatives and Theresa Wheeler, the neighbor, said he was stunned at least six times.

Officer James Wismar, Senior Officer Charles Shorts and Officer Kathy Vigil are the three police officers involved in this taser-related killing. [SOURCE]

The police say that they don't know if the taser gun actually hit and shocked Torrence. The County Medical Examiner Dr. Ronald O’Halloran said an autopsy found “no clear evidence” that a Taser shot made contact with Torrence’s skin.

Relatives said Torrence complained about pain and breathing during the altercation, and that he was covered with cuts and bruises afterward. His mother, Charlotte Beard, and his girlfriend, Fatima Hammou, said officers had him on his stomach with their knees in his back.

No one at the home was arrested or cited in connection with the drugs.

Police said Torrence began experiencing “medical distress” after he was handcuffed.

A computer network engineer, Torrence had two children from a former marriage, an 8-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy, said his older brother, Chris Torrence. He sometimes worked as a disc jockey in the Los Angeles area, his brother said.

“I’ve been getting a lot of texts from mutual friends with their shock and disbelief about what happened,” the brother said.

Villager Thoughts: There are two disturbing aspects of this story from my perspective. First, it is strange that the police can't tell if they hit Torrence with 50,000 volts of electricity from their taser guns. My gut tells me that if they knew he was *not* hit ... they would have said so. Second, I can see the writing on the wall with the references by the police to "medical distress" and "drugs on the premises". The fix is in for that "execited delirium" defense.

What say u?