What is Cuyahoga County Coroner Hiding in the Taser-Killing Case of Rodney Brown?

Rodney Brown

Rodney Brown, 40, was killed by Cleveland police officers when he lost his cool and tried to run after being stopped for a traffic violation back on New Year's Eve.

The coroner later ruled that the death was due to a heart attack and not as a result of the multiple taser shots fired at 50,000 volts each from the police into Brown's body.

Cleveland Police say they couldn't control Rodney Brown and that Brown pulled a knife. Police say that's when they shot tasers at Brown. A short time later, Brown died.


Attorney David Malik is exploring a civil suit for the family, saying Brown's body had 11 puncture marks from taser probes. Malik claims the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office has not released certain police records. [SOURCE]

What are the 'powers-that-be' hiding from us in this taser-related death?

Taser Autopsy: Rodney Brown (Cleveland, OH)

I think it is fair to say that most county coroners have a great deal of 'book sense' and very little 'commonsense'.

Commonsense tells me that 40-year old Rodney Brown would have been alive to see the new year if his path hadn't crossed the path of taser-wielding Cleveland police officers on December 31, 2010.

'Book sense' tells the Cuyahoga County coroner's office that 50,000 volts of electricity from a taser gun had nothing to do with Rodney Brown's death. [SOURCE]

Brown died of "cardiopulmonary arrest following physical exertion during law enforcement activity," spokesman Powell Caesar said.

Contributing factors were "hypertensive cardiovascular disease" and "chronic pulmonary disease," Caesar said.

Villagers will recall that unidentified police officers stopped Brown's car near his home for a traffic offense on 12/31/2010. Brown lost his cool and ran from the officers. They caught up to him less than two blocks away ... and they electrocuted him with a taser gun. Brown was rushed to University Hospitals, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.

Brown's family criticized the use of force after a traffic offense. They said he was shocked at least twice. There were no warrants for his arrest.

The city's Use of Deadly Force and Integrity Control teams have not yet completed their investigations.

Rodney Brown Lost His Cool ... and Then He Lost His Life to Taser-Happy Cleveland Police Officer

Something went horribly wrong on New Year's eve when unidentified Cleveland police officers pulled over 40-year old Rodney Brown for a routine traffic stop. A witness indicates that Brown was cooperating with police and had his hands on the back of the car. It was then the witness indicates that Brown turned and cursed at the officer asking why he stopped him.

"And the cop didn't like what he said and he walked up behind him and punched him in the back," Brown's mother Shirley recalled the man telling her.

"Rodney's the type of person, he's my son and I know him, that he's not going to take a lick from cops or no one else and he doesn't carry any weapons so that's what started the melee," she said.

"He turned around and pushed the cop and the cop tasered him in the chest," said Shirley of Rodney the youngest of her seven children.

It appears that Brown made a fatal mistake by being disrespectful to the unidentified police officer. He gave the officer an excuse to electrocute him with 50,000 volts of electricity from the taser gun.

Disrespectful words should never result in a taser gun being used. Disrespectful words should never result in a death. Something went horribly wrong in Cleveland on New Year's Eve.

Taser Death: Rodney Brown (Cleveland, OH)

Rodney Brown, a 40-year old man was stopped by police officers on New Year's Eve in Cleveland OH. For some reason the routine traffic stop turned into an effort by the police to arrest the man. Brown resisted arrest. The unidentified police officers pumped Brown with 50,000 volts of electricity from their tasers. He went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at nearby University Hospital.

His mother, Shirley Brown, indicates that her youngest son was a mild-mannered guy who rarely left the house.  She indicates that he suffered in 2005 when he was diagnosed as bi-polar and schizophrenic.   The diagnosis came after two of his older brothers died just months apart, one in a motorcycle accident and the other from a ruptured aorta.

There is obviously much more information to come on this taser-related death. My point of view is clear ... the death penalty is inappropriate for a charge of resisting arrest. Something is clearly wrong when a 40-year old man is killed by the police for simply being disrespectful.