I’m not certain about this, but I believe that it would have to be shown in court that the officer believed that he indeed was applying the current.
According to his statements and an investigation by the department, since the suspect didn’t react in the usual manner, the officer may have truly believed that nothing was happening.
In that case, it would be an accidental death, not manslaughter.
Okay. But it makes the officer and his fellow officers look bad.
Seems like we really need to go back to guns, billy clubs, and truncheons. None of this “sorta-non-lethal” crap. Especially if leads folks like me to second-guessin’ the cops...
I do not like taser, have seen too many taser stories of stuff that makes no justifiable sense, etc., but in this case, second-guessing an instantaneous decision, given the apparent lack of effect of the taser, seems somewhat more difficult.
As some locals are pointing out on this thread, this article appears to be a piece of disinformation and selective propaganda.