Personal Injury Law

Mother to Receive Illinois Wrongful Death Settlement For Son?s Police Brutality Death From Excessive Taser Use

The mother of a teenager who was Tasered by police has settled her Illinois police brutality lawsuit over his wrongful death. Roger Holyfield, 17, died in October 2006 following an altercation with police. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit filed by Rita Cummings names the Jerseyville Police Department and the city of Jerseyville as defendants.

Court documents indicate that Holyfield was shouting ?I want Jesus? and carrying a Bible when police approached him. The cops claim the boy became combative.

According to the police brutality complaint, Jerseyville cops used excessive and unreasonable force when they arrested Holyfield without sufficient cause. The complaint contends that he was handcuffed, armed, and on the ground facedown when police officers Tasered him a number of times.

Holyfield started throwing up. He was rushed to the hospital and died on the way there. According to the medical examiner, his died from natural causes as a result of excited delirium. His family, however, says that he died because of police brutality and the use of the Taser.

Exited delirium has been cited as a cause of death by people who were acting in a hyperactive or erratic way before dying while in police custody. It is a state that is often noted after a person has been Tasered by police and only shows up as a cause of death when the person was restrained. A special prosecutor who investigated Holyfield's case, however, says the two Jerseyville cops that confronted the teenager are not criminally liable for his death.

Use of Tasers by police to apprehend suspects has generated some controversy in light of the fact that some suspects have died after they were stunned by Tasers. Amnesty International says that Taser use is a factor in at least 350 fatalities. In December 2008, Amnesty reported that about 90% of Taser-elated deaths involving police were suspect who did not seem to pose a threat.

Illinois Police Brutality
Police are never allowed to use excessive force of any kind when questioning, apprehending, arresting, or guarding a suspect or a defendant. If you feel that you are a victim of police brutality, you may have grounds for filing a Chicago personal injury lawsuit.

Illinois mother settles stun gun wrongful death lawsuit, Justice News Flash, May 4, 2009

Settlement in Ill. teen death involving stun gun, Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2009

Taser Abuse in the United States, AmnestyUSA.org

Related Web Resource:
Less than Lethal, Amnesty USA (PDF)

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).