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Family Sues Miami Beach in Taser Death by the Police, New York Times
MIAMI — The family of an 18-year-old street artist who died three weeks ago after being shocked with a Taser by the police filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the City of Miami Beach and its police chief, accusing officers of “unnecessary, excessive and unconstitutional force” in their apprehension of the man, Israel Hernandez-Llach, who had been seen tagging an abandoned building with graffiti.
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, says that police officers “had no reasonable basis to fear for their own safety or the safety of the public,” and no reason to suspect that the young man, who was unarmed and of slight build, was “a danger to them or anyone else.”
Miami Beach city and police officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing a continuing investigation. The officer who fired the Taser was placed on paid administrative leave. A witness to the pursuit that preceded Mr. Hernandez-Llach’s death in the early hours of Aug. 6 said officers laughed and exchanged high-fives as he lay on the ground, immobilized.
“Israel died on that pavement,” Todd R. McPharlin, a lawyer for the family, said at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that the city’s police officers were not sufficiently trained to avoid using excessive force and were unprepared to offer medical attention to someone suffering from the effects of a Taser, which fires an electrical charge designed to render a suspect helpless.
In a study published last year, Amnesty International said that at least 500 people had died in the United States since 2001 after being shocked by Tasers.
See also Criminal InJustice: Tagging, Tasers, and the Police State, Part 1
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