A jury in St. Louis has sided with Scottsdale-based Taser International in a civil lawsuit claiming the company failed to properly warn of its devices’ dangers.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the circuit court jury deliberated seven hours before delivering a verdict Thursday in the week-and-a-half-long trial.
The suit was filed on behalf of Colin Fahy of St. Louis, who was 17 when he went into cardiac arrest after police officers stunned him with a Taser at his home during a 2007 domestic disturbance call. He suffered long-term brain damage.
Lawyers for Fahy cited studies on pigs in 2005 and 2006 showing a Taser shot to the chest could interfere with a heart’s rhythm.
But lawyers for Taser said none of the studies showed resulting cardiac arrest.
