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Taser Use Leads To Product Liability Lawsuit Vs. City, Manufacturer

October 26, 2005

For Antonio Lewis, it's a zap that even Viagra may not fix. Lewis said a female Tallahassee police officer shot him in the groin with a Taser stun gun last year, causing irreversible impotence and loss of bladder control, according to a lawsuit filed here in federal court.

Taser guns fire a pair of darts that stick to skin or clothing, delivering an electrical jolt that usually sends the target to the ground. The makers say that after the current's turned off, there's no permanent harm. Apparently not so for Lewis, an ex-con who served 13 years - starting at age 15 - on a second-degree murder rap. The suit said he has 'no control or feeling' in his genitals, and has to wear adult diapers for 'bladder leakage.'

Although there has been controversy over misuse and even deaths from Tasers in Florida and across the country, this is the first known claim of 'permanent erectile dysfunction.' Lewis is suing the city and Taser International, which makes the stun gun, for 'damages in great excess of $ 75,000.' The officer's own report said the Taser probes struck Lewis' waist and leg, lodging in his clothes. And one urologist said the effects may be psychologically caused.

Tallahassee Police Chief Walt McNeil, named in the suit, referred questions to Senior Assistant City Attorney Lew Shelley, who didn't return calls. 'We will be vigorously defending this case,' city spokeswoman Michelle Bono said. 'We believe the Taser is still a good and valid alternative to deadly force.' A spokesman for Taser International, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., didn't respond to a phone call and an e-mail.

Here's Lewis' version of what happened, according to his suit: A group of officers came to Texas Street on June 10, 2004, after a man reported Lewis had attacked him. Lewis was handcuffed but later tried to run. One of the officers caught up to him and popped him in the back 'several times' with his baton. Then, while back in custody, Officer April Doubrava unholstered her Taser and shot a 'defenseless, compliant and handcuffed' Lewis in the groin, 'mere centimeters' above his genitals. She didn't warn him she was going to fire the Taser, he said, and while he was writhing on the ground she told him to 'stop fighting it.'

However, the police account is different. First, the victim told officers Lewis had hit him with a metal pipe and a soda can when he didn't cough up $ 25 he owed him, an arrest report said. After handcuffing him, officers began to search Lewis' pockets when he said, 'I'm not going back to prison,' and ran. Later, police found marijuana and cocaine on him. One officer ran after him and struck Lewis in the 'upper right leg' with his baton, after which Lewis turned to face him. 'Lewis squared off his shoulders and lowered his center of gravity as if he were preparing to fight,' Doubrava wrote in her report. 'I gave him two loud verbal commands to get on the ground.' When he refused, she shot Taser probes into his 'waist and left leg,' which she noted 'were only in the subject's clothing.' He then 'complied with all instructions.'

After complaining of numbness, he was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where an emergency-room doctor said 'the numbness would go away, and there was no injury or permanent damage.' Lewis, arrested on aggravated battery and other charges, eventually pleaded no contest to charges of disorderly conduct, cocaine and marijuana possession and resisting arrest without violence. He served jail time on those counts and went back to prison for violating his state probation on the murder charge before being released in May, Department of Corrections records show.

His suit refers to a TPD Taser policy that recommends a spoken warning before firing the device, prohibits its use 'on handcuffed prisoners,' and tells officers not to 'intentionally target a subject's head, face, neck or groin.' But the policy is dated this February, eight months after Lewis' run-in with police. Doubrava's personnel file shows she was certified to use a Taser in April 2004 - two months before the Lewis incident - and was recertified this January. The 8 -year veteran has consistently received excellent reviews from superiors, including kudos such as being called 'the quintessential professional.'

Also, the suit said Lewis' urologist linked his condition to the Taser strike. But Jack Cassell, another urologist in practice for 17 years, said he'd never heard of a similar case. He said Tasers don't kill nerves, which would cause injuries like those claimed by Lewis. 'It might be a psychological impotence,' said Cassell, affiliated with Waterman Hospital in Tavares. 'He could just be traumatized.'