Accounts Vary on Tasering Death of Brian Cardall

By Christian Probasco, 6-17-09

Manic depressive Brian Cardall died shortly after being tased by a Hurricane, Utah police officer on June 9. Cardall was reported by his wife, Anna, who told a dispatcher he had “full blown lost it” and had taken off his clothing and was interacting with moving traffic on State Road 59 while screaming incoherently. She said she was afraid for his safety and worried about bystanders who had stopped to help. Anna, who is six months pregnant with the couple’s second child, had locked her 2-year old daughter in their car.

Brian Cardall, 32, son of Duane Cardall, editorial director of Salt Lake’s KSL-TV, was working towards a Ph.D. in Molecular Ecology at Northern Arizona University.

According to articles in the Salt Lake Tribune and the St. George Spectrum, Cardall didn’t comply with Officer Kenneth Thompson’s 42 seconds of commands to lay down on the ground. The officer who fired claimed Cardall “came right at me.” According to the Spectrum, however, a witness, “Lorry Stratton, a propane serviceman who was born and raised in Hurricane and who has lived there since returning from 24 years of Navy service in 1992,” says Cardall merely took a step toward Thompson, adding, “I don’t know how they could have figured that man was a threat to them.” Now, more confusion: not mentioned in any articles was whether the officers tried to talk to Cardall or otherwise defuse the situation or even block off traffic before escalating the danger with their commands.

Duane Cardall disputed the police account of the incident, telling reporters “numerous highly significant facts” had been omitted about Anna Cardall’s call. The police department referred questions to a Salt Lake City attorney who represents the city.

The various articles predictably prompted a huge number of comments on news websites.

On the Tribune website, Cleanfreak, wrote: “If you look at nearly all of the Taser deaths, they all have one thing in common. It is what they call exited delirium. The suspect is always acting crazy and out of control. This is because their heart rate and body temperature is through the roof and they are about to die. They had this same issue when pepper spray was introduced. All the people dying after pepper spray exhibited the same behavior - exited delirium.”

To which PaulW replied:  “Regarding an earlier post: “excited delerium” doesn’t exist. It isn’t a medical condition. It’s junk science that the Taser company uses to avoid liability. The company sues every medical examiner who finds that Tasers were the cause of death, and now lots of MEs are scared to blame the devices. Anyone who has seen the Taser company’s powerpoint presentation (and I’ve seen it twice) and has any scientific background at all is generally appalled that the company just makes facts up. For example, they show waveforms that don’t exist in real life, as examples of how their gadgets work. Sure, some people were dying when tased, and the Taser was irrelevant. But the idea that all of the people who died immediately after being tased would have died at that instant even if the Taser hadn’t been used, is nuts. If they would have been alive but for the Taser, then the Taser killed them.”

The problem with Tasers is not that they don’t usually work well, and sometimes save lives (although they don’t save nearly as many lives as claimed, since they aren’t supposed to be used as a substitute for lethal force when responding to lethal force--you use a gun against a gun, not a glorified bug zapper; what they occasionally save is someone from getting a beating with an Asp or other baton or device). The problem is that cops very frequently just tase anyone who hesitates to do exactly what the cop says, as soon as he says it. They’ve become a substitute for the cop’s brain and mouth, and so cops stop using their brain and mouth. And that’s a problem.”

Further down the same column, from skibum:
“42 seconds of patience, priceless. The Cardalls must just be sick thinking that they cared for their son for 32 long years and one of Hurricane’s finest waited 42 seconds upon meeting Brian before he tasered him dead. Wow. 42 seconds. I can’t get over that. The mental health community is in tears over this tragic episode.”

From Enforce The Law! on the KSL website:
“KSL is so Pro Law Enforcement…It’s interesting to see how the family is responding now that they claimed one of their own. Police officers are getting away with excessive force and have been for a long time. This is nothing but a video game for those guys. And the targets are the innocent law-abiding citizens. I try not to make eye contact with the police. I feel sorry for someone that doesn’t have his mental faculties in order, because sooner or later, the police will take him out.”