CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Taser International must pay $10 million to the family of a Charlotte teenager who died in 2008 after being shocked by a police officer — the biggest jury award ever against the company.
The lawyers for Darryl Turner’s parents said Wednesday the federal jury found that the company failed to warn that discharging a Taser into the chest of a suspect near the heart poses a substantial risk of cardiac arrest. The company’s animal studies, they said, demonstrated the risk.
John Burton, lead counsel for Turner’s parents, Devoid Turner and Tammy Lou Fontenot, said Taser International has been irresponsible in representing its product’s safety.
Taser International sought to persuade the jury that Turner, 17, had a medical condition that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. The company’s lawyers also presented evidence about a Justice Department study that said current research does not support a substantially increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia even if Taser darts strike the front of the chest.
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