SACRAMENTO (UPI) -- A California lawyer is suing Taser International over the claim its stun gun is not lethal, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday.
Mark Merin, who won a multimillion dollar settlement last year against Sacramento County over strip searches of all inmates who entered the jail and has similar suits pending elsewhere, is suing on behalf of the son of a man who died after being hit with a Taser stun gun.
Valejo police officers used a Taser on Andrew Washington, 21, during a chase after which it was determined Washington had a large amount of alcohol and cocaine in his system, officials said.
An investigation cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing.
Merin’s suit says Washington died “as a result of repeated electric shocks administered by a hand-held Taser weapon,” although Merin admitted he did not know how many times the Taser was fired.