Five years deep into litigation, the 11th Circuit rejected an officer’s move to shield himself from liability for using his Taser on an incapacitated 17-year-old.
While the officer claims the girl was acting violently, her family says she was experiencing symptoms of her seizure disorder and meant no harm to police.
(CN) The 11th Circuit unanimously ruled that an Alabama police officer is not entitled to immunity for an incident in which he repeatedly deployed a Taser on an innocent teenager who was having grand mal seizures at a concert.
Upholding a district court decision, the ruling by a three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court paves a path to trial for a federal lawsuit filed by Michelle Lee Helm, who claims officer George Morris of the Rainbow City Police Department tased her daughter for no good reason while the girl was suffering a medical emergency.