March 25, 2010

Taser Death: Mark Morse (Phoenix, AZ)

It happened again. This time an unidentified Arizona Department of Public Safety officer used his taser on an unarmed man who was simply walking down the street. From all accounts, 36-year old Mark Morse was simply a pedestrian in his former home town when he was killed by taser-wielding police officer on February 4. [SOURCE]

The Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruling for police to stop using their taser guns without good cause doesn't seem to be resonating with law enforcement officials.

The police tried to justify this killing with a claim that Mr. Morse "became combative" and "took a fighting stance" against the cop while walking down Interstate 17, which prompted the officer to use his Taser for this extra-judicial electrocution.

It all sounds pretty funky to me. What say u?

2 comments:

Gunfighter said...

Not enough information. Was he just walking down the street? was there a reason that the victim encountered the officer at all? Did the officer walk up and tase him?

The police are saying that the deceased became "combative" and took up a "fighting stance", if those things are true, than the use of force is certainly justified.

We shouldn't rush to judgement until we know more.

Unknown said...

Gunfighter - I agree that we should never rush to judgement. I am woefully behind in posting updates on taser-related deaths over the past few months. I hope to catch up this weekend ... including an update on the Mark Morse death.