- Police Brutality Watch

A district judge today refused to dismiss the city of Waco from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a disabled veteran who died after being shocked by Waco police with electrical stun guns. Judge Vicki Menard of Waco's 414th State District Court ruled against the city a day after hearing arguments from attorneys for the city and the family of Robert Earl Williams Sr., who died June 14, 2005, after being subdued by police during a disturbance at his sister's house. Waco attorney Charles Olson, who represents the city, argued Tuesday that the city should be dismissed from the suit because it has sovereign immunity against claims arising from intentional acts, as opposed to negligent acts, by city employees. Olson charged the plaintiffs were trying to skirt the city's immunity against such claims by alleging that the officers acted negligently instead of intentionally. Vic Feazell, one of two Austin attorneys representing the Williams family, said he found the city's argument interesting but flawed and that the judge made the right decision in denying the city's move to dismiss the case. Olson had argued that the city also was immune from lawsuits concerning the results of discretionary law enforcement decisions, such as the use of Taser devices. Besides the city, the lawsuit also names as defendants Taser International and Affordable Realistic Tactical Training, a company that trained Waco officers to use the Tasers. Waco police have confirmed that it took five officers and multiple shocks with the Taser device to subdue the 6-foot-1-inch, 280-pound Williams after they were called to the 1900 block of South 22nd Street because of a domestic disturbance involving Williams and his sister. An autopsy showed that Williams died from “acute physiologic stress associated with multiple electrical shocks during attempted restraint by police for schizophrenia with excited delirium.” [more]