LAS VEGAS POLICE OFFICERS CLEARED IN TASER DEATH
KVOA.com, AZ
Dec 3 2006
LAS VEGAS — A coroner’s inquest jury has cleared two Las Vegas police
officers of wrongdoing in the death of a schizophrenic man who choked
to death after being shocked by a Taser gun.
The jury deliberated for 40 minutes before ruling that officers Michael
Martin and Stephen Cwalinski took excusable action when they shocked
29-year-old Vardan Kasilyan twice with a stun gun while trying to
subdue him in his parent’s apartment.
His parents, Areknaz and Vrezh Kasilyan, told the jury their son was
handcuffed at the time, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Saturday.
Medical examiner Dr. Gary Telgenhoff testified Friday that Vardan
Kasilyan died by choking on his own vomit. He said contributing
factors were Kasilyan’s use of methamphetamine and cocaine a short
time before the incident, the mental illness and the use of the Taser.
Areknaz Kasilyan just wanted to get her son to the hospital, she
testified through an Armenian interpreter.
Her son hadn’t been taking his medications and she was afraid he
might hurt himself, she said.
"I didn’t want police to come. I wanted just an ambulance to come to
help him," Kasilyan said.
An ambulance and the officers showed up at the apartment shortly
after Areknaz Kasilyan called for help at about 9:00 p.m. on Sept. 30.
She told the 911 dispatcher that her son might be armed with a
screwdriver or small knife. She made the call discreetly because
when she made a similar call two years ago, her son had jumped from
the second floor when he saw emergency vehicles and broke both legs,
she told the jury.
The officers did not wait for a crisis intervention team member,
who is trained to deal with mentally ill people, before entering
the apartment.
"There was a sense of urgency because we could hear a male voice and
a female voice adamantly arguing," Martin testified.
When he saw the officer in the apartment, Vardan Kasilyan moved toward
a patio door, Martin said.
Martin said he ordered Vardan Kasilyan to show his hands, but he
wouldn’t comply. Martin said he fired his Taser because he worried
Vardan Kasilyan might attack with a screwdriver, escape through the
patio door or grab what Martin thought was a shotgun on the floor
nearby.
The item on the floor was a black metal cane that Vardan Kasilyan
has used since he broke both legs, his father testified.
The officers said they then tackled Vardan Kasilyan to the ground
and tried to handcuff him. Martin was able to put cuffs on his right
hand, but Cwalinski couldn’t get the left hand out from under Vardan
Kasilyan’s body, they said.
The officers shocked Kasilyan again, handcuffed him and rolled him
to his side when he began to vomit immediately, they said.
Paramedics took him to the hospital, where he died.
Both parents testified that police shocked their son while his hands
were handcuffed behind his back.
The officers said they wouldn’t have done anything differently.
"In my mind, there’s nothing we could have done," Martin said. "I
would have to do exactly what I was trained to do and do what I did
that night."
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal,
asp?S=5760175