Inquest clears two officers of wrongdoing in man’s death

Jen Lawson

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

Two Metro Police officers were cleared Friday of any wrongdoing in the August death of a 47-year-old man when a Clark County coroner's inquest jury ruled that "the circumstances caused the death, not a particular person."

Keith Tucker died as a result of cardiac arrest brought on by narcotics, the jury determined.

However, Dr. Ronald Knoblock, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, testified that Tucker died of a cardiac arrest caused by narcotics during restraint -- part of that restraint involved immobilization by the officers' Taser guns.

The actions of Officers Mark Hutchinson and Patrick Denney were excusable, the jury decided after deliberating about 30 minutes. Members of the jury declined to comment after announcing their ruling.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said he believed the officers helped to cause the circumstances that caused Tucker's death. But because inquest proceedings are not adversarial, jurors did not get the full picture, he said.

"This case underscores everything that is wrong with the inquest process," Peck said. "It fails to properly assign blame where it belongs."

Local attorney James Ordowski served as the inquest's hearing master. Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman and Deputy District Attorney Jim Miller questioned eight witnesses, including Tucker's roommate who called police and the four officers who responded to the home near Flamingo and Sandhill roads.

The roommate, 63-year-old Paul Hosper, a retired mortgage broker, testified that he phoned 911 on Aug. 2 after Tucker began acting erratic and shouting at an apparently imaginary person named Tony.

"He was slipping and sliding in the bathtub and pounding on the walls," Hosper said. "He was spraying bathroom deodorant as if he was shooting someone and saying 'I'll get you.' "

Hosper said he was scheduled to undergo back surgery and was concerned that Tucker would burst into his room and hurt him, so pushed a recliner against his bedroom door, then called police.

Tucker, who was 5 feet 10 inches and 172 pounds, broke through Hosper's barrier and flopped onto the bed, then tumbled off, got up and fell onto Hosper's desk, breaking it, Hosper testified.

Hosper went outside with a German Shepherd owned by Sanford Tucker, Keith Tucker's father and the owner of the home, who was in Hawaii at the time, and waited for police.

When Hutchinson and Denney arrived at the condominium, Hosper said that he heard one of the officers say to the other, "Do you have your Taser?"

The two officers testified that when they stepped into the home, it was dimly lit and they could hear someone making a ruckus in a back bedroom. Broken glass, ripped-up floorboards and busted shutters littered the floor.

Denney armed himself with his Taser gun and Hutchinson grabbed his baton. When they reached Tucker's room they found him sitting on his bed, shirtless, shoeless and wearing shorts. He had a little blood coming from his nose or lip and he was sweaty, Denney said.

Denney testified that he told Tucker: "We're Metro Police; we're here to help you."'

Tucker saw Denney's Taser and said, "I know what that is. Just shoot me."

Denney put his Taser back onto his belt in order to make Tucker feel more comfortable, but then suddenly Tucker "spun around on the bed and kicked me, " Denney said.

Denney said he tried to get Tucker under control and they began wrestling on the bed.

Hutchinson pulled out his Taser gun and hit the trigger twice but nothing happened, so he said he dropped it on the floor and then it deployed, sending two prongs into a door.

Next he hit Tucker with his baton three times on his back but he kept struggling with Denney, Hutchinson said. He tried jabbing him in the ribs with the tip of the baton five or six times but it didn't have any effect.

Hutchinson said he grabbed Denney's Taser and held it against Tucker's chest for five seconds.

This method, the "drive-stun" mode, locks a person's muscles only on the part of the body where the weapon is used, Officer Tom Miller, master instructor in the department's Taser program, said.

Another way the Taser can be used is to send darts attached to the device with wires, which causes an override of the central nervous system, Miller said. The darts can be shot out at a distance of up to 21 feet.

Hutchinson decided not to use that method for fear of the three of them getting tangled in the wires, he said.

He used the Taser on Tucker a second time, on his chest, but he continued fighting. When Hutchinson pressed it against his hip, Tucker tried to push it away, he said.

"It was pretty much a free-for-all," Hutchinson said. "We were trying to get him in restraints."

They managed to get Tucker on his back and Denney held him down with his knee and they handcuffed him, but they said he continued kicking and trying to bite them. Hutchinson used the Taser on him a fourth time on his back. Each time Tucker received a four- or five-second, 50,000 volt jolt, Miller said.

Two more officers arrived, Scott Lang and Joshua Bitsko, and they helped carry Tucker out of the room. But something was wrong: His body was limp. "Someone said, 'I think he's dead,' " Hutchinson said.

They started CPR and called medics. Tucker was pronounced dead a short time later at a hospital.

Knoblock said he found fibrous tissue in Tucker's heart, which can be the result of longterm cocaine use and causes disturbances in the heart beat. Lab tests showed Tucker had cocaine and various medications in his system when he died.

Knoblock determined earlier this month that Tucker's death was a homicide, meaning he died as a result of another person's actions. At that point Hutchinson and Denney were placed on routine paid leave until after the inquest.

Denney said he was called to the Tucker home about a week after Tucker died to break up a fight between Sanford Tucker, Keith's father, and Hosper, the roommate.

Hosper was "having problems with Sanford" and they "had several violent conversations" over Keith Tucker's death, Hosper said. He moved out a short time later.