Coroner’s inquest clears officers

David Kihara

Monday, July 11, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

A Clark County coroner's inquest jury on Friday found that two Metro Police officers did not act inappropriately when they repeatedly applied a Taser to a man -- even while he was in handcuffs -- despite a Metro policy against using a Taser on people who are held in such a way.

Russell Walker, 47, caused his own death, the jurors determined. He died as a result of cardiac arrhythmia, and medical examiners found cocaine and alcohol in his system.

Police had attempted to restrain Walker several times throughout the incident last month with limited success.

Police used a Taser on Walker three times, including once when he was handcuffed and had his legs restrained on a gurney.

The seven-member jury ruled that Officer Matthew Ruiz and Sgt. Cindy Rodriguez were justified when they applied a Taser to Walker several times in front of the Western hotel on June 6. The jury reached its decision after about 20 minutes of deliberation.

The officers are also to go before Metro's use-of-force board, where department officials will determine whether the officers followed policy.

Last year Metro adopted a policy prohibiting officers from using their 50,000-volt Taser guns on people who are handcuffed after William Lomax, 26, died under circumstances similar to Walker's.

The handling of Friday's hearing was strongly condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

"Shame on the (Clark County) D.A.'s office for failing to do its job professionally, thoroughly and responsibly to actually make an effort to meaningfully probe into the facts of what happened so that we could get to the truth of it," said Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU of Nevada, also condemned the hearing because, among other things, the district attorney's office did not ask any of the witnesses about Metro's policy on using a Taser on handcuffed suspects or the coroner about the effects of Tasers.

"The evidence presented by the D.A.'s office was so skewed and left out so many factors I would be amazed if the jury came back with any decision besides this," he said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman, however, said that raising the issue of police policies would not have been appropriate for the coroner's inquest.

"The fact that (the officers) didn't follow Metro policy may subject them to sanctions or civil liability, but that's not what we're here for today," he said Friday.

After the decision, juror Ralph Mathieu said he felt "that the police officers didn't do anything they shouldn't have done."

He said he was not aware that it was against a Metro policy to use a Taser on a handcuffed suspect. But he said his decision would not have changed even if he was aware of the policy.

The incident began around 8 p.m. on June 6. Employees of the Western testified that they saw Walker involved in a fight with an unidentified man across the street from the hotel and approached him to offer assistance. They said, however, that Walker was acting paranoid and was not communicative.

Walker attempted to gain entry into the hotel through the main entrance, but at least three security staff attempted to steer him away from the hotel, according to a surveillance tape of the incident.

In the tape, Walker appeared confused but otherwise non-violent.

At one point, Walker began to pull money out of his pocket -- $5 and even $100 bills -- and tore them up in front of the security guards.

Ruiz was the first officer on the scene. He attempted to direct Walker toward his police vehicle, but Walker did not respond, Ruiz said.

He then told Walker that they could "do it the hard way or the easy way," and tried to lead Walker from the hotel's entrance by taking hold of Walker's arm, according to Ruiz and the security tape.

Walker pulled away and the tape showed Ruiz attempting to grab him by the neck or shoulder. Ruiz said that Walker put his hand in his own pocket, and Ruiz feared that he may have had a weapon.

Walker attempted to put Walker in handcuffs but couldn't because of Walker's strength, he said, adding later that Walker bent his handcuffs in the struggle.

Hotel security guards were assisting Ruiz in placing Walker in handcuffs when Rodriquez, a 14-year-veteran of Metro, arrived.

Walker was on the ground and struggling with the group, according to testimony. Rodriguez testified that she warned Walker that she would use a Taser on him if he didn't calm down, but he didn't respond. Rodriguez then used the Taser on Walker, she said.

Walker still would not stop struggling enough for the officers to handcuff him, so she used the Taser on him again, the officers said.

During this struggle, Ruiz and Rodriguez testified that they were concerned for Walker's health and took steps to ensure that he was safe, including keeping him on his side so he could breathe freely.

They finally handcuffed him and tried to stand him up.

Other Metro officers and emergency response teams arrived to the scene by this point. A gurney was pulled out of an ambulance, and the officers attempted to place Walker on it. Again, they struggled with Walker and had difficulty putting him in restraints on the gurney, the officers testified.

Walker's legs were finally placed in restraints and the officers wanted to remove his handcuffs so his hands could be placed in restraints, they stated. Walker was reportedly bucking back and forth, which prevented the officers from removing his handcuffs, according to officer's testimony and the surveillance tape.

Ruiz then applied the Taser to Walker for a third time, he said. Walker's legs were restrained on the gurney and he was still in handcuffs when Ruiz used the Taser on him.

Walker was subdued only slightly, but officers could remove his hands and place them in restraints. Walker was then placed inside the ambulance.

A few minutes later, Walker went into cardiac arrest, said Eric Moon, a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue firefighter and paramedic who was at the scene.

Walker died later at the hospital.

Rodriguez said that Walker's safety was a priority at the scene. She also said she wouldn't have done things differently.

"I wanted to try to get him in custody as soon as possible," she said.

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