No New Trial for Frederick County Deputy Cleared in Stun Gun Death of Black Man Lying Face Down

From [HERE] and [MORE] A federal court is refusing to order a new trial for a Frederick County sheriff’s deputy cleared of liability in the stun-gun-related death of a Frederick man. The Frederick News-Post reports that U.S. District Judge William Quarles Jr. rejected the motion filed by Jarrel Gray’s parents in a ruling filed Wednesday in Baltimore. 

The family of Jarrel Gray filed a $145 million lawsuit against Frederick County, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Corp. Rudy Torres for the Taser-related death of the 20-year-old in November. A jury found in January that Cpl. Rudy Torres didn’t use excessive force against the 20-year-old man by shocking him twice. 

An autopsy report listed the cause of death as undetermined, associated with restraint and alcohol intoxication.  Gray’s parents claimed the verdict contradicted the weight of the evidence. They said their intoxicated son posed no threat lying face-down and unresponsive after the first jolt from Torres’ stun gun.

On May 9, 2008 a Frederick County grand jury found Torres justified in his actions, following the presentation of an investigation by the Frederick Police Department into the circumstances surrounding Gray's death [MORE] 

In a 15-page opinion filed in online court records Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. disagreed with the family on all points. The case is still open, though a final motion for summary judgment filed by attorney Dan Karp will likely be granted by the judge. That motion asks Quarles to dismiss the claim that the sheriff's office improperly trained Torres, resulting in Gray's death. Torres was not found negligent, and such claims are generally dismissed, Karp said.

Torres was responding to a report of a disturbance involving Gray, who Torres said was fighting with cousin Jerame Duvall when he arrived at Gresham Court. Torres said he used his Taser when Gray refused to get on the ground and show his hands, and shocked him again as he was on the ground when he again failed to show his hands. During the trial an expert witness said it appeared based on the defense’s timeline — which shows a span of 17 seconds between the time Torres radioed that he was at the scene and saw two people fighting and when he called out that he had tasered someone — that Torres didn’t give Gray time to comply as guidelines suggest. He said the Taser cycle lasts five seconds, meaning Torres was at the scene for only 10 to 12 seconds before tasering Gray. “It’s too quick of a time to deploy the Taser and have Mr. Gray comply with that demand, if he even heard it at all,” Scott said. [MORE]