Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Family of Iman Morales Suing the City for Tasering Death

The family of a Brooklyn man who died after police Tasered him is suing the city, a cop and the estate of another officer who killed himself for $10 million.

Relatives of Iman Morales, 35, want the money and a review of police protocols and training in the use of Tasers.

"He didn't deserve any of this," said Morales' mother, Olga Negron, 55, who was at the scene when her mentally ill son was struck and then fell headfirst from a ledge onto the concrete 10 feet below. "It was horrible."

The suit names the city; the estate of Lt. Michael Pigott, who ordered the Tasing, and Officer Nicholas Marchesona, who fired the 50,000-volt electroshock as Morales was teetering on a 10-foot-high ledge Sept. 24.

A remorseful Pigott committed suicide days later. Marchesona was promoted to detective five weeks after Morales died.

Police have said the incident violated department guidelines, which prohibit stun gun use "in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface."

"What went wrong, clearly, was the training," the family's lawyer, Seth Harris, said Wednesday. "They have to train how to properly use this weapon."

He questioned why the Brooklyn district attorney's office didn't open a criminal probe.

A spokesman said the district attorney accepted cops' version that Morales' death was a tragic accident.


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