Taser Injury Lawsuit
Police claim to use Tasers to subdue rather than injure, but in practice, these weapons often cause serious physical and emotional harm, including burns, bone fractures, head trauma, and death.
When you or someone in your family suffers injuries or worse from getting tased, you may file a wrongful death or Taser injury lawsuit. Police Brutality Center is here to help you understand your legal rights and can connect you with an experienced attorney who can pursue a lawsuit to recover compensation for your damages.
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Content Last Updated: April 7, 2025
Understanding Taser Injuries
A Taser is a handheld device capable of incapacitating someone with electricity. When an officer fires a Taser, it shoots two small darts connected with thin wires that carry a strong electric current from the device to the individual.
Tasers vs. Stun Guns
People sometimes use the term Taser interchangeably with stun gun, but they aren’t technically the same. Both use electricity to incapacitate, but using a stun gun generally requires touching someone with the device directly rather than firing it over a longer distance.
The purpose of both devices is to stop a potentially dangerous or violent person with force that’s less lethal than a firearm. They’ve become popular tools in law enforcement, with more than 15,000 agencies in the United States equipping their officers with Tasers.
Types of Injuries From Tasers
Electricity is a powerful force that poses risks to the targeted person’s health and well-being. Tasers and stun guns can cause serious harm, including the following:
- Physical injuries: Electrical currents can cause burns and nerve damage. If a person loses consciousness, they can fall and suffer bone fractures or head trauma.
- Cardiac issues or severe trauma: Tasers sometimes cause abnormal brain activity and seizures. Studies show they have also been responsible for atrial or ventricular fibrillation and, in severe cases, cardiac arrest.
- Psychological trauma and long-term disability: Taser strikes may cause emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Victims who fall or have seizures when tased can suffer brain damage, leading to permanent disabilities.
- Death: Cardiac events, brain damage, and other health effects from Tasers are sometimes fatal. Death is more likely if someone has an existing health condition or takes certain medications.
The severity of a Taser injury differs based on a person’s current mental and psychological health and how many times the officer tases them.
Understanding Taser Injuries & the Law
Before you file a Taser injury lawsuit, it’s vital to determine the nature of your claim. Depending on the circumstances, you might sue the officer, the agency they work for, and the manufacturer that produced the weapon.
Excessive Force
Police in the United States are legally allowed to use Tasers, but only in certain circumstances. Some officers use them when they aren’t necessary, particularly against people experiencing mental distress.
If an officer shocks you with a Taser or stun gun without good reason, they may have violated your constitutional rights. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees your protection from excessive force.
In addition, the Eighth Amendment protects inmates from unnecessary tasing by prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. If a corrections officer uses a Taser knowing there’s a significant risk of harming you, they’ve shown “deliberate indifference,” the standard that determines whether their actions violate the Eighth Amendment.
Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, individuals have the right to sue government officials, including law enforcement, when their Constitutional rights are violated.
Product Liability
All Tasers are dangerous, but defective ones are more likely to cause injuries and death. If a Taser malfunctions, it could deliver a stronger, more harmful electrical charge. In these situations, victims can seek damages from manufacturers, who have a duty of care to protect consumers by ensuring their products are safe.
Wrongful Death
If a victim’s injuries are fatal, their surviving family members or a representative of their estate can submit a wrongful death claim. If you’re a surviving family member, this allows you to recover compensation for the losses associated with your loved one’s death, including final medical expenses, loss of companionship, and lost income.
When To File a Taser Injury Lawsuit
It may be possible to file a lawsuit if you suffered Taser injuries and your experience aligns with the legal requirements for a rights violation or product liability issue. As with any police brutality injury case, you will need to show that the officer’s actions directly caused your injury or your loved one’s death.
Valid claims often involve evidence showing the officer didn’t have proper training in Tasers, could have used other less harmful methods, or was actively trying to harm you when firing a Taser. If one or more of those factors apply, you can pursue a variety of damages, including the following:
- Medical expenses, including hospital bills, medications, and long-term care
- Pain and suffering
- Lost wages and limited earning capacity
- Punitive damages
An attorney can help you calculate your total damages by examining your bills and medical reports.
The Legal Process
Filing a Taser or stun gun injury lawsuit is a complex process with strict requirements. Following the appropriate path can prevent delays or problems with your claim.
Pre-Litigation Steps
Before filing a Taser injury lawsuit, gather information to support your claim, including medical records showing your injuries and any treatment you received for them. If possible, collect evidence, such as witness statements and videos of the event, which bystanders may have recorded on their phones.
You may also want to pursue other avenues to hold the officer accountable. Police departments generally have a formal complaint process allowing you to file a grievance against the officer, potentially resulting in their removal from the force.
Filing the Lawsuit
Before you can submit your claim, determine the jurisdiction. While many victims file in state courts, the federal system may also be an option if your claim involves a violation of the United States Constitution, such as the Eighth Amendment.
There are strict deadlines for filing suit. States have different statutes of limitations for injury and wrongful death claims. If you attempt to file after that deadline passes, the court will likely dismiss your claim. Police Brutality Center can help you connect with a knowledgeable attorney who understands the statute of limitations in your area.
Discovery and Trial
During discovery, your attorney and the opposing party will exchange information and evidence, such as police body cam videos. After building the strongest possible case, your attorney will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the responsible party. If that process fails, your case will move to trial.
Expert witnesses play an essential role during this stage. Their expertise in areas such as police tactics, the escalation of force, and Taser defects lends credibility to your claim.
Defenses and Challenges
Cases against law enforcement officers present unique obstacles for victims. The first hurdle is qualified immunity, which protects law enforcement officers from liability unless they have violated a “clearly established” constitutional right. Your attorney can explain how your state handles qualified immunity and whether it will affect your claim.
Another challenging aspect of Taser injury lawsuits is the burden of proof, which requires the victim to prove it’s likely that the officer’s misconduct occurred. Police officers often argue their actions were necessary to protect themselves and others, and disproving their statement requires ample evidence. However, you may struggle to obtain restricted or controlled files, such as body camera footage, internal reports, and dispatch recordings.
You may also have to address administrative remedy exhaustion, which requires you to pursue all internal options an agency provides to pursue a grievance before you file a lawsuit. In other words, you can’t file a lawsuit until, for example, you file a police Taser misconduct claim directly with the agency and give them an opportunity to resolve the situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
To support victims who have suffered injuries from Tasers, we’ve put together some of the most frequently asked questions about police brutality.
Tasers can cause burns, fractures, nerve damage, and cardiac issues. You might also experience psychological harm, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The validity of your Taser injury claim depends on whether you suffered injuries as a direct result of a police officer’s actions. An experienced attorney can review the specifics of your case to determine whether it qualifies.
The difference between wrongful death and personal injury cases is who files the claim. If a person dies because of a Taser injury, another person files a wrongful death claim on their behalf. If they survive, the victim files a personal injury claim to recover damages.
The amount of time you have to file depends on where you live. States have different statutes of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death claims, often ranging between two and five years.
How We Can Help
Tasers may not be as deadly as guns, but they’re still high-risk weapons capable of causing lasting or permanent harm. If you have been harmed because an officer has fired a Taser without justification or the weapon malfunctioned because of a defect, you deserve justice.
If you or someone you love experienced Taser injuries during an encounter with the police, get legal help and advice from the Police Brutality Center so you can receive the compensation you need as quickly as possible.
