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A lawsuit seeking $145 million in damages in the November 2007 Taser death of a Frederick man shows no sign of settlement. "From all indications, this case appears to be going to trial," said Ted Williams, the lawyer representing the family of Jarrel Gray. "We believe force of an excessive nature was used" by Cpl. Rudy Torres of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, Williams said recently. About 200 people have died after being tasered in the United States. Medical examiners have linked many of the deaths to drugs or underlying health problems. In the Gray case, lawyers were back in U.S. District Court for procedural arguments Feb. 3. About eight weeks earlier, in December 2008, Frederick County and its sheriff's office were reinstated as defendants in the lawsuit tied to the 20-year-old's death. This month, a judge extended the period of discovery to allow Williams the opportunity to question the defense's expert witnesses. "Essentially, it appears we'll be standing in place for the next 90 days as the plaintiffs depose our experts," said Daniel Karp, the lawyer representing Frederick County, on Feb. 10. Karp listed five witnesses expected to be called at trial: a police liability expert; a representative of Taser International; the medical examiner involved in the case; and two members of the sheriff's office training staff. Gray died at Frederick Memorial Hospital on Nov. 18, 2007, hours after being tasered twice by Torres. In the days following Gray's death, the sheriff's office said Gray was the only person who didn't comply with the deputy's orders to show his hands as he arrived to investigate a fight in the 7000 block of Ladd Circle. Filed in May 2008, the suit claims Gray was the victim of police brutality. It seeks damages for wrongful death, excessive force, deprivation of civil rights, negligent training and infliction of emotional distress. To date, the suit filed against the sheriff's office in connection with Gray's death is the only claim made against a local law enforcement agency for the use of a Taser, local authorities said. In 2007, Taser International said that it had won more than 60 wrongful-death cases, beating the lawsuits in court or getting them dismissed with no payout or penalty. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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