Taser death suit settled for $500,000

The family of a Bedford man who died in 2003 while in police custody will receive a total of $500,000 from Monroe and Lawrence counties, the lawyer for the family confirmed.\nRichard Waples, attorney for James L. Borden Sr.'s family, said he was "pleased with the settlement."\n"We think it shows that what Monroe and Lawrence counties did to Borden was wrong," Waples said.\nBorden, 47, died the evening of Nov. 6, 2003, while being booked into the Monroe County Jail after he was arrested for violating his probation by Lawrence County Police Department training officer John Potter. \nAccording to police and Emergency Medical Services reports, Borden was incoherent and disoriented when he was taken into custody at the Monroe County Jail after the arresting officers spoke with the Lawrence County Probation Department and ambulance personnel -- against advice from EMS, who urged officers to seek medical attention for him.\nBorden was shocked multiple times with a taser by Monroe County Officer David Shaw for being uncooperative, according to police reports.\nAfter lying unresponsive on the floor, Borden received medical attention from a jail nurse. Ten minutes later a Bloomington Hospital team arrived, and shortly thereafter, Borden's body was carried out of the jail on a stretcher.\nMonroe County Coroner David W. Toumey previously told the Indiana Daily Student in a Dec. 15, 2003, story that Borden died of a heart attack, drug intoxication and electrical shock.\nThe lawsuit, brought by James' brother Steve Borden, was seeking compensation for what it alleged was "the wrongful death of James Borden, who died as a direct result of being deprived emergency medical attention and the defendants' use of excessive force against him."\nThe agencies that will pay the Borden family in the settlement are not admitting guilt or liability in the case, according to the settlement motion filed in Lawrence County Court.\n"Settlement negotiations among all the parties except for TASER International, Inc., presided over by federal Magistrate William Lawrence, resulted in a proposed settlement," the motion reads. "That settlement includes a total payment of $500,000 to the Plaintiff's (Borden family)."\nThe insurance company that represents both Monroe and Lawrence County will provide the money for the settlement, and in his capacity as the family's attorney, Waples will receive 40 percent of the settlement, the Bedford Times-Mail reported Jan. 19 on its Web site. \nDorothy Borden, James Borden's mother, will receive half of a $275,000 portion of the settlement. Borden's five children will receive the other half.\nThe remaining $25,000 will go toward the Borden family's wrongful death lawsuit pending against TASER International, Inc. -- the manufacturer of the M26 taser gun used against Borden. Waples said that suit is in its discovery phases currently, with a trial scheduled for November at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, located in Indianapolis. \n"We've still got TASER in the case," Waples said. "And they shouldn't be selling these devices with serious circumstances or death."\nA taser is a gun used to send up to 50,000 volts in each electrical shock throughout the region of the body where the taser probes make contact. A shock from a taser results in an instant loss of control and coordination, and is often used by law enforcement to subdue unruly inmates. \nSteve Tuttle, vice president of communications for TASER, said since the matters regarding the Borden case are the subject of a lawsuit, TASER could not comment.\nThe Borden family was unavailable for comment at press time.\n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.