Florida Legal News & Updates | Orlando Legal Examiner

British University Warns Against Tasers

A British university is warning of the dangers of electric stun guns that will be trialled in New Zealand later this year. Police officers will be armed with taser guns, which cause temporary paralysis and are designed to be used as a non-lethal way of dealing with violent offenders. Project coordin

By The Legal Examiner

/ 10 Feb 2006

FDA Warns Doctors About Trasylol

The FDA has issued a warning to doctors and patients about the adverse risks associated with the Bayer drug Trasylol. The drug is used to control bleeding in such surgical procedures as heart bypass surgery. The FDA highlighted two studies published last month, including one in the New England Journ

By The Legal Examiner

/ 9 Feb 2006

Georgia Legislature Mandates Stun Gun Training

Police agencies in Georgia that use Taser stun guns would have to make sure their officers know how to use them properly under a bill passed overwhelmingly by the House on Wednesday. The legislation, which cleared the lower chamber 162-1 and now goes to the Senate, would require police departments t

By The Legal Examiner

/ 9 Feb 2006

Amnesty International Reports 103 Taser Deaths

Amnesty International is reporting that 103 deaths are related to the Taser stun gun. Additionally, the human rights group says there is widespread abuse of the weapon that in some cases “constitutes ill-treatment and torture.”Amnesty International reports 103 people have been killed in North Americ

By The Legal Examiner

/ 8 Feb 2006

St. Pete Roof Collapse Reveals Cracks in Inspection System

When the torrential rain came pouring down in Tampa Bay last Friday, few thought that a Bed, Bath, and Beyond roof would collapse. According to an article in the St. Pete Times, a contractor got a permit to put a new roof on the building last April 4th but the construction was never inspected by the

By The Legal Examiner

/ 7 Feb 2006

Grand Jury: Don't Taser Kids

“Police should not use Taser stun guns to subdue children,” a Miami-Dade grand jury has stated. However, they didn’t propose an outright ban on the weapon. Taser stun guns emit 500 volts of electricity which incapacitates the victim. There are increasing reports of deaths as well as abuse of taser s

By The Legal Examiner

/ 6 Feb 2006

Nashville Man Tasered by Police 19 Times, Dies

Last year, a Nashville man was tasered by police a total of 19 times! Not surprisingly, he later died. In spite of this, more police officers will receive taser weapons after a scant 4 hours of training. It seems to me that if police officers are going to be equipped with these stun guns, more resea

By The Legal Examiner

/ 5 Feb 2006

California Coroner Calls Taser a Factor in Death

For the first time in Santa Clara County, California, a coroner has determined that a Taser gun factored in a man’s death. Dr. Christopher Happy concluded that “a contributory cause of death was post tasering and pepper-spraying.”According to Richard Konda of the Coalition for Justice and Accountabi

By The Legal Examiner

/ 4 Feb 2006

Boating Fatalities on Increase in Florida

While the rest of the country is seeing fatalities on the water decrease, Florida is experiencing a sharp increase in such deaths. In 2005 alone, the state has recorded 71 boating deaths. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife officials, the number one cause of the increase is carelessness on the wa

By The Legal Examiner

/ 4 Feb 2006

Boating Accident Deaths Not Highest In Florida?

After Tampa’s Gasparilla’s Pirate Festival Floatilla in Hillsborough Bay last week, you would think that Florida (and maybe even Tampa) might be a strong contender for Boat Accident Death capitol of the United States. But thanks to an enlightening post by fellow Maritime Lawyer and Blogger Rodd Sull

By The Legal Examiner

/ 3 Feb 2006

75 year old Madeira Beach Man Tasered 3 Times by Deputies

In a story that ran today in the St. Petersburg Times, a 75 year old man who is blind in one eye was tasered three times by Pinellas County deputies in December 2005. The deputies had been summoned to the Madeira Beach condo after friends of the man had called deputies saying they were concerned abo

By The Legal Examiner

/ 3 Feb 2006

Tort Reform Antics in Tallahassee

The Daytona Beach News-Journal published an insightful editorial about joint and several liability. In part the opinion piece states, “Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would reduce plaintiffs’ ability to recover damages after a successful lawsuit. When multiple defendant

By The Legal Examiner

/ 31 Jan 2006