Jury Rules on 911 Call, Hearing-Impaired Suspect

A federal jury in Oregon has issued its verdict in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a hearing-impaired man who was Tasered and physically arrested after a dispatcher failed to relay information to officers about his disability. Erik Pierce was involved in a domestic dispute in 2005, and the brother of a woman involved in the dispute dialed 911. The caller mentioned that Pierce was deaf and had mental health issues, the lawsuit states. But the Willamette Valley Communications Center dispatchers did not give that information to deputies who responded. When Keizer police officers arrived and saw Pierce walking away, they ordered him to stop, instructions which he didn’t hear and didn’t comply with. The Tasering and struggle followed. The jury ruled primarily on the use of force used, but also on the county’s failure to accommodate his lack of hearing when jailed. The jury found the officers were guilty of excessive force, but found the city of Salem, who operates the comm center, and Marion County, who operates the jail, guilty of negligence and violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Read more here, and download (pdf) portions of the lawsuit here.