Police Officer Re-Files Suit Against Stun Gun Maker

A Michigan police officer who says a stun gun demonstration left him permanently injured has re-filed a lawsuit against Taser International Inc., maker of the weapon.

Nick Kerchoff, a career officer with the Livonia Police Department, alleges that Taser International failed to adequately warn of the stun gun's potential for inflicting serious injury. He says he agreed to receive a jolt during a May 2003 demonstration of a Taser International stun gun because the company had indicated the stun would result in only "temporary and negligible injury."

Kerchoff says he spasmed, fell and suffered skin burns and "permanent nerve injury" from the stun gun shock. The injuries could have been avoided, he says, if Taser International had fulfilled its duty to warn potential users of its stun guns of the severity of the injuries that could result.

Kerchoff alleges breach of implied and express warranties, misrepresentation and violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. He says Taser International "exaggerated the safety of its equipment" and had a duty to "refrain from endangering [him] for its benefit."

According to Kerchoff, Taser International breached its duty to the public as well as to himself, and told its sales personnel that potential users of the devices should subject themselves to shocks to familiarize themselves with the product's potential.

Earlier this year, Kerchoff agreed to dismiss without prejudice a similar suit against Taser International.

The company denies that it recommends that police officers subject themselves to stun gun hits as part of a sales strategy and says the claimed injuries were not "reasonably foreseeable."

Taser International says the inherent danger of its product could not be eliminated without compromising its "usefulness or desirability" and that, since law enforcement officers are "sophisticated users," Michigan law exempts it from liability for failing to provide adequate warning.

Kerchoff is represented by Michael S. Hohauser of the Hohauser Law Firm in Troy, Mich.Taser International is represented by Michael L. Stefani and Brady G. Stefani of Stefani & Stefani in Royal Oak, Mich.