Video shows state police trooper using Taser on man for over a minute
A rookie Connecticut State Police trooper remains on the job while her use of a Taser on a man who died four days later is the focus of an internal investigation.
Dash and body-worn video obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group shows state police Trooper Jessie Rainville using her stun gun on Ryan Marzi after she and state police Trooper Desmond Stimson responded to a report of a domestic violence incident at a Canterbury home on Aug. 24.
The sound of the Taser can be heard continuously for 1 minute and 2 seconds and ends when Stimson tells Rainville, “enough with that,” according to the video footage.
Four days later, state police said Marzi, 38, was found dead in his family’s Hebron home. The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting more tests to determine his cause of death.
As required by state police policy, Rainville’s use of the Taser is under review by her supervisor. State police have not yet responded to Hearst Connecticut Media’s request for the log for Rainville’s Taser showing exactly how long the device was deployed that night. State police have also not confirmed the length of time Rainville deployed the stun gun during the incident.
The video footage shows Stimson first arriving at the home and confronting Marzi outside of a garage between a car and a pickup truck. The footage shows a scuffle then ensues between Stimson and Marzi, although it’s unclear what led to the altercation because the trooper’s audio was not activated until after the two began wrestling.
During the altercation, Stimson’s body-worn camera is knocked off and later recovered under one of the vehicles parked outside the garage, footage from his dash cam shows.
Rainville arrives as Stimson is lying on the ground crying out in pain telling Marzi, “you broke my leg, you broke my leg, dude,” the video shows. Rainville approaches with her Taser drawn and orders Marzi to get on the ground as the man leans against a pickup truck, the video shows.
As Rainville yells again for the taller Marzi to get on the ground, he turns toward her and she fires the probes of the Taser, the footage shows.
Marzi then falls to the ground, and seconds later, can be heard saying, “OK, OK,” the video shows.
The clatter of the Taser as it emits a continuous shock can be heard in the video for just over a minute.
About 30 seconds after Rainville first deployed the Taser, Marzi says he is unable to comply with her order to turn over, the footage shows.
“Stop, please,” Marzi says about 40 seconds into being tased, the video shows.
Rainville continues to deploy the Taser as she and Stimson, who is seen crawling on the ground as he struggles to stand up due to his injured leg, repeatedly tell Marzi to get on his stomach and put his hands behind his back, according to the footage.
“I can’t, I can’t, I swear,” Marzi says nearly one minute since the tasing began.
Seconds later, Stimson yells, “Rainville, Rainville, enough with that, enough with that” and she takes her finger off the trigger, the video shows.
State police provided Hearst Connecticut Media Group footage from Rainville’s body-worn camera that begins after she deployed the Taser and Marzi was subdued. State police said Rainville’s body camera was not activated when she first arrived at the scene.
Sgt. Christine Jeltema, a spokesperson for the state
police, said there could be several reasons why Rainville did not activate her body camera sooner. An officer’s body camera will automatically turn on when the lights on their cruiser are activated, Jeltema said. She said it’s possible Rainville arrived without her lights on or that she had just responded to a medical call, which is not recorded.
Jeltema said the body camera issue will likely be part of the investigation into Rainville’s use of force.
Rainville, who was a correction officer for 10 years before entering the police academy as a trooper about 18 months ago, is seen on video placing her knee on Marzi’s upper back once he is on his stomach and handcuffed. The video also appears to show Rainville turning off the audio on her body camera for several minutes as other troopers and EMTs arrived.
Stimson, who was a University
of Connecticut police officer before he joined the state police 18 months ago, remains out of work after suffering a broken leg during the incident.
Marzi was taken to Backus Hospital in Norwich for evaluation before being discharged. He was later charged with third-degree assault, interfering with an officer and interfering with a 911 call and released on $7,500 bond.
Marzi died in his sleep at his Hebron home on Aug. 28, according to his obituary. A representative for the medical examiner’s office said it could take up to six weeks for toxicology results to be completed to determine the cause of death.
There are a handful of Connecticut residents who die each year after police have deployed a Taser on them, according to Kenneth Barone, associate director of University of Connecticut’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, which under state law gathers data and examines all use of Tasers and other use-offorce incidents by police officers each year in the state.
Most of the deaths are not attributed directly to the Taser, but it can be a contributing factor, he said.
“It’s really hard to know in these cases,” Barone said. “Sometimes it turns out to be a heart attack and the question is: Did the Taser have an impact on someone’s death?”
Years ago, it was uncommon for a police officer to use a Taser on someone for more than 5 or 10 seconds because the stun guns were originally designed to fire in quick five-second bursts, Barone said.
“That’s usually the amount of time it takes to get someone under control,” he said.
But as technology evolved in recent years, Taser models used by state police can now emit a constant shock as long as an officer keeps their finger on the trigger, Barone said.
“The new technology doesn’t have the safeguards built in,” Barone said. “If you have a tense situation, 25 seconds can go by and you don’t even realize that you still have your finger on the trigger.”
Barone said he is now seeing instances where Tasers are being used for 30 to 45 seconds or more.
“That’s a really long time,” he said. “The point of a Taser is to gain compliance for your safety. It shouldn’t be used because you can’t roll over.”
According to state police and Connecticut’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council policy, there is no specific time limit for the use of a Taser during an incident. The policy only states that the weapon must be used “reasonably” and only for the amount of time it takes to get a suspect under control.
The state police policy requires any use of a Taser to be reviewed by a supervisor, agency officials said. All police agencies are required to submit to the state detailed information on the use of Tasers or the threat to deploy the device. Barone’s agency compiles and examines the data to provide an annual report on his findings.