The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

City denies excessive force in post-stun gun death

State directs $2.1M for scholarships
8:40 p.m.
Health policy help on way
8:27 p.m.
Parade to mark Memorial Day in Lebanon
6:01 p.m.
Lebanon updates law banning vicious dogs
5:59 p.m.
Emergency response team offers training
5:57 p.m.
> More headlines

By LISA CORNWELL, The Associated Press Updated 8:46 PM Tuesday, February 7, 2012

CINCINNATI — A southwest Ohio city is denying allegations that two police officers used excessive force against a man who died in 2009 after police used a stun gun on him.

The Cincinnati suburb of Mason and the officers responded Monday to a lawsuit filed against them in federal court in December by the family of Douglas Boucher, said attorney Gary Becker, who represents the city and the officers.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati alleges that police used excessive force on Boucher, who is mentally ill, stunning him numerous times and kicking him and beating him while he was on the ground.

The lawsuit filed by attorney Alphonse Gerhardstein alleges that "the abuse of Mr. Boucher while he was on the ground was nothing short of torture."

It also alleges that Boucher's constitutional rights, including the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, were violated. It seeks a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.

Authorities said at the time that Boucher made sexual comments to a service station clerk on Dec. 13, 2009, and hit an officer after he was ordered outside. Another officer then stunned Boucher to subdue him, authorities said.

An autopsy report said Boucher died from a skull fracture that occurred when he fell after being stunned, and authorities have said that an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation found that the officers did not violate use of force regulations.

Based on the state's investigation, an internal investigation and the coroner's report, "we don't see any validity for the claims of excessive force or of constitutional violations," Becker said. The city and the officers are asking that the judge dismiss the lawsuit.

Gerhardstein said Tuesday that the state investigation cleared the officers of criminal violations, "but they did not check for any civil liabilities."

"He clearly had a head injury, and if he could have gotten immediate care rather than additional tasing, his outcome may have been much different," Gerhardstein said.

___

February 08, 2012 01:39 AM EST

Share this article