MAN WHO DIED IN CUSTODY HAD MULTIPLE TASER INJURIES

Austin Police Say 9 Officers Were Involved in Arrest; 2 Shocked Suspect

The man who died Monday after a scuffle with Austin police officers
was identified Tuesday as 33-year-old Michael Clark.

Clark, who was black, was a married father of a 3-year-old boy. He
was the second person this year to die after Austin officers used force.

Since 1998, all but one of the 14 people who died while or after
Austin police officers used force on them were minorities.

"Enough is enough," Michael Clark's mother, Mary Clark, said of use
of force by police officers, especially against minorities. "I want
this stopped right now."

Clark, who had a history of criminal convictions, died after police
fired a Taser at least twice to attempt to subdue him and arrest him
on charges of public intoxication.

Clark's death occurred as officers responded to a fight between a
man, later identified as Clark, and an unidentified woman Monday
afternoon in the 6400 block of East William Cannon Drive near ,
police officials said.

Clark struggled, officials said, as police were attempting to arrest
him. Clark bit Detective Robin Denton on the hand and injured Sgt.
Robert Pewitt's shoulder, officials said.

Eventually, nine officers, including Denton and Pewitt, were involved
in taking Clark into custody. Officers subdued him with pepper spray,
and officers Douglas Drake and Blaine Eiben administered Taser
shocks. Clark went into "medical distress" after being taken into
custody and died at South Austin Hospital at 3:55 p.m.

The cause of Clark's death was undetermined Tuesday, pending
toxicology results, said Dr. Roberto Bayardo, the Travis County
medical examiner.

Clark had a few Taser gun injuries, which look like small pricks from
a two-tined fork, and had been sprayed in the face with pepper spray,
Bayardo said. Clark also had a few minor scrapes.

Bayardo said he could not comment on how many Taser injuries Clark
had or where they were because the autopsy was done by Deputy Medical
Examiner Elizabeth Peacock, who was not available for comment Tuesday.

The two Austin police officers who used their Tasers, Drake and
Eiben, were placed on restrictive duty, which is standard procedure
when a death occurs, said Laura Albrecht, a department spokeswoman.
Police records show no disciplinary actions against either officer.

According to the department's policy, officers are allowed to use
Tasers to control a dangerous or violent person when deadly force
doesn't appear to be necessary, if attempts to subdue someone by
other tactics haven't worked or if it is unsafe for officers to
approach the person.

Only one officer is allowed to use a Taser on a person unless it is
obvious that it did not work, according to the policy. Officers also
must warn a person that they are going to use a Taser, unless the
warning would jeopardize the officers.

Albrecht said it was too early in the investigation to determine how
many times the weapons were fired against Clark and whether they were
fired at close range or from a distance. There was video taken of the
incident but it was not being released Tuesday, Albrecht said. She
declined to comment further.

After using a Taser, officers are to notify their supervisors
immediately, gather the used cartridges and electrical probes to be
used as evidence, and download the electronic firing data from the
Taser. The firing data are then to be attached to a use-of-force form
for review by supervisors, according to the department's policy.

The Central Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union
condemned the use of Tasers by the department in a Tuesday afternoon
protest by a handful of people at police headquarters.

Austin Dullnig, an ACLU spokesman, called for a moratorium on use of
the devices and a more uniform discipline matrix for the department.

"Not four months ago, Daniel Rocha was shot in the back," Dullnig
said. "If five officers cannot deal with a suspect with anything
other than a lethal weapon, policy needs to change. If the police
chief and the city manager don't do anything, then it's up to City
Council. If the council doesn't do anything, then it's up to the
people to vote them out of office."

Officer Julie Schroeder has said she shot Rocha because she thought
the 18-year-old had taken her Taser gun during a struggle and was
about to use it on her or a sergeant who had come to her aid.

The last person to die after Austin police used a Taser to subdue him
was Abel Ortega Perez. Perez, 36, died after he was arrested June 16,
2004. However, the Travis County medical examiner's office found the
cause of death to be a cocaine overdose.

Clark had four felony convictions, according to Travis County court
records. In 1990, he was sentenced to two years in jail for
possession of cocaine, to four years for delivery of a controlled
substance and to 10 years for aggravated robbery with a deadly
weapon. In 2002, he was sentenced to 20 months in state jail for
possession of cocaine.

He also had a misdemeanor conviction from 2002 for possession of
marijuana within 1,000 feet of a drug-free zone.

The latest charge against Clark involved a misdemeanor charge of
driving without a license in May.

Relatives said Clark was using crutches because of a leg injury he
sustained Sunday and wouldn't have become violent with police. His
wife, Monica Clark, said she didn't know about the events leading up
to her husband's death.

The family was also frustrated by the lack of information they were
receiving about the incident, said Glenda Guiton, Michael Clark's
cousin. She said police have been changing the story of what
happened, telling the family that there was also another man, not
just a woman, involved in the fight prior to Clark's arrest.

But the family's biggest question is why police went beyond pepper
spray and used the Taser more than once.

The use of Tasers has been widely debated among civil rights groups
because their safety has not been firmly established. More than 70
people have died from Tasers in the United States since 2001, Amnesty
International says.

Gathered on the front porch of the Clark family home on East 21st
Street on Tuesday, relatives remembered Clark as a fun-loving guy who
liked to play with his son, Michael Jr., and pick people up in giant bear hugs.

"No matter what the problem was, if you came over here, Michael was
going to have you smiling when you leave," said cousin Larry Foley.

"If you want to uphold the law, one man doesn't have the right to
take another man's life," Monica Clark said.