Court Might Allow Black Man Family’s Lawsuit to Proceed: East Bay (CA) Cops Tased Deontae Faison While He Was in the Water, Watched Him Drown, Denied CPR, Still in Coma. Cops were Investigating Tags

From [HERE] A federal judge indicated she was going to deny full summary judgment during a Thursday hearing on a case involving an unarmed man who was shocked with a Taser while in the San Leandro Bay in 2024, resulting in his lapse into a coma, saying at least some of the claims will likely go to trial.

According to his family, Deontae Charles Faison was shocked with a Taser five times by East Bay Regional Park District police officer Jonathan Knea, with two shots happening while Faison was in the water, after he fled from Knea’s questioning about possible expired tags on Faison’s car parked nearby.

U.S. District Judge Jaqueline Scott Corley called the case “tragic and troubling” and heard arguments from both sides’ attorneys, particularly regarding which, if any, of the Taser shots could be included in a qualified immunity claim for Knea, the use of excessive force and lethal force, and whether Knea was trained inadequately. Corley allowed the suit to advance in July.

The East Bay Regional Park District’s attorney Patrick Moriarty argued Faison entered the water of his own volition and questioned the claim of whether his cardiac arrest in the water was due to being shocked with the Taser or because of his supposed drowning in frigid water. During the incident and after the last fired Taser shots, Faison was captured on footage from officers’ body cameras.

“Even though we have body cameras, there is always going to be disputes,” said Moriarty.

Attorney Patrick Buelna, representing Faison’s family, said the defense was trying to “strip away and sanitize the reason why he got into the water in the first place,” and suggested he fled into the water out of fear, confusion and disorientation because he was shocked multiple times.

Police video shows white cops aggressively approach the car with a gun pointed at him threatening his life while yelling at him to get out the car. The car appeared to be lawfully parked in a picnic area. It does look like he was with a white woman, so that may have triggered racist suspect cops.

Buelna cited the “not heavily litigated but clearly established” state-created danger doctrine as a possible way to show Knea put Faison in mortal danger by shocking and leaving him in the water without aid. The doctrine is a legal theory designed to allow a lawsuit for constitutional violations against state actors who put others in a dangerous situation that leads to injuries.

During the hearing, Corley had a spirited back-and-forth with Moriarty, saying several times she couldn’t infer certain ideas in the defendant’s favor during summary judgment and that there were still some facts in dispute.

Further complicating the case, she noted, was the lack of case law about people being shocked with a Taser in water and that Faison cannot testify for himself about what he was thinking or what happened before and after he was shocked.

“I have a lot here to go through,” Corley said, remarking the arguments Moriarty and Buelna made at the hearing were “super helpful today.” [bullshit. let a jury decide]

According to his family, on April 5, 2024, Faison set out for a day at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park with a friend when he was approached by Knea, who activated his vehicle’s lights and instructed them to sit on the car’s bumper.

The family says Knea said the car next to Faison had expired tags and that it belonged to him, despite never seeing Faison drive it.

When asked his name, Faison provided Knea with an alias. After running his name through the district system without any matches, Knea called for backup.

After 20 minutes, Faison attempted to leave the area, and Knea drew a gun on him. Faison ran toward the Bay, and Knea deployed his Taser, first hitting Faison in the back a few feet from the water.

Faison collapsed but got back up and walked into the water. There, his family claims, officers reapplied the Taser to him multiple times, against the district and Taser manufacturer’s orders, at one point stating, “He is not going to make it.”

The officers watched him yell for help for nearly 40 minutes until he lost consciousness and then dragged him out of the water. At no point did the officers render CPR to Faison, the family claims.

Faison has been in a coma and on life support since that day.

Faison’s family is seeking punitive and statutory damages against the officers and the district for assault, violations of his constitutional rights, negligence, false imprisonment and misrepresenting the harm he endured to medical staff.

“We are hopeful that the plaintiff has enough claims to go to trial,” Buelna said after the hearing.

Faison’s family filed the lawsuit in August 2024. The park district moved to dismiss earlier this year.

The East Bay Regional Park District is a special district that operates within Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains its own police and fire departments, separate from the county.