Lawyers for the parents of Jarrel Gray, a
man who died in 2007 after being tasered by a sheriff’s deputy, are seeking a new trial in the case.
Attorneys Gregory L. Lattimer and Ted Williams filed a motion late Wednesday in U.S. District Court, requesting that the verdict be set aside and a new trial granted.
The motion claims that the jury’s verdict, which cleared former deputy Cpl. Rudy Torres of responsibility in Gray’s death and found that Torres did not use excessive force, was against the weight of the evidence in the case.
There was no evidence to suggest that Gray posed an imminent threat to anyone as he lay motionless on the ground after being tased the first time, the motion states. The motion claims the use of force is justified only to prevent harm to the subject or another person.
Additionally, Lattimer and Williams maintain the verdict was “irreconcilably inconsistent,” citing the jury’s conclusion that Torres did commit assault and battery but that it did not amount to an excessive use of force or cause Gray’s death.
