COLUMBIA — The city of Moberly settled a wrongful death lawsuit Monday with the family of a man who died in August 2008 after being shocked with a Taser by Moberly police. The city agreed to pay $2.4 million to the family and enforce a moratorium on Taser use, according to a news release from Andy Morris, Moberly city manager.
The city did not admit any fault or liability in the settlement and will not use any of its own funds to make the payment, according to the release. The city's insurance company will be responsible for the payment.
Stanley Harlan, 23, was pulled over by Moberly police in the early morning of Aug. 28, 2008, for driving erratically. Officers arrested him on suspicion of drunk driving and shocked him with a Taser several times when he would not allow himself to be handcuffed, according to reports made at the time. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Moberly Regional Medical Center.
As part of the settlement, which was finalized Monday morning in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Moberly also agreed to assign at least one Automatic External Defibrillator to an on-duty patrol unit and to require officers to complete a training course on recognizing and responding to medical distress.
The incident was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, neither of which found any criminal wrongdoing by officers. In January, a special prosecutor assigned to the case announced that no criminal charges would be filed against the officers.