TASER NECESSARY TO SAFELY RESTRAIN MAN, POLICE OFFICER SAYS

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver police officer who discharged an electronic
stun weapon at 25-year-old Roman Andreichikov moments before he died
told a coroner's inquest Tuesday he doesn't think he did anything wrong.

"In retrospect, can you think of anything in that situation that you
would have done differently?" asked coroner's counsel John Bethell.

"Given what we had, given the resources and the situation -- no,"
replied Const. Darren Hall.

Andreichikov had been on a five-day crack binge and had twice tried
to commit suicide by throwing himself off his fourth-floor balcony
when his friend, Rahim Hadani, called 911 on May 1, 2004.

Hall and his partner were the first officers on the scene.

On Tuesday, Hall described entering Andreichikov's apartment and from
where he was standing he could see Hadani in the room but could only
hear Andreichikov. "What I heard was loud moaning and deep growling,"
said Hall. "There were these loud vocalizations but they didn't make
any sense."

Thinking he may have to use his Taser -- the brand name for an
electronic stun weapon --Hall said he unholstered it before he
stepped around the corner and saw Andreichikov, a muscular body
builder, sitting on the couch.

"He looked angry to me," said Hall. "He looked ready to explode. . .
. He was breathing incredibly fast. I could see white foam coming out
of his mouth."

Hall said he thought there was a good chance Andreichikov was
suffering from "excited delirium" -- a state of panic often induced
by heavy drug use -- and needed to be handcuffed and taken to
hospital as quickly as possible.

Hall said he asked Andreichikov to lie face down, which he did, but
that Andreichikov then quickly turned over.

He said he again asked Andreichikov to flip over, which he didn't do,
and Hall decided that he would have to stun him with the Taser to
safely restrain him.

Hall said he fired the Taser and his partner and two backup officers
immediately tried to restrain Andreichikov. As Andreichikov fought
back, said Hall, he pulled the Taser trigger again, giving him
another five-second electrical shock.

Andreichikov was handcuffed and three officers held him down as he
yelled and tried to get free. A few moments later, one of the
officers said Andreichikov wasn't breathing.

Andreichikov posed no immediate threat to himself or the officers,
Hall confirmed, but said Tasering him was the only safe way to
handcuff him and get him to hospital.

Phil Rankin, a lawyer representing Andreichikov's family, suggested
Hall was intent on using his Taser from the moment he entered the
apartment and didn't consider other, less dangerous, methods of restraint.

"The fact is you decided to Taser Mr. Andreichikov no matter what he
did," said Rankin.

"That's not true at all," replied Hall.