'EXCITED DELIRIUM' KILLED TASERED MAN

Critics Say Supposed Cause Explains Nothing

A crazed man brought down by a police Taser last October died from
what the medical examiner calls excited delirium caused by drugs.

Trevor Grimolfson, 38, was hit twice by the Taser after he attacked a
man who came into his Stony Plain Road tattoo parlour and then
smashed up a nearby pawnshop. Witnesses said Grimolfson was
combative, violent and couldn't be calmed. After he was hit with the
Taser, police handcuffed him. He soon lost consciousness and was
declared dead in hospital.

"The cause of death was excited delirium brought on by drugs he'd
taken," Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear said.

No further details on the ruling were released.

A representative from the medical examiner's office could not be
reached for comment.

Asked about excited delirium, Michael Webster, a police psychologist
who gave testimony at the inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant
Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport, said that "it's a fantasy.

"Police and medical examiners have taken something that was initially
descriptive and have made it into something prescriptive. And that's
where the controversy comes from, because it's just not a diagnosis,
nor is it a cause of death."

Webster said the vast majority of physicians, psychologists and
psychiatrists do not recognize that excited delirium exists.

"I would challenge your medical examiner to show me excited delirium
in that corpse."

It is Webster's opinion that the continuing diagnosis of excited
delirium as a legitimate cause of death further drives a wedge
between law enforcement and the majority of the medical community.

Alberta's chief medical examiner has been outspoken in his belief
that excited delirium is a legitimate condition. Someone in the state
could die without being touched or even when alone. It seems to have
nothing to do with the method of restraint, Dr. Graeme Dowling told
the Canadian National Committee for Police in November.

"They may die in spite of what we do."

Dowling said that it wouldn't be uncommon to need six to eight police
officers to restrain someone in an excited delirium, as it is
characterized by abnormal strength.

Following Grimolfson's death, the use of a Taser promptly became the
public focus.

The medical examiner's ruling "once again shows that when these
arrest-related deaths occur, jumping to conclusions is the wrong way
to go," Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle said. "We have
seen this time and time again repeatedly, and it has sadly affected
public opinion."

The Arizona company has been under intense public scrutiny in Canada
since Dziekanski's death was captured on amateur video.

Tuttle said that incident ignited something that borders on hysteria
in this country.

"We call it a crisis in Canada."

A fatality review board will determine whether a fatality inquiry
will be recommended in Grimolfson's case.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team which looks into deaths
involving police is still investigating.

Alberta Solicitor General spokesman Andy Weiler said no one from the
response team will comment on the medical examiner's report until the
investigation is complete.