AUTOPSIES RELEASED IN TASER CASE

Third Pathologist Called To Review Earlier Findings

It took nearly a year and three pathologists to better pinpoint what
killed a 40-year-old Salinas man who had been stunned several times
with Tasers.

With the release Wednesday of the three autopsy reports, the cause of
Robert Clark Heston's death earlier this year came more into focus.

Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis said the first two autopsies
conflicted, making it "reasonable and necessary" to ask for a third report.

"We are not experts. We needed someone to look into this who was," he said.

Heston died Feb. 20, a day after Salinas police officers stunned him
at least five times while trying to arrest him outside his parents'
home. The District Attorney's Office found no evidence to support
filing criminal charges against the officers, according to its report
released Tuesday.

The sole purpose of the district attorney's investigation was to
determine whether any officer was criminally responsible for Heston's death.

"The evidence in this case does not prove that any officer used
unreasonable force at any time during the events on... February 19,
2005...," the report states.

During the investigation, two other post-mortem reviews were requested.

All three autopsy reports indicate Heston died from a combination of
methamphetamine intoxication, Taser jolts and a heart attack. Two of
the three reports cite multiple organ failure because of
methamphetamine intoxication as the primary cause of death, with
Taser use a contributing cause.

The first autopsy was performed by Dr. Terri Haddix, the county
coroner's forensic pathologist, two days after Heston died.

Her findings indicate Heston died from organ failure because of a
heart attack caused by Heston's drug use and the Taser jolts.
Haddix's findings were never formally made public.

Salinas Police Chief Daniel Ortega submitted Haddix's findings for
review to Dr. John Hain, a pathologist who performs the majority of
the county's autopsies. Hain determined Heston's cause of death as
primarily cardiac arrest caused by methamphetamine intoxication. He
said Heston was "severely agitated" and that he was under the
influence of a toxic level of methamphetamine known to cause
"life-ending cardiac arrhythmias."

Hain stated in his report that a person who is under the influence of
a drug such as cocaine or methamphetamine sometimes dies after a
struggle with police because of added stress.

Sheriff's officials were expected to disclose Hain's report in early
August, but Kanalakis decided to send Hain's report and Haddix's
report to Dr. Steven Karch, a retired San Francisco medical examiner
considered an expert on drug-induced and Taser-related deaths.

Karch found that Heston died primarily from chronic methamphetamine
abuse and heart enlargement, and that he suffered from a condition
known as "excited delirium," which is associated with chronic
stimulant abuse and schizophrenia. Excited delirium is a condition
that occurs when someone ingests large amounts of stimulant drugs. It
has been reported as giving a person unusual strength and has been
said to cause spontaneous cardiac or pulmonary arrest.