A Sacramento County coroner's report obtained by The Bee detailing the fatal shooting of a man by Folsom police on Easter indicates that police attempts to Taser him may not have been effective.
The report also shows that Joseph Han, 23, was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol during the April 12 encounter with police.
The Bee obtained the report through a Public Records Act request in May.
According to the report, Han was killed by two gunshot wounds, one to his chest and one to his abdomen.
Han was killed after police went to his house in response to a call from family members saying he had been acting erratically. After Han attacked the officers with a knife, they shot and killed him, Folsom police said.
Each of the three responding officers tried to stop Han using their Taser devices during the brief altercation, said Sgt. Rick Hillman, head of Folsom's Professional Standards Department.
Yet the coroner's report shows that Han had only three Taser wounds on his body, not the six that should have appeared if the dual prongs of each Taser had connected with his body.
"It's possible that the Taser was not effective," Hillman said.
If both prongs of a Taser do not embed themselves in a person, the Taser cannot deliver its charge and is thus not effective, Hillman said.
Hillman said it's possible that one officer missed completely with his Taser, one hit with only one prong and the other hit Han with the intended two.
However, Hillman said he doubted that a jolt from the Taser would have been ineffective.
"Usually you get an immediate reaction when a Taser is deployed," Hillman said. "There's a possibility (of it being ineffective), but I have not seen it."
John Burris, an attorney representing the Han family, said he's examining whether the actions of the police warrant filing a civil lawsuit.
Having met with officials from the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday, Burris said he doesn't expect criminal charges to be filed against the officers.
Burris called the lack of alcohol or drugs in Han's system "significant" and said that the main issue of this case was the officer's behavior in dealing with Han.
"What did the police know at the time, and were they properly trained to handle the situation?" Burris said. "Did they escalate the situation? Did the department properly train their officers to handle this kind of situation?"
Call The Bee's Stan Oklobdzija, (916) 321-1041.
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