Twenty Year Old Florida Woman In A Coma After Being Tasered By Florida State Trooper

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Cole tasered 20-year-old Danielle Maudsley in September. Subsequently, months later, she is in a coma and considered brain dead. Doctors have said that it is unlikely that Maudsley will ever wake up.

Officer Cole has been cleared of any charges.

A Tampa Bay Times report described the situation:

Maudsley, 20, clutched her head and struggled to rise. “I can’t get up,” she moaned, her final words.

But several experts and researchers who reviewed reports and video of the incident said the case raises questions.

They are troubled that Cole tasered Maudsley, a suspect in two hit-and-run crashes who had drugs in her system, while she was handcuffed. They also noted that Cole was just steps behind Maudsley when he fired the Taser.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” said Greg Connor, a professor at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute who specializes in use of force. “I don’t see where it’s going to be that hard to apprehend her.”

Cole, who at 267 pounds weighed about three times as much as Maudsley, told investigators he used his Taser because he was concerned one or both of them would be injured if he tackled her. He worried she was headed toward heavy traffic on U.S. 19.

The human rights organization Amnesty International called this week for stricter limits on Taser use after an intoxicated Georgia man died hours after police shot him with one. The group believes there should be a national policy on Taser use.

Florida has had 65 Taser-related deaths since 2001, the second highest total behind California, which had 92.

Before and after pictures of Danielle can be viewed at the DailyMail.