Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 | 1:28 p.m.
A federal appeals court has breathed new life into a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Las Vegas police by the family of a man who died in custody after he was stunned by a Taser a dozen times over a 2-minute span.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an appeal Friday filed by the family of 44-year-old Anthony Jones.
Court records show one of the officers deployed his Taser 10 times in 90 seconds, even as Jones was being handcuffed after he tried to flee a traffic stop in 2010.
The appellate judges overturned most of an earlier, lower-court ruling that dismissed the case partly because the name of Jones' estate was incorrectly listed as a plaintiff.
The appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, said this was an “honest and understandable mistake” and the District Court judge did not allow time to correct the problem.
Judge Alex Kozinski, who wrote the majority decision, said, “Rather than enter judgment immediately after denoting the deficiency, the District Court should have allowed plaintiffs a reasonable opportunity to substitute the right party.”
The case now returns to federal court in Las Vegas for a new trial to determine whether the officers' acted unreasonably.
Las Vegas Sun reporter Cy Ryan contributed to this report.
