Cause of death announced in Nashville Taser death case

By Vince Mancini

Published on October 14, 2005

According to a statement released by the state and Metro medical examiners' offices, the cause of death has been ruled as 'Excited Delirium' and the manner of death 'Could not be Determined'.

Lee suffered cardiac arrest a day after being shot multiple times with a Taser by police.

Excited delirium is a condition under which "people who are under the influence of certain drugs or suffer from some types of mental illness suffer a cardiorespiratory arrest after a period of agitated and bizarre behavior," the statement said.

"This sudden cardiorespiratory arrest typically occurs after the person is subdued and restrained by either law enforcement or medical personnel, and happens with the use of many different restraint techniques." the report said.

Marijuana and LSD were found in Lee's blood.

Davidson County medical examiner Bruce Levy said in the statement that there was no evidence that any of the restraint techniques, including the Taser directly led to Lee's death.

Levy added, however, that the combined effects of multiple applications of the Taser, pepper spray and physical force on someone in excited delirium were unclear and required additional research.

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