NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Metro Officers Cleared In Taser Death

Metro Officers Cleared In Taser Death

(AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville jury has found in favor of three Metro Police officers and the city in a case filed over the death of a man who was shot 19 times with a Taser stun gun in 2005.

Jurors returned the verdict Monday night in the death of 21-year-old Patrick Lee.

Lee's parents filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2006, accusing police of using unreasonable and unnecessary force.

Bud Lee, who co-wrote the Garth Brooks hit "Friends in Low Places," and Cindy Lundman have said they believed the police department failed to properly train officers to use the stun guns.

Patrick Lee died two days after being shocked.

An autopsy found that he died of a drug-induced condition known as excited delirium.

A grand jury concurred with the district attorney's office, which said no crimes were committed that resulted in Lee's death.

Metro pulled Tasers from use shortly after the incident. Officers who want to carry Tasers must now undergo an eight hour training course.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)