Salinas (CA) - Taser International received its first major court loss today after a federal jury found it partially responsible for the death of a Salinas California man. The jury believed the company should have been more responsible in warning users about the dangers of the device and gave $1 million in compensatory and $5.2 million in punitive damages to the family of 40-year-old Robert Heston Jr.

Heston died on February 20th 2005 after he was shocked with the Taser during a scuffle with the Salinas Police Department. The jury exonerated all the police officers and found Heston to be 85% at fault because he was on methamphetamines and had an enlarged heart due to habitual drug use. This puts the actual damages against Taser at approximately $920,000.

The Salinas Police Chief Daniel Ortega has said that his department will still use Tasers, but that he plans on buying ’Taser Cams’ which will record the arrests.

Read more ... Monterey Herald.