Ray Charles Austin died in September 2003 after he was shocked by a Taser several times. Austin was an inmate in the Gwinnett County Jail at the time of his death. Austin was shocked as a result of a fight he was engaged in where he bit part of a deputy’s ear off.
Austin’s family settled the suit for $100,000 and agreed not to make public statements about the settlement. The agreement for confidentiality is an ongoing trend in settlements. Defendants do not want the public to see what they are paying for these cases and they do not want the public to know that they were at fault. The public has a right to know what products are harmful, what doctors are not practicing safe medicine and other valuable information that is often hidden when a settlement is labeled confidential.
For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Wrongful Death.
