Wrongful-Death Suit Over Use of Stun Gun Goes to Trial in El Cajon

A $1-million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a man who died after he was shot three times with a Taser gun by San Diego police will go to trial today in Superior Court in El Cajon.

Paul and Teresa Gastelum filed the lawsuit against the city and Police Department after their son, Mario Gastelum, 24, died in November, 1987, after a confrontation with officers in Sherman Heights.

According to a police report of the incident, officers were called by a woman who reported that Gastelum was under her house, acting strangely. When officers arrived, they found Gastelum under the house, dressed only in his underwear and acting combative.

Sgt. Charles Mattingly, 40, shot Gastelum twice with the stun gun--at 50,000 volts each time--when the suspect refused to come out from under the house, police said. Gastelum, who had a history of drug use, was handcuffed, placed in a police vehicle and driven to Physicians & Surgeons Hospital by Officers Calvin A. Flores Jr. and Edward Ferko.

During the trip to the hospital, Gastelum began to act violently, and the officers requested that Mattingly meet them at the hospital with the Taser gun, police said. A police report said Gastelum had calmed down when the police car arrived at the emergency entrance.

However, an investigation by the police internal affairs unit showed Mattingly was not aware Gastelum had calmed down and shot him with another 50,000-volt jolt while the suspect sat in the back of the patrol car.

Gastelum lapsed into a coma after the third shot and died three days later.

An autopsy report did not mention what effect, if any, the Taser shock may have had in Gastelum’s death. Instead, the autopsy attributed his death to a deadly mixture of heroin and cocaine Gastelum allegedly ingested before his death.

In their lawsuit, Gastelum’s parents argue that their son’s death resulted from cardiac arrest caused by the repeated jolts from the Taser gun. Attorney Lionel Oderica, who is representing the family, did not return phone calls to his El Centro and San Diego offices.

Gene Gordon, chief deputy city attorney, acknowledged that the “cause of death” is a big issue in the lawsuit, but denied that use of the Taser gun played any role in Gastelum’s death.

“We will have medical experts on both sides testifying what they believe was the cause of death. . . . The burden of proof will be on the family to prove that death was caused by the Taser. We believe death was caused by the drugs that Mr. Gastelum ingested shortly before his death,” said Gordon.