Supreme Court Revives Louisiana TASER Lawsuit

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to take a new look at a case involving repeated police use of a Taser stun gun on a handcuffed Louisiana man who later died.

The Associated Press reports the justices sent the case of Baron Pikes back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. That court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Pikes' young son against a former police officer in the central Louisiana town of Winnfield.

A Winnfield, La., police officer used his Taser on Pikes at least eight times over 14 minutes, after the 21-year-old had been handcuffed following a brief chase. Pikes was wanted for possession of crack cocaine. He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Winnfield fired Officer Scott Nugent after the episode. Nugent was charged with manslaughter in Pikes' death but was acquitted by a jury in 2010.