A Taser is force, and every deployment has a sequence

Graham's objective-reasonableness framework applies to electrical force during a seizure. Relevant circumstances include the suspected offense, an immediate threat, active resistance or flight, warnings, distance, and other practical options. Perea v. Baca is especially useful in the Tenth Circuit because it examines repeated Taser use, the degree of resistance, and continued force after officers had gained control.

The analysis should distinguish probe deployment from drive-stun contact and identify whether electrical cycling continued automatically or through repeated trigger activation. A first use aimed at stopping active aggression presents a different record from added cycles after the person falls, is entangled, is handcuffed, or can no longer comply. Courts do not decide that question by counting cycles alone, but device data can make the sequence testable.

Medical records may document probe injury, burns, head trauma or fractures from an uncontrolled fall, cardiac or metabolic findings, intoxication, temperature, respiratory distress, or another condition. Preserve emergency medical services records, emergency-department data, diagnostic imaging, photographs, toxicology, autopsy material if applicable, and prior records needed for a fair causation analysis.

A constitutional force claim should not be confused with a medical-care claim. The force review asks whether the deployment was objectively reasonable. A later response to a known serious medical risk may invoke a different legal standard depending on custody status. Policy directions about evaluation after Taser use can inform notice or credibility but do not create automatic federal liability.

Preserve native body-camera, dashboard-camera, facility, and bystander video; dispatch and call records; reports; photographs; the Taser firing or pulse log; cartridge and probe evidence; device downloads; maintenance and assignment records; and any vendor-generated audit material. Record the chain of custody and any clock corrections rather than assuming all systems were synchronized.

For a municipal theory, identify the policy and training versions in effect, officer certification and refresher records, review of prior deployments, remedial training, and sufficiently similar incidents. Monell requires a causal policy, custom, policymaker act, or qualifying training failure—not simply proof that an officer deviated from a manufacturer's warning or agency rule.