Video, documents raise new questions in high school student Taser case
A grainy but dramatic security video raises new questions about the actions of a Bastrop County deputy sheriff who used his Taser on a high school student, resulting in brain damage to the 17-year-old, and casts doubt on official statements about what happened that day last fall.
In the video, Noe Nino De Rivera does not appear to be displaying any aggressive physical behavior toward two deputies at Cedar Creek High School and may have been backing away when one of the two deputies fired his Taser, causing Rivera to fall backward and hit his head on the hallway floor.
Sheriff’s officials said at the time that deputies were trying to break up a fight between two girls and that Rivera tried to interfere and acted aggressively. But the video makes it clear that the fight had been over for at least several minutes when the deputy arrived and used his Taser on Rivera.
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Rivera was initially taken to a hospital in Bastrop, but when his condition worsened, he was airlifted to Austin, where he was taken into emergency surgery to repair a severe brain hemorrhage. Rivera spent 52 days in a medically induced coma, according to Loewy.
He said this week that Rivera’s condition was life-threatening, that he nearly died several times and that the family’s medical bills have topped $1.5 million. Rivera was out of the hospital briefly but was recently readmitted.
“He will have to deal with the effects of a traumatic injury the rest of his life,” Loewy said.
The video is at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/video-documents-raise-new-questions-in-high-school/nc5h6/ . The detailed story is behind the paywall at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/video-documents-raise-new-questions-in-high-school/nc5h4/ .
[font color=green]Why are they picking on a short guy wearing a pink shirt that weighs 130 pounds?[/font] 
