A federal lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Montgomery County Jail inmate who died in 2007 after being hit with a pair of electrical shocks from a taser gun.

The family of Michael Hartshorn filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week. Randy Rathbun, a Wichita attorney, is representing the Hartshorn family.

According to the complaint filed by the Hartshorn family, Michael Hartshorn was an inmate in the Montgomery County Jail in March 2007 after being convicted of his fourth driving under the influence violation. He was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail, and his sentence began on March 9.

The complaint says Hartshorn, who was 38 years old, suffered from long-term alcohol addiction and had previously experienced seizure problems when “detoxing off” alcohol for a period of time.

Family members had arranged a visit with Hartshorn four days after he was booked into jail. However, when making the call to jail officials to schedule a visit, a chaplain had arrived at the family’s home in Wichita to alert them that Michael had been found dead in his jail cell that morning, the complaint said.

The Hartshorn family attempted to contact then-Sheriff Stan Veach and other jail employees to ascertain how Michael died. The complaint claims that the jail officials “were openly hostile” to the Hartshorn family.”

“The only thing the Hartshorns were told that ‘this is an ongoing investigation — the only thing we can tell you is that your son assaulted an officer,’” the complaint said. “These complaints were false and made with the express purpose of covering up the conduct of the defendants.”

In November 2007, a Butler County judge ordered the appointment of a special administrator to investigate the Michael Hartshorn’s cause of death and determine if any civil action should be taken as a result of the investigation’s findings. The investigation determined that on March 12, 2007, Michael Hartshorn had become delusional and began to hallucinate from delirium tremens, the complaint said. Hartshorn spoke to other inmates of trying to help people who he believed were trapped under the floor. In the state of hallucinations, he believed the jail cell was an elevator. Jail officials then placed Hartshorn in a separate cell for observation.

The complaint alleges that Hartshorn was placed in restraints that evening and was “brutally tasered” by two employees of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department: Eniseli Maalaelu and Nick Bradford.Early on March 13, another jail inmate heard Hartshorn chocking in his cell. The jail inmate, whose name was not disclosed, yelled for jail guards to assist Hartshorn, however the inmate’s attempt to seek the guards’ attention, which lasted about 20 minutes. was ignored.

Hartshorn suffered from delirium tremens, which is a condition prominent in persons who suffer from alcohol abuse, the complaint aid. When not treated, delirium tremen can be fatal, the complaint said. The complaint said the Montgomery County Sheriff and jail officials were aware of Hartshorn’s medical condition, which included seizures from alcohol withdrawal.

“The sheriff is responsible for the medical treatment of those confined in the Montgomery County Department of Corrections,” the complaint said. “He is likewise responsible for the training of those who work in the jail. The sheriff failed to train the individual defendants on the appropriate use of Tasers and the correct manner of providing medical care to individuals suffering from severe delirium tremens.”

The Hartshorn family is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, plus payment of attorney costs and other court fees.

The Hartshorn lawsuit is the second lawsuit filed against then-Sheriff Stan Veach and other sheriff’s department employees in recent months. In October, attorneys for Blanca J. Herrera filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., seeking $3 million in damages. Herrera contends that corrections officer Nick Bradford fired a taser gun at her after Herrera and another female inmate got in a fight in the county jail in May 2007.

Herrera alleges that she was pregnant at the time of the incident. Herrera was denied medical attention for 24 hours, even though she requested to see a nurse or director, according to the complaint.Herrera further claims that when she was finally given medical attention, the actual medical treatment was not given. As a result she suffered a severe staph infection, and her unborn child was involuntarily aborted as a result of the incident.

She also had to undergo psychological counseling due to her injuries and the loss of the unborn child.Taser guns are used by law enforcement officials as a non-lethal alternative to rowdy behavior. The taser weapon ejects a pair of needle-like probes into the a person’s body. The probes then discharge a series of electrical shocks that impair a person’s muscular system, rendering them immobile. The muscular system normally is functional once the electrical discharges cease.