# Jury: Redwood City officer used excessive force



## Curt James (Jun 18, 2011)

*Jury: Redwood City officer used excessive force*

                                   Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 17, 2011

A policeman used excessive force against a diabetic bodybuilder by  beating and pepper spraying him outside a Redwood City movie theater as  he was slipping into insulin shock, which officers mistook for  drunkenness, a federal court jury decided Thursday.






Doug Burns says Redwood City officers beat him as he suffered insulin shock, thinking he was drunk.  
Photo: Mike Kepka / The Chronicle, File

​The jury said *Doug Burns* suffered $217,000 in damages. But lawyers  for Burns and the city disagreed on whether that amount must be reduced  by 30 percent, to $152,000, because jurors also found that Burns' own  negligence was a 30 percent cause of his injuries.

 The jury didn't distinguish between damages caused by police  negligence, which would be offset by Burns' degree of fault, and damages  caused by excessive force, which would not be reduced. The damage  assessment will be left up to U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, who  presided over the two-week trial.

*Burns, 47, won a Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest in 2006.* He was  diagnosed with diabetes at age 7 and speaks at public events to raise  awareness of the illness.

 Police said a security guard called them to the downtown theater in  April 2001 and said Burns appeared to be drunk or on drugs. They said he  took a fighting stance when they approached, so one officer pepper  sprayed him. The officers then wrestled Burns to the ground. 

 Burns said the officers beat him in the ribs with a baton, forced his  forehead onto the concrete and continued to strike him as he lay on the  ground. He said he wore a MedicAlert bracelet, identifying him as  diabetic, and was suffering insulin shock that nearly became a  life-threatening diabetic coma.

 San Mateo County prosecutors initially charged Burns with assaulting  an officer and resisting arrest, but dropped the case after deciding his  medical condition left him unable to control his actions. 

 Burns' lawsuit said properly trained police would have recognized his  condition, which is not unusual in cases of childhood-diagnosed Type 1  diabetes. 

 The eight-member jury deliberated for three days before finding that  Officer Jaime Mateo had used excessive force and that both Mateo and  Sgt. David Gough had acted negligently.

 Burns said he hopes the verdict discourages police from finding people "guilty by appearance."

 "It could have been somebody suffering an epileptic seizure,  suffering a stroke," he said. "You can't just assume somebody is a  criminal."

 Joseph Howard, Redwood City's lawyer, said the city will appeal. He  said the two officers, both 20-year veterans, testified Burns was not  wearing a bracelet, they were unaware of his illness, and they used only  reasonable force to subdue him.

From *Jury: Redwood City officer used excessive force*
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## Curt James (Jun 18, 2011)

*Doug Burns' Competitive Bodybuilding Record*

1986  Mr America - AAU, Medium, 7th  
2004  US Natural Championships - ABA, Masters, 1st  
2006  Natural Universe - INBA, Medium, 1st
*http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/sports/DougBurns.htm*


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## Curt James (Jun 18, 2011)

Burns (with Denny Dressman) has a book available as well:

*Amazon.com:  The Diabetes Antidote An Exercise Prescription To Prevent Type 2, To  Combat Type 1 (9780977428311): Denny Dressman: Books*
*http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/sports/DougBurns.htm*


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## Curt James (Jun 18, 2011)

Here's also an article on Burns from 2007.

*Doug Burns Pumps Weights and Insulin*

Doug Burns, an athlete with type 1 diabetes, uses an insulin pump to   manage his disease. Doug was diagnosed at the tender age of 7. At that   time it was difficult to keep blood glucose in an acceptable range   because home blood glucose meters were not available yet. 

He remembers   going to his doctor's office with a blood glucose as high as 1100 mg/dl.   He was so thin from a number of occurrences of DKA his weight was only   53lbs at the age of 12! 

Doug knew he needed to do something so he  turned to lifting weights  against his doctor's initial wishes. Having  blood sugars that high and  lifting weights would have been dangerous so  the first step was trying  to get better control. He lived in rural  Mississippi with literally no  gyms to follow his passion so he decided  to make his own. 

Using scrap  metal for weights and a muscle magazine  for guidance he started lifting  weights to get away from his scrawny  physique. He did not see results in  the beginning perhaps due to his  blood sugars being so out of whack.  During this time home blood glucose  meters became available giving him  the added incentive to keep blood  sugars within a safe range which also  gave him more strength to lift  weights. 

   Doug started to see positive results and began power lifting at age  16.  Power lifting is weightlifting competition where individuals  compete in  three types of lifts, the squat, dead lift, and bench press.  The winner  is crowned by adding up the total amount of weight lifted  on all three  lifts. 

Self-assured he entered his first competition but  placed dead  last. Ever the optimist, Doug was excited to say he entered  his first  show and within one year he won his first competition. He  also began  breaking state, regional, and national records. 

   Not satisfied with the status quo Doug decided to explore body  building.  This type of lifting is geared more towards how the body  looks rather  than increasing strength. Both types have challenges when  it comes to  monitoring blood sugar. 

When lifting heavily for power  lifting  competitions high blood sugars were a concern due to increase   adrenaline. Often times this high blood sugar came crashing down hours   after heavy lifting. When training for a body building competition   cutting weight was often a goal leading up to the event. Body builders   typically want very low body fat to impress the judges. This type of   training had its unique challenges with Doug's diabetes. 

 Doug found insulin pump therapy easier to handle these swings in blood   sugar during training or competition. During a heavy lifting session if  a  high blood sugar came on his insulin pump could be programmed to  give a  little more insulin to help bring down a high blood sugar. He  also was  able to decrease the amount of insulin for hours afterwards to  reduce  the risk of low blood sugar too. One of the big advantages  though was  the ability to fine tune the basal rate on the pump to meet  the  decreasing insulin needs during training.  

   At the height of winning Mr. Universe, Doug began working on a new  book  on diabetes called the *"The Diabetes Antidote"* to be released  early this  summer. He is also to be hosting a fitness talk radio show  for people  with diabetes called SugarFitness. Finally he'll be on the  cover of  "Diabetes Explorer" this June available at your local Barnes  &  Noble. The goals are to spread the knowledge, excitement, tools  and  fitness coaching to millions of Americans who struggle with  diabetes and  obesity! 

   Whether it is power lifting or body building insulin pump therapy has   made lifting sessions and competition easier for Doug to succeed  without  having diabetes get in the way. Doug credits insulin pump  therapy and  the folks at Animas as a big part of his plan leading up to  a Mr.  Universe contest that was far harder than he anticipated. He  competed  with very capable teams from Norway, France, United Kingdom,  and Canada.  In the end, Doug Burns, Type 1 diabetes, insulin pump user  is the  reigning 2006-2007 Mr. Universe! 

_Rick Philbin, MED, ATC, CSCS
National Board Member, Diabetes, Exercise & Sports Association
National Presenter, Children with Diabetes
Northeast Regional Manager, Animas Corporation_ 
_February 2007_ 





2006-2007 INBA Natural Universe, Open Medium Class Champion 
Doug Burns showing off his Animas IR-1250 insulin pump

From *children with DIABETES - Doug Burns Pumps Weights and Insulin*


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## underdog5 (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks for the post, Curt. Good story.


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