Original Article Nasdaq may delist Taser Stun-gun firm gets warning on delayed financial reports Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Nov. 26, 2005 12:00 AM Embattled Scottsdale stun-gun maker Taser International Inc. could have its stock barred from trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market unless it can persuade regulators to grant the company more time to file its third-quarter financial reports. Taser said it is working diligently to complete the filing but that it must first correct errors that have come to light in its first- and second-quarter reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nasdaq requires listed companies to file financial reports on a timely basis, and it notified Taser on Tuesday that it was out of compliance with the rule and faces delisting. Taser said Friday that it would appeal and requested a hearing before Nasdaq's listing qualifications panel. The request stays any delisting until the panel can review the case and make a determination. Taser said it was confident the panel would rule in its favor. The news sent Taser's stock into a slump Friday. Shares dropped 90 cents, or 12 percent, to $6.50. A year ago the stock traded at more that $30 a share. Since then the company has been hit with problems ranging from a stock manipulation investigation to safety concerns about its stun guns and a spate of wrongful death lawsuits. Taser Vice President Steve Tuttle said the company was working as "quickly and diligently" as possible to file the financial statements for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. But, Tuttle said, the company can't file the third-quarter results until it straightens out discrepancies in its first- and second-quarter financials. A new accounting team that took over in September for fired auditors Deloitte & Touche LLP found that in the second quarter Taser had recorded certain legal expenses that were incurred in the first quarter. As a result, the company must restate its first-quarter earnings to reflect an undetermined increase and the second-quarter results to show a decrease. Tuttle said the company incurred a significant increase in legal costs in the first quarter and many of the invoices didn't arrive until the second quarter. Taser also was delayed in filing its first-quarter report due to the required restatement of its year-end 2004 results to correct an accounting error relating to stock options. While the case is under review, an "E" has been added to Taser's trading symbol to reflect the company's non-compliance with listing requirements. Until the matter is resolved, Taser shares will trade under the symbol TASRE, instead of TASR. Meanwhile the Securities and Exchange Commission continues an investigation into allegations of illegal manipulation of the company's stock price and into the safety claims the company has made about its stun guns. The guns shoot a dart with an attached wire that can deliver a debilitating jolt of electricity. Since 1999, there have been at least 144 deaths after police Taser strikes in the United States and Canada. Of those, medical examiners cited Tasers as a cause of death in four cases and a contributing factor in 10 others.