DOVER — A federal judge ruled in favor of Delaware State Police on several claims in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a man who died after being repeatedly shocked with a stun gun.

The lawsuit involves the death of Lionel Waters, 35, who was shocked repeatedly after refusing to drop a handgun during a confrontation with police at a home in Milford in December 2015. Waters spent nearly three weeks in a coma before dying. An autopsy revealed that he was drunk at the time of the confrontation, with a blood-alcohol level almost three times the threshold for drunken driving.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Andrews granted summary judgment to state police Wednesday on federal civil rights claims of false arrest and deliberate indifference to medical need. He also granted summary judgment to two troopers on a civil rights claim of excessive force and state law claims for battery and gross or wanton negligence.

Andrews denied summary judgment on similar claims against the trooper who deployed the Taser, Cpl. Lloyd McCann.

While agreeing with the defense that the first two Taser activations were “constitutionally reasonable,” Andrews said a jury must decide whether the third shock, 15 seconds after the previous one, was justified.

“When viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, a reasonable jury could find the third Taser activation occurred while Mr. Waters was already secured and handcuffed,” Andrews wrote.

According to McCann, Waters began moving again, with the gun still unsecured at his feet, before McCann fired his Taser a third time. McCann said he could not recall whether Waters was handcuffed at the time.

In his ruling, Andrews denied a motion by attorneys for Latrice Waters to exclude defense testimony from two police policy experts, but he did strike their reports and gave the defense three weeks to submit revised expert witness reports.

“It is not helpful for defendants’ experts to merely say the conduct is consistent with generally accepted practices and procedures,” the judge noted. “Rather, the experts should explain these generally accepted practices and procedures. It is for the jury to decide whether defendants’ actions were consistent.”

The troopers were confronted by Waters as they were assisting Dover police in trying to find another man who had an active warrant for violating a protection from abuse order.

In 2016, the Delaware attorney general’s office ruled that McCann was justified in using his Taser against Waters. Investigators said Waters came to the door with a loaded handgun and refused repeated commands to drop it. They also noted that after McCann and the two other troopers drew their own guns, McCann opted for his stun gun to avoid having to use deadly force.

“Because he did not employ deadly force, Cpl. McCann’s belief that he needed to use his Taser to effect Mr. Waters (sic) arrest is sufficient justification for the third Taser deployment even if he was not in fear for his own safety and the safety of the other officers,” the attorney general’s report concluded.

The attorney general’s office had previously investigated the use of force by McCann, ruling in 2015 that he was justified in the fatal shooting a domestic violence suspect who began firing a stolen handgun at McCann after a high-speed pursuit.

Investigators said Dennis Hicks, a convicted felon, abruptly stopped his car, got out and began shooting at McCann. McCann was wounded in the face and hand during the exchange of gunfire.