PHOENIX — Rick Smith, the cofounder and CEO of Taser International, told jurors Tuesday that the risk of injury from a Taser stun-gun shock was on par with that of any athletic activity.

"Depending on the individual, certainly people get hurt in all sorts of athletic exertions," Smith testified. "I would characterize [a Taser blast] as similar to an athletic exertion."

In a civil suit filed against Taser, former Arizona sheriff's deputy Sam Powers alleges a certified Taser instructor insisted all officers who carry the gun be shocked before being issued the weapon.

After undergoing a one-second burst from the gun, the 47-year-old said he suffered a compression fracture that ended his 16-year career in law enforcement. He is suing for $800,000 in lost and future wages and an unspecified amount of punitive damages.

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Attorneys for Taser International claim the company is not responsible for Powers' forced retirement because the deputy was sufficiently warned of any potential injuries and that no matter what the level of warning, Powers would have taken the 50,000-volt hit because of peer pressure from his fellow deputies.

John Dillingham, attorney for the plaintiff, asked Smith about the warnings the company provided to Taser trainees, the testing they performed before Powers was shocked in July 2002, and whether Smith knew of any potential risk for fractures.

Smith testified that although there was no explicit warning of stress fractures in the Power Point presentation Powers saw before being "Tased," the information was provided to all Taser instructors and was in an addendum to the written lesson plan.

"I don't know how many of those were copied," Smith said. "This was distributed with the lesson plan, every lesson plan we ever shipped."

When asked about testing before Powers' injury, Smith said he believed the Taser was tested on one pig and five dogs before the guns were shipped to the New York City Police Department for field testing in 1999. However, the CEO was not permitted to describe any human testing that may have been done by that date.

Smith has frequently held himself up as a prime test case after having been "Tased" numerous times with no recorded injuries.

The Harvard graduate also denied he had any evidence from a second study performed on pigs that determined the Taser could cause stress fractures.

"Absolutely, unequivocally, no," Smith said of the 2003 study.

Boosting his reputation

Powers finished his testimony earlier Tuesday.

Dillingham tried to repair possible damage to the former deputy's reputation. On Friday, defense attorney William Drury asked Powers about his 2003 work performance record — a record that Powers admitted was less than stellar.

"The problem they had with my performance was that I took too long to get things done," Powers wrote in a letter to his sergeant in 2003. "I was not organized and forgot many of my assignments."

Today, Dillingham revisited the issue and asked Powers if any further investigation was made into his job performance.

"Were you ever given any additional notice that a formal discipline proceeding had been scheduled?" Dillingham asked.

There was no further investigation, according to Powers, who also testified he had been officially commended for his work in three investigations and for his work as a police academy instructor.

Smith is expected to continue his testimony Wednesday. The trial is being streamed live on Court TV Extra.