PHOENIX — Jurors in a product-liability trial involving stun gun maker Taser International saw the weapon in action Wednesday when the company's CEO fired the 50,000-volt, battery-operated gun at a metallic target beside the jury box.

As sparks flew, CEO Rick Smith led an electrical lesson he described as no more complicated than "a high-school physics class."

Regardless of what jurors remember from high school, the defense wanted to emphasize its claim that the stun gun was conceived with good intentions.

Smith testified that the shooting death of two of his high school acquaintances was, in part, the catalyst for the development of Taser.

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"It was shocking to me that this would happen in Scottsdale," Smith said of the 1990 incident. "[The shooter] wasn't a gang member ... It was a guy with a legally licensed gun who lost his temper."

Former Arizona deputy Sam Powers is suing Taser International for approximately $800,000 in lost wages, plus punitive damages, in a claim that alleges he was not properly warned of the risks associated with the stun gun.

Powers told jurors that a one-second burst from the gun on July 16, 2002, forced him to retire after he suffered a compression fracture in his spine.

The defense contends Powers' prior physical ailments, some resulting from severe osteoporosis, are the reason he suffered the fracture and that he should have known the shock would put him at risk of injury.

Defense attorney William Drury claims that while the sheriff's department is not at fault, Taser International provided adequate safety warnings during the 2002 training session.

Smith testified his company does not control the training process that law enforcement undergoes in being certified to carry the stun guns his company manufactures.

"We make recommendations. We give them materials," he said. "But we don't control which materials they actually use or how long they do training."

Drury displayed documents that Smith said are included on a CD that accompanies every Taser sold. Powers' attorney John Dillingham objected to the exhibit and said the plaintiff was not privy to all of the exhibit's information on the day of his training.

Judge Paul Katz refused to allow the defense to go into detail regarding material that Powers had not seen.

SEC investigation narrows

In 2004, Taser's stock price shot up to a high of $33.45. But the rosy outlook for shareholders dimmed as the controversy over the safety of its weapons and the number of plaintiffs grew.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began formally investigating the company in 2005. But on Tuesday, Taser announced it received some good news from the SEC.

According to a press release drafted by the weapons maker, the SEC ended its investigation into a 2004 accounting entry involving a $1.5 million sale and into safety claims the company made about its stun guns.

Taser's stock jumped 15 percent to close at $7.04 from the previous day.

The SEC is continuing "to investigate issues relating to trading in the company's stock," according to Taser.

The defense is expected to continue its case Wednesday. The trial is being streamed live on Court TV Extra.