Excited Delirium

About this episode

The episode discusses the controversial term 'excited delirium' in relation to police accountability and the death of Angelo Quinto.

When Angelo Quinto died, his family said police were responsible for his death. But a lawyer told them his official cause of death would likely be something called “excited delirium.” You can read more of Renu Rayasam's reporting on "excited delirium" at KFF Health News. Arjun Byju's article for Current Affairs is: Excited Delirium: How Cops Invented a Disease. Reporter Chris Gelardi obtained Rochester Police Department training materials on "excited delirium" for New York Focus. You can read more here. Reuters has investigated Taser's interest in "excited delirium." You can find the investigation here. Say hello on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts. Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, invitations to virtual events, special merch deals, and more. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topics covered

• police accountability
• excited delirium
• mental health
• law enforcement
• death investigation

Keywords

• excited delirium
• Angelo Quinto
• police
• death
• mental health
• Taser
• investigation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: KFF Health News, Current Affairs, Rochester Police Department, New York Focus, Reuters, Taser, Criminal, This is Love, Phoebe Reads a Mystery

More episodes of Criminal

• Riverwalk · June 12, 2026 · 48 min
• A Man to Be Afraid Of · June 5, 2026 · 45 min
• Breaking Up is Hard to Do (Criminal+) · May 29, 2026 · 46 min
• Mantrap · May 22, 2026 · 39 min
• The Mountain · May 15, 2026 · 32 min
• The Poison Squad · May 8, 2026 · 43 min