Combat System Issues

In the past week I have been piecing together a new combat system/hud for the sim i work.

Well, the thing works good until death. the script i have for dying is based taken from the Super Collider v2.1, which detects which way you are shot from and you fall in that direction and die. I don't totally udnerstand the math equation it uses, but i do know that half of the time it kills you. And when you don't die it doesn't play either animation.

I am wondering if any experienced scripter could take a peak at this script and let me know why sometimes it works and other times it doesn't, and what work arounds do I have?
So here's the script from my whole dead state:

state dead
{
	state_entry()
	{
	llSetTimerEvent(deathtime);
	if (speed > 3.5 && llVecMag(detvel) > 3.5 && (animation == "Standing" || animation == "Walking" || animation == "Running" || animation == "Jumping"))
		{
			llMoveToTarget(llGetPos() + <0.0, 0.0, (2.0 - size.z) / 3.5>, 0.05);
			if (llRot2Fwd(llGetRot()) * llVecNorm(detvel) <= 0.0)
			{
				llStartAnimation(fall_anim_back);
				llSay(0, "Dead!");
//				forward = FALSE;
			}
			else
			{
				llStartAnimation(fall_anim_fwd);
				llSay(0, "Dead!");
//				foward = TRUE;
			}
		}
	}
	timer()
	{
		llStopAnimation(fall_anim_fwd);
		llStopAnimation(fall_anim_back);
		llStopMoveToTarget();
		llSay(0, "You're alive!");
		state default;
	}
}

Help is very much appreciated!

Does it always yell out the dead and sometimes just not go through with the death animations? In that case, you're running into an instance where the PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION is not set (since it is granted automatically if someone is wearing an attachment, I generally ask for the permission just before starting the animation to avoid such issues).

If it's not always dying, then this line:

if (speed > 3.5 && llVecMag(detvel) > 3.5 && (animation == "Standing" || animation == "Walking" || animation == "Running" || animation == "Jumping")

Isn't working. I'm not sure why you would want to check for those four animation states...why not just:

if (speed > 3.5 && llVecMag(detvel) > 3.5)

Oh dangit, that makes SO much more sense. Thank you so so so so SO much. It works perfectly now