US jury awards $2.9M after man on meth dies in custody

OXNARD, California (AP) — A jury awarded $2.9 million to the family of a California man who died in police custody after he took a large amount of methamphetamine and later told officers who tried to restrain him that he could not breathe.

Family members of Robert Ramirez sued the Oxnard Police Department in federal court after the 26-year-old died in June 2012. Jurors deliberated for about three days before finding Wednesday that all seven officers named in the suit had liability, the Ventura County Star reported (http://bit.ly/1JxJtt9 ).

An autopsy report from Ventura County found Ramirez died of "active prone restraint" after officers held him down so he could get medical help.

Attorneys for the city northwest of Los Angeles argued that he died of the massive amount of drugs in his system. Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams told the newspaper that she was surprised by the verdict and the city would evaluate its next steps.

An investigation by the prosecutor's office found the officers were "fully justified" in the force they used to restrain Ramirez, who was acting erratically after ingesting the drugs. Police audio recordings show officers spoke calmly and asked Ramirez to lie on his stomach so medical workers could help him.

The family's lawyers said seven officers surrounded Ramirez while he was sitting down. When he stood up, they "forcefully" took him to the ground, according to a statement by the family's attorney, Dale Galipo.

He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital, according to the newspaper.
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Information from: Ventura County Star, http://venturacountystar.com


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-03

and the pendulum swings too far the other way. Ridiculous.

Only in America