Restraint Asphyxia Attorneys in California
Restraint asphyxia can occur when police restrain a person face down on the ground (prone), and put prolonged weight on the person’s back, neck, or even limbs – sometimes, but not always, after there has been a struggle or use of a Taser. Sometimes police officers violate their training and fail to place a restrained person on their side after being handcuffed on the ground to allow them to catch their breath. Those types of improper restraints can impair the person’s ability to breathe and can lead to death by asphyxia. Very often, the person being restrained will try to tell the officers that they cannot breathe, like Eric Garner did before he was killed by the NYPD and like several of our clients have done.
Restraint asphyxia is sometimes called positional asphyxia or compression asphyxia. Death by restraint Asphyxia is often misdiagnosed as a sudden heart attack or as “excited delirium” – a cause of death reserved for suspicious deaths arising in connection with law enforcement contacts. Very often the person killed was intoxicated, overweight, or mentally ill. Restraint asphyxia attorneys need to be very skilled and experienced to prove a restraint asphyxia case. Such cases require extensive medical evidence and expertise in addition expertise with law enforcement and wrongful death cases.
The experience, creativity, and aggressive representation of the restraint asphyxia attorneys at Haddad & Sherwin LLP have allowed us to obtain justice for many families who have lost loved ones to restraint asphyxia caused by improper police, security, or jail restraints. Our restraint asphyxia case victories usually include compensation for families plus reforms – new police department policies and training to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Contact a Restraint Asphyxia Attorney
Our Bay Area, California, civil rights trial lawyers are ready and able to help you and your family obtain justice for unlawful deadly force, law enforcement deaths, and other wrongful death. Contact us today to get a free consultation with an experienced, Oakland-based restraint asphyxia attorney. We handle cases throughout Northern and Central California, from the Bay Area to Monterey to Fresno to Sacramento to Lake Tahoe to Redding to Yreka to Crescent City to Eureka to Santa Rosa, San Francisco, San Jose, Alameda County, and more!
RESULTS
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$11.5 Million for Inmate Rendered Quadriplegic
In a groundbreaking case against Stanislaus County and its private, for-profit jail medical provider, Haddad & Sherwin LLP obtained an $11.5 million settlement for a former inmate who walked into the jail able-bodied, and was carried out on a stretcher — paralyzed from the neck down. Our client, who wishes his name to remain private,
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$8.3 Million for Jail Death — Largest Wrongful Death Civil Rights Settlement in California State History
After over four years of litigation and finishing the first week of a 10 week trial, Alameda County and Corizon Health, Inc., a national for-profit jail health care corporation, have ended a wrongful death civil rights case by agreeing to pay $8.3 mi...
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$7.3 Million Settlement for Police Choke Hold Killing
This local case involved Pittsburg police officers’ use of a carotid hold and choke hold, and other highly injurious force, on video, while Beto Martinez can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe!” much like the more publicized cases of George Floyd and Eric Garner. On the afternoon of July 26, 2016, City of Pittsburg, California,
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Police Misconduct Attorneys Win Case in Oakland, CA & Strip Search Policy Reforms
For more than a decade, the Oakland Police Department had a practice, and eventually a written policy, allowing officers to strip search people right on the street in broad daylight. Haddad & Sherwin teamed up with John Burris to represent dozens of...
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$5.7 Million for Family of Man Shot by Vallejo Police Officer
The City of Vallejo agreed to pay $5.7 million to avoid trial against the children and parents of Ronell Foster, who was shot and killed by Vallejo Officer Ryan McMahon in 2018. Officer McMahon was stopping Ronell for a bicycle infraction, and says he only intended to give him a warning. When Ronell rode away
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Jail Death Attorneys in CA Win $5.1 Million Partial-Settlement from Death of Mentally Ill Inmate
In a still pending case, a California county and some of its medical providers have agreed to pay $5.1 million to the widow and son of a mentally ill man who died in jail while awaiting transfer to a state hospital. The man who died had cared for his family while he was properly medicated
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$5 Million Plus Police and CPS Reforms for Child Abuse Death of 3-year-old Girl
Three-year-old Kayleigh Slusher died from preventable child abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother and mother's boyfriend, who are serving life sentences for her murder. This lawsuit brought accountability, along with significant reforms, to t...
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Restraint Asphyxia Attorneys Win Settlement + Reforms for Death of Mentally Ill Man
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$3.5 Million Wrongful Death, Police Shooting Recovery
Won a $3.5 million settlement for the widow and son of an undercover Oakland police officer mistakenly shot and killed by fellow officers, and also won an appeal in that case making it harder for defendants to escape responsibility for their civil ri...
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$2.6 Million Settlement for Family of Man Killed in Botched SWAT Raid
$2.6 million was paid to the family of 31-year-old Rogelio "Roger" Serrato Jr., who was killed when members of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team set fire to his Greenfield, California, home with a flash-bang stun grenade during their a...
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$2.5 Million Settlement for Police Shooting of Boy Hallucinating on LSD
Santa Cruz County and the City of Capitola paid $2.5 million to settle this case before trial where they caused a 15 year old boy, who they knew was experimenting with LSD, to be shot and killed. This case was brought by Luke’s parents and sister (Haddad & Sherwin LLP represented Luke’s father, Ian Smith)
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$2.2 Million Plus Policy and Training Changes after Fresno Police Shoot Man in Back
The Fresno Police Department paid $2.2 million to the parents of Jaime Reyes, Jr., who was shot in the back as he fled police. Police recovered an unloaded stolen gun, wrapped in a plastic bag in his pocket. In addition to compensation, the FPD agree...
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$2.15 Million Settlement for Death of Disabled Woman Killed by Police
$2.15 million wrongful death settlement for the death of Irma Dela Torre, who was shot in the back by Salinas police. From this settlement, $1.6 million went to Irma's 79-year-old mother in Mexico, represented by Haddad & Sherwin; her recent husband...
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$2.1 Million Settlement for Man Killed by Security Guards’ Improper Restraint
$2.1 million settlement was reached in 2010 for the four daugters of a man killed by store security guards after he had shoplifted a few dollars worth of merchandise. Security guards chased the man into the parking lot where they tackled him and pil...
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$1.6 Million Plus Reforms for Family of Mentally Ill Man, Mishandled and Killed By Police
The parents and young son of 32-year-old Sean Arlt brought this case seeking justice and reforms from the Santa Cruz Police Department that mismanaged his psychotic episode, unnecessarily shooting and taking the life of this gentle and beloved man. ...
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$1.6 Million Settlement for Mother of Mentally Ill Young Man, Deprived of Care, Who Committed Suicide in the Siskiyou County Jail
Matthew Anderson, 28, was high functioning with proper care and medication. But when he was arrested for acting out due to his mental illness, the Siskiyou County Jail failed to provide him with the psychiatric care he needed and could not provide fo...
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$1.5 Million Recovery for Parents and Daughter of Man Shot in Back by Police
$1.5 Million recovery for the parents and baby daughter of a 20 year old man shot in the back by an Oakland police sergeant, with two previous shootings. Several witnesses saw the officer shoot the young man in the back when the man had nothing in h...
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$1.5 Million Settlement for Parents of Mentally Ill Man Killed by Richmond Police
Richmond Police Officers were trained in how to detain a mentally ill person for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation under W&I 5150. Officers learned proper communication and deescalation tactics to avoid the need for any force in such situations. Inste...
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$1.3 Million for Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Man with Hammer
The Vacaville Police Department paid $1.3 million to avoid trial after their overly aggressive tactics escalated a situation with a mentally ill man. The police shot Kendall Walker, 24, when he exited his car with a hammer in his hand. Knowing that h...
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$1.3 Million for Preventable Suicide of Young Man in Jail
21-year-old Shaymus Digiantomasso had been a jail detention officer with another county when he began having mental health issues. He was arrested for a minor crime and taken to the Kings County Jail, where despite clear warnings that he was unstabl...
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$1.2 Million Wrongful Death, Police Shooting, Jury Verdict
Won a $1.2 million jury verdict on behalf of a mother whose schizophrenic son was shot 14 times and killed by police The jury found that the police created a dangerous situation by their inappropriate and overly aggressive tactics. The decedent, who ...
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$1 Million for Mother and Sons of Mentally Ill Man Allowed to Hang Himself in the Tulare County Jail
In 2010, Mario Lopez's mother called 911 when her son needed immediate care for his mental illness. Expecting an ambulance, a sheriff's deputy arrived, and rather than take Mario to the hospital as he told Mrs. Lopez he would, he arrested Mario. The ...
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$995,000 Settlement for Man Mistakenly Killed By Police
Negotiated a substantial settlement for the 81-year-old mother of a man, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who ran from a plainclothes officer who shot him in the back. The officer was acquitted after being charged with 2nd degree mu...
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$975,000 Wrongful Death Settlement
Obtained a large wrongful death settlement for the family of a young man who was electrocuted by a dangerously low hanging power line....
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$340,000 Wrongful Death Police Misconduct Shooting, Homeless Man, No Witnesses
Used forensic crime scene evidence, in a case with no independent witnesses, to obtain a substantial settlement for the mother of an unarmed young, homeless man who was shot and killed by a police officer in an empty field.Related News...
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Confidential Wrongful Death Settlement for Lineman Killed in Product Liability Accident
Secured compensation for the son of an electrical lineman killed in a workplace accident, from settlement of a complex, multiple party, product liability case. The lineman was working in an aerial lift to upgrade a utility pol...