9th Circuit upholds negligence verdict in wrongful death case against Riverside sheriff's deputies

Sheriff’s deputies can be found guilty of negligence in civil tort cases even if they do not use excessive force, a published April 29 ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal found.

The ruling comes from the case of Kevin Niedzialek, who died July 30, 2019, a day after being held down by Riverside sheriff deputies for over four minutes.

The deputies had responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a shirtless and unarmed man in pajama pants was bleeding from a head wound. The callers reported he was knocking on doors, yelling to himself, and fighting a tree.

When approached by the deputies, Niedzialek walked toward Deputy Brian Keeney. Deputy Sonia Gomez fired her taser, and Niedzialek fell to the ground. He stood up quickly enough, and continued walking toward Keeney. Gomez fired her taser a second time.

Both deputies attempted to handcuff Niedzialek as he lay face down. Keeney placed his right knee on Niedzialek’s back and held Niedzialek’s wrist. They handcuffed him after half a minute, but he continued bucking and rolling around. Keeney removed his knee, and Niedzialek rolled to his left side. Keeney placed his knee on Niedzialek’s back again, and Gomez placed her hand between Niedzialek’s shoulder blades.

Forty-five seconds later, Niedzialek stopped moving. Keeney removed his knee, but Gomez kept her hand on his back. Two and a half minutes later, Gomez asked Niedzialek for his name. He did not respond.

Another minute and a half passed before Keeney thought that Niedzialek might not be breathing. They rolled him onto his back, and found a faint pulse. Paramedics arrived two minutes later, and determined he was not breathing.

Niedzialek’s sister, Tracy Alves, filed suit against the county for deliberate indifference, excessive force, violation of the Bane Act, battery and negligence. She brought in law enforcement expert Jeffrey Noble, who testified that the national standard of care in policing requires placing a person on their side or sitting them up as soon as possible to avoid asphyxiation.

Riverside County Medical Examiner Mark Fajardo concluded that Niedzialek’s death was caused by methamphetamine, not asphyxiation. Plaintiff’s cardiologist Daniel Wohlgelernter testified that methamphetamine, tasing, the head wound and being held down by the deputies all contributed to his death.

A jury found the deputies partially responsible, and returned a positive verdict on the negligence charge.

The county of Riverside challenged the jury’s verdict, arguing that the legal standard for the reasonableness of the deputies’ conduct was the same for both negligence and excessive force.

“The jury could have determined from the evidence at trial that the deputies did not apply excessive force after Niedzialek was handcuffed but nevertheless breached their duty of care when they failed to monitor his condition or place him in a recovery position as he lay unresponsive and in a prone position for over four minutes,” the ruling said.

The Ninth Circuit applied the reasonable care standard for tort cases in California, which they identified as being broader than the federal reasonableness standard for Fourth Amendment cases. 

Read the opinion here.

Read next: The California Supreme court will review a Riverside case to decide whether cases that are voluntarily dismissed can be appealed.

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