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Jurors ruled that a methamphetamine addict in California bore 80 percent responsibility for his death during a police confrontation — but still awarded the man’s sister $1.5 million in damages.
The suit stems from the July 2019 death of 34-year-old Kevin Nedzialik in Temecula, and prompted a trial that began March 28 before US District Judge Jesus J. Bernal.
Nidzialik’s surviving sister, 49-year-old Tracy Alves, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court because she alleged that the officers violated Nidzialik’s constitutional rights in the lead-up to his death.
Before the officers arrived, bystanders in SoCal, about an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, called 911 because they had seen Niedzialik behaving “in an erratic and frightening manner,” the Riverside County sheriff said at the time.
A struggle then ensues, culminating with the recovering addict being twice stunned by a deputy’s stun gun – and dying soon after. On Friday, a jury of five men and three women ruled that Nidzialik was “mostly” at fault for his death — with enough reasonable doubt to award Alves $1.5 million.
The suit stems from the July 2019 death of 34-year-old Kevin Nidzialek — seen here with a child that wasn’t his — and sparked a four-day federal trial that began March 28.
The four-day federal trial was presided over by US District Judge Jesus Bernal (pictured) and found that the recovering addict – who relapsed before his death – was held mostly responsible for his death
In fact, the jury awarded Elvis $7.5 million, but deducted $6 million from the full prize due to Nidzialik is assumed to be 80 percent wrong.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday applauded the jury’s decision, which saw jurors agree that the officers involved were negligent, but did not use excessive or unreasonable force.
“Today, the jury found that deputies for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department did not violate the constitutional rights of deceased Kevin Nidzialek,” Bianco said in remarks carried by the department’s press release office.
They also found that our department’s training in postural asphyxia and restraint was legal and played no role in this tragic methamphetamine-related death.
In statements filed with the United States District Court for the Central District of California, deputies working under Bianco said they found that Nidzialek — who his family said was recovering — was “screaming incoherently and displaying aggressive behavior.”
Suspecting that Nidzyalek was under the influence of a banned substance, the officers attempted to approach him—but found the man to be uncooperative, screaming, aggressive and combative.
The Taser was then deployed and twice decommissioned at Nidzyalek, in the dart position, which sent him writhing on the ground as the officers tried to subdue him.
Eventually Nidzialik was restrained in a prone position and had his wrists cuffed, and officers eventually realized the alleged addict was no longer fighting back. Then they moved him from a prone position to a supine position where he was unresponsive.
Paramedics were called to evaluate Nidzialik and found he was in cardiac arrest.
Immediately began measures to save the man’s life, Including CPR and intubation, which resulted in Nidzyalek’s pulse returning – although the man remained unresponsive.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday applauded the jury’s decision, which saw jurors agree that the officers involved were negligent, but did not use excessive or unreasonable force.
Niedzialek was taken to nearby Inland Valley Medical Center in Riverside for emergency treatment received a blood transfusion.
He was then transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he remained unresponsive – all while showing evidence of irreversible neurological brain damage.
He survived until the next day, after the doctors decided to forgo any further life support measures upon realizing the irreversible nature of his condition.
A coroner attributed the cause of his death to acute methamphetamine intoxication—citing toxicology reports that showed the man had relapsed—with “other important conditions for the application of restraint maneuvers.”
Alves immediately disputed the assessment, arguing that the officers mishandled the situation, and that her brother only stopped breathing after a deputy knelt on his back as he lay on the ground.
She promptly sued Riverside County in January 2021, making room for the recently concluded March trial.
Jurors on Friday agreed with Alves’ attorney’s assessment that the officers involved in the incident were negligent, but stopped short of asserting that they used excessive or unreasonable force.
They also inexplicably agreed that Nidzialik was also negligent during the altercation, while saying that said officers’ negligence led directly to the addict’s death.
Bianco said of the decision: “While … the jury found that two of our deputies were negligent towards Mr. Nidzialik after handcuffing him, the jury also found that Mr. Nidzialik was liable for 80 percent of the damages they awarded.”
“While our hearts go out to the family of the deceased for their loss, the Sheriff’s Department is pleased that the jury correctly understood that there was no excessive force or flawed training here.”
Gallibo, one of Alves’ attorneys, soon after criticized the mayor’s response as “misguided”.
He said that jurors never decided whether the training of the two officers was inadequate, noting how relevant questions would shape up the jury’s verdicts.
“Moreover … the jury correctly found both by evidence and by law that the officers’ negligent conduct was cause of death,” Gallibou told Mercury News.
This is why the plaintiff won the trial and this is why the county is liable for $1.5 million. Because the jury found no constitutional violation, they never decided whether or not Bianco should be held personally liable.
Elvis will have the opportunity to appeal — though the case will first need to be heard by the US Supreme Court. On Friday, her lawyers did not disclose any such plans.
– WhatsNew2Day