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LOS ANGELES, May 10 (AP) — California will pay the family of a man who died in police custody after screaming “I can’t breathe” while trying to collect a blood sample in a $24 million civil rights settlement, lawyer said Tuesday.
Earlier this year, seven Cal Highway Patrol officers and a nurse were charged with manslaughter in connection with the 2020 death of Edward Bronstein.
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Annee Della Donna, an attorney for Brownstein’s parents and children, said it was the largest civil rights settlement of its kind in California and the largest since the city of Minneapolis paid in the George Floyd case. The second-largest settlement in the nation at $27 million.
Della Donna is scheduled to hold a news conference later Wednesday in Los Angeles to provide more details.
On March 31, 2020, Brownstein, 38, was taken into custody after being pulled over on suspicion of DUI. He died at a highway patrol station in Altadena, north of downtown Los Angeles, less than two months after Floyd was killed by Minnesota police, who also repeatedly told officers, “I can’t breathe.”
The Los Angeles County coroner said Brownstein’s cause of death was “acute methamphetamine intoxication while under the restraint of a law enforcement officer.”
When announcing the criminal charges in March, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said Highway Patrol officers had failed Brownstein and “their failing was criminal negligence that resulted in his death.”
Last year, a judge in the family’s federal lawsuit alleging excessive force and civil rights violations ordered the release of a nearly 18-minute video showing how officers treated Brownstein.
The family said Bronstein was terrified of needles, which they believe was why he was initially reluctant to comply with CHP as they attempted to collect blood samples.
The video, taken by the sergeant, shows several officers forcing the handcuffed Brownstein onto a mat on the floor as he yells: “I’ll do it willingly! I’ll do it willingly, I promise! “
As six officers held him face down, he continued to scream — the lawsuit says they pressed their knees on his back — and pleaded for help.
“Too late,” an officer replied. “Stop shouting!” shouted another.
“I can’t breathe!” and “I can’t!” cried Brownstein, to which an officer responded, “Relax and stop resisting!”
But Bronstein’s voice softened, and he fell silent. When he was unresponsive, the nurse continued to draw blood and the police continued to pin him to the ground.
After they realized he probably had no pulse and didn’t appear to be breathing, they slapped his face and said, “Edward, wake up.” Eleven minutes after his last scream, they began CPR.
Brownstein never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead.
In a statement, CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee offered his condolences to the family of the deceased and said he would respect the judicial process. His office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the settlement.
The officers, who were placed on administrative leave in March, each face one count of involuntary homicide and one count of felony battery in the name of authority. If convicted, they could face up to four years in prison. The registered nurse was also charged with manslaughter.
Bronstein’s death prompted CHP to change its policy to prevent officers from “using techniques or methods of transportation that involve a significant risk of postural asphyxia,” the agency said. Additional training was also ordered for officers in uniform.
In September 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law prohibiting police officers from using certain face-down positions that have resulted in multiple accidental deaths. The bill seeks to expand the state’s ban on chokeholds following Floyd’s murder. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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