Global Courant 2023-05-11 02:18:06
California has agreed to pay $24 million to the family of a man who died after he yelled “I can’t breathe” as officers pinned him to the ground and tried to drain his blood after a traffic stop, lawyers for the state’s attorneys said. family Wednesday.
The deadly encounter in March 2020 occurred just months before police killed George Floyd, who uttered the same phrase more than 20 times to Minneapolis officers. However, video of Edward Bronstein’s final moments at a California Highway Patrol maintenance yard in Altadena would not come to light for two years.
Seven CHP officers and a nurse have been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of Bronstein, 38, a Burbank resident.
The $24 million payout, which settles a wrongful death lawsuit set to go to court later this year, represents the largest civil rights settlement in California history, second in the U.S. to the $27 million settlement in Floyd’s death, said Eric Dubin, one of the attorneys representing Bronstein’s family.
“I have no words for what they did to my son,” Edward Tapia, 73, surrounded by his son’s lawyers and large photos, said at a press conference Wednesday outside the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. “The erratic behavior of these officers was inhumane.”
Edward Bronstein with his daughter, Isabella Bronstein.
(Bronstein family)
Bronstein was detained in March 2020 by CHP officers who suspected he was driving drunk on Highway 5.
According to his family’s lawyers, Bronstein was taken to Altadena station to have his blood drawn after the vehicle stopped, because he was under the legal alcohol limit.
In a 16-minute video recorded by a CHP sergeant with a handheld camera and released as part of the civil trial, officers order Bronstein to comply with the blood draw, but he initially refuses. Officers then throw him to the ground and he yells, “I like doing it!” I like to do it!”
“I promise, I promise!” Bronstein pleads, but an officer replies that it was “too late” as he continued to suppress Bronstein.
Officers wrestle him to the ground as they kneel on his body and compress his airway.
“I can’t breathe,” Bronstein says as the officers lie down on top of him.
Lawyers for Edward Bronstein’s family have obtained a video showing Bronstein’s final moments as California Highway Patrol officers detain him and forcibly draw his blood as he repeatedly tells them, “I can’t breathe.”
After about a minute, Bronstein’s body goes limp and he becomes unresponsive. Officers are seen trying to resuscitate him. One calls his name and hits the side of his head as he remains face down, but several minutes pass before officers attempt to administer oxygen or CPR.
“What they did was downright criminal,” family attorney Annee Della Donna said outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday. “It was a conscious disregard for life. No one should be treated that way.”
A CHP spokesperson could not be reached for comment on the settlement agreement.
Sergeant Michael Little and officers Dionisio Fiorella, Dusty Osmanson, Darren Parsons, Diego Romero, Justin Silva and Marciel Terry were charged by Los Angeles County Dist with involuntary manslaughter and assault under the color of authority. Attention. George Gascon in March. The nurse present at the scene, identified as Arbi Baghalian, was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Little recorded the fatal encounter at the Altadena station maintenance yard, likely for training purposes, said Luis Carrillo, a lawyer for the Bronstein family.
Gascón played the video as his office announced charges against the officers, calling their behavior “criminally negligent.”
It played a critical role in reaching the settlement agreement with the state, Carrillo said Wednesday.
“That video was a key piece of evidence in this case that shows the desperation of a human life struggling to live,” Carrillo said.
The video came to light when prosecutors revealed its existence during the discovery after Bronstein’s family filed a lawsuit. They tried to keep the video secret, arguing that it should not be made public, but a federal judge overseeing the civil case ruled last year that the family was entitled to the video.
Aundrea, who did not give her last name to protect her family’s privacy, speaks of the settlement agreement upon the death of Bronstein, with whom she had three children.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
A LA County coroner’s report could not conclusively determine Bronstein’s cause of death, but attributed it to “acute methamphetamine intoxication during containment by law enforcement officers.”
Carrillo said there was only a “trace” amount of methamphetamine in Bronstein’s system and argued that the officers’ actions were the primary cause of death.
Dubin thanked the Floyd family on Wednesday, saying their fight had become a rallying cry for civil rights in the US after a video of Floyd’s death taken by bystanders kicked off nationwide protests.
“We believe that all Americans know in our hearts what is right and wrong,” Dubin said, adding that he was confident a jury would have ruled in favor of the family if they had the video of Bronstein’s death. seen.
Bronstein, according to his father, was a reformed gang member and wanted to become an airplane mechanic. He worked in his father’s body shop.
Bronstein had three children with his partner, Aundrea, who declined to give her last name due to her family’s privacy. Outside the courthouse, her voice broke as she said she only wants justice for the man she was with for 20 years.
“The only thing that has brought me some relief is that the people responsible for his death are facing criminal charges,” Aundrea said. “Our children have lost so much. They will never get their high school days, their father, whatever. We just want justice.”
Times staff writers Richard Winton and James Queally contributed to this report.
