SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the first time, we are hearing from Sacramento County, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, and former sheriff Scott Jones after they were named in a federal lawsuit for allegedly violating a man’s civil rights.
We’re talking about the case of Sherrano Stingley.
He died in the hospital after Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested him and he became unconscious.
The sheriff’s office says they were responding to a report of a man under someone’s truck.
Stingley’s family says their loved one was in the middle of a mental health crisis and was searching for the home of his daughter.
The body camera video shows Stingley initially complying with deputies, but then a struggle ensued.
By the fourth minute in the released video, Stingley appears unconscious.
Now, almost four months later, there is still no official cause of death, and we have only seen one angle of body camera footage.
The family of Sherrano Stingley filed their lawsuit back in February for violations of civil and constitutional rights demanding a jury trial.
The county, Sheriff’s Department, and former sheriff Scott Jones responded with a motion to dismiss the case.
On the day the county responded to the Sherrano Stingley lawsuit, his daughter Dymin addressed the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, who did not respond to her request to talk about the case.
“I want all of the body camera footage to be released I want the 911 call to be released I want the officers to be held accountable,” said Dymin Stingley.
We met with Mark Merin the attorney representing the Stingley family for his thoughts on the county calling to dismiss. He said this is the typical response of the sheriff’s office under Scott Jones.
“They were acting in pursuant to the policy practiced and custom that sheriff jones has perpetuated and that’s what they don’t like to hear we start out this complaint just reciting the fact Sacramento has been killing particularly black men using excessive force, suffocating them when there is absolutely no reason for that type of treatment,” said Merin.
In the Memorandum of Points in Support of the county, the sheriff, and Jones they submitted a motion to dismiss/strike the complaint. They want to specifically dismiss the complaint against former Sheriff Scott Jones.
They say it’s redundant because the county and Sheriff’s Department are named.
The documents also state that the lawsuit fails to identify a specific training practice by the sheriff’s department.
“They permit in confined spaces they permit controlled holds they permit having a knee on the back, neck, and the head which should have been reversed and revised years ago,” said Merin.
The response also says they failed to show intentional discrimination against the family’s claim of Stingley’s mental health disability.
“They observed someone who is clearly mentally ill you should have to accommodate that condition which means you back off you act more slowly,” said Merin.
The county’s points conclude on any reference to George Floyd, in this case, is irrelevant.
“The awareness of the need to respect people’s bodily integrity and stop putting pressure on their airways should have been clear to the sheriff long before and that’s why we compare it to George Floyd,” said Merin.
The Stingley family has 30 days to respond, and they plan to. A judge will then decide if this whole lawsuit gets dismissed or not. A court appearance is also scheduled for May 4th.
We reached out to the law firm representing the county but did not hear back.
We checked in with Sacramento County Coroner Rosa Vega who says the case remains open. They are waiting on a toxicology report before determining the cause of death, and that quote:
“Cases with toxicology and/or other ancillary tests ordered by the forensic pathologist usually take 6-9 months to close. The decedent died 3 months ago, there is no unusual delay."
We also asked Sacramento County District Attorney’s Crime Lab about toxicology testing in general, and they said they receive approximately 4,000 toxicology cases per year. The average turnaround time is 41 calendar days.
Analysis can be expedited in certain cases, such as when there are impending court hearings for which results are needed.
Coroner toxicology casework typically takes the most time to complete. After the District Attorney’s Crime Lab performs confirmation testing, the case sample is returned to the coroner. If the pathologist determines the case sample needs additional testing, the sample is sent to a national lab, NMS, for additional testing.
We reached out to the District Attorney’s Crime Lab for more information to learn more about this topic, and they responded by saying they cannot comment on the Sherrano Stingley case as there is a pending investigation.
While the case continues, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department said all the deputies involved are actively working within their assignments and there was never a period where they were placed on leave.
Read the Stingley family’s lawsuit HERE.
