SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing more body camera video for now in a case they’re calling an in-custody death.
Sherrano Stingley died in the hospital after an arrest last month by Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies left him unconscious. The sheriff’s office said they were responding to a report of a man under someone’s truck in a Sacramento County neighborhood.
Stingley’s family said their loved one was in the middle of a mental health crisis and was searching for the home of his daughter, who lives in that same neighborhood.
This video released so far by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office shows Stingley initially complying with deputies but then a struggle ensued. By the fourth minute, Stingley appears unconscious.
The sheriff’s office released video from one of the deputies’ body cameras last month, but the family has been calling for more video to be released.
On Thursday, however, ABC10 learned the sheriff’s office has no plans to do that - at least, not now.
Mark Merin, the Stingley family’s attorney, and retired attorney Stewart Katz both point to Assembly Bill 748 as a reason why it should be released. It’s a state law that says body camera video can be held 45 days from "critical incident." That’s when an officer shoots at someone or uses force that seriously injures – or kills – someone.
However, the sheriff’s office is calling Stingley’s case an “in-custody death”—saying that law doesn’t apply in the case.
They said, instead, the administration will make the decision about whether to release any more body camera video.
So far, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has released an edited portion of body camera video from the Dec. 6 incident. Merin would like all video and audio to be released.
“There is body camera footage available from different angles which will show they beat him repeatedly upon the head, that they struck him with a flashlight, that they smashed his head on the concrete. That is what they are trying to conceal,” said Merin.
Katz handled police misconduct cases for some 30 years and body camera video cases. He said the only reason to maybe withhold it, is if it impacts an investigation.
“If that was really the case, why would they release any tapes instead of having an edited - you know - propaganda version?" Katz said. "You know, that’s just not honest."
Sacramento County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Sgt. Amar Gandhi told ABC10 on Thursday the sheriff's office is classifying Stingley's case as an in-custody death, which he said does not qualify as a "critical incident" and therefore does not trigger the application of AB 748. At this point, he said, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office does not see the benefit of releasing the video - and he claims the law does not compel them to, either.
“Right now, we will wait for the district attorney to complete their investigation. After that, we will review it,” Gandhi said.
In a statement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Rod Norgaard said:
“We have not received any investigative reports/materials from the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office relating to this in-custody death. After we have received all of the materials related to this incident, we will conduct a complete review. Any questions concerning the evidence in this case, including body worn camera footage, should be directed to the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office.”
The sheriff’s office said the district attorney’s office was also on scene that day and waiting for the coroner’s report takes time.
Keep in mind, since Stingley's arrest and death, there has been a leadership change at both the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office. Jim Cooper, elected Sheriff in November, got sworn in; now-former Sheriff Scott Jones is out. And Thien Ho, elected DA in November, took over for Anne Marie Schubert.
"A new district attorney-- supposedly he’s going to change the policies that were so pro-officer, so pro-police, to be independent," Stingley's family's attorney Mark Merin said to ABC10. "Let’s get those body camera footage out right now so the public can actually judge the performance of those deputies."
In the meantime, the family of Sherrano Stingley waits to see the full picture of what happened to a father, son and brother. Stingley’s sister Dr. Andrea Moore said there have been delays throughout the process even when trying to see him in the hospital in the days following the arrest.
“It allows them to get in front of the narrative to give them time to put together their story and edit the footage. We do not see the footage where the sheriff had a fight with Sherrano. We don’t see that footage,” said Moore.
ABC10 also spoke with Stingley's daughter Dymin Stingley about the sheriff's office stance that they don't plan on releasing more body camera video any time soon, if at all.
"I honestly knew that they was not going to release nothing because they knew they messed up," she said. "This has been a hard time, still, for me. I cry every day. I watch, I torture myself and watch the video because I just want to understand why they didn't give my father that chance to come home to me,” Stingley said.
As for why some of the body camera video has already been released, the sheriff’s office said that was the choice of the previous administration, under then-Sheriff Jones. ABC10 asked Merin if he plans to file any requests for the rest of the body camera video, and he said he knows he and the family will get it eventually.
Sacramento County only has three more weeks to respond to the claim filled by Merin on behalf of the Stingley family. After that, Merin said, he and Stingley's family will head to federal court.
Stingley's family is raising money for a memorial service and independent autopsy. That site is HERE.
WATCH ALSO:
