OAKLAND, Calif., April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, civil rights law firm Haddad & Sherwin LLP released the results of a second, independent autopsy it obtained on Mario Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez was killed by Alameda, California, police officers Eric McKinley, James Fisher, and Cameron Leahy, on April 19, 2021. The independent autopsy confirms that Mr. Gonzalez died from restraint asphyxiation, when the police officers forced him face down on the ground, with three officers putting their body weight on him for more than five minutes. Mr. Gonzalez was fully handcuffed for more than three and a half of those minutes. The Alameda County Sheriff-Coroner determined that Mr. Gonzalez’s death was a homicide, which means “death at the hands of another.” The newly released independent autopsy confirms that Mr. Gonzalez died of homicide at the hands of the police.
In December 2021, Haddad & Sherwin LLP brought a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Gonzalez and his now five-year-old son, little Mario, against the City of Alameda, its former Police Chief Randy Fenn, and the officers who killed Mr. Martinez.
On April 19, 2021 – the day before the jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder for the restraint-asphyxia death of George Floyd – Alameda Police Officer Eric McKinley encountered Mario Gonzalez in a small pocket-park in Alameda, California. Officer McKinley was dispatched to do a welfare check on Mr. Gonzalez – who was peacefully standing in the public park, talking to himself – in response to a man who called police to complain that Mr. Gonzalez was not doing anything wrong, but his presence in the park was scaring the caller’s wife. Officer McKinley asked Mario Gonzalez how he was doing and Mr. Gonzalez responded that he was fine, although he appeared confused and disoriented. After attempting to engage Mr. Gonzalez in conversation for several minutes, and after having Officer Fisher confirm with a nearby drugstore that Mr. Gonzalez was not suspected of stealing the alcohol he had with him, the officers had no legal cause to arrest Mr. Gonzalez.
Officers’ body-worn camera videos show officers placing Mr. Gonzalez in multiple pain compliance holds before they forced him face-down on the ground. Officers forced Mr. Gonzalez into a prone position and Officers McKinley and Fisher held him down with their force and body weight. The officers were soon joined by Officer Leahy, who added his weight as well. Mr. Gonzalez struggled to breathe over the next five minutes while these officers restrained him in a prone position with their force and body weight. For more than three and a half of those minutes, Mr. Gonzalez was fully handcuffed behind his back.
Mario Gonzalez never attacked or threatened any person and never actively resisted any officer. He simply moved around in attempts to breathe under Defendants’ illegal and asphyxiating restraint. In the course of the officers’ illegal restraint and seizure of Mario Gonzalez, one officer said, “He’s lifting my whole body weight up.” After the officers had handcuffed Mr. Gonzalez, but still kept him prone with great weight on his torso and legs, one officer said, “Think we can roll him on his side?” to which another officer answered, “I don’t wanna lose what I got, man.” When officers finally rolled Mario Gonzalez over, he was limp and unresponsive. He died as a result of the officers’ tactics and force.
The independent autopsy, performed by noted forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet I. Omalu, confirmed that Mr. Gonzalez died from restraint asphyxiation. Dr. Omalu found acute, severe swelling and congestion in Mr. Gonzalez’s lungs and global swelling of his brain from the lack of oxygen and asphyxiation that caused his death.
The amount of methamphetamine found in Mario Gonzalez’s blood was relatively low, well within what the United States government has determined to be a “normal recreational” amount. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the normal recreational blood concentration of methamphetamine for users arrested for driving while intoxicated, and therefore still alive, is up to 2.5 milligrams per liter. The normal recreational amount of methamphetamine is between 2 ½ and 5 times more than the amount of methamphetamine that was reportedly in Mr. Gonzalez’s blood at the time of the first and second autopsies. The risk of death from methamphetamine is just 1 in 353,000.
This was at least the second restraint asphyxiation caused by APD officers in three years.
Andrea Cortez, the mother of Mario Gonzalez’s five-year-old son, says: “Mario was a peaceful, calm person. He was a very mellow guy. He adored our son and was a good father. The police should have known to use better tactics with Mario. He wasn’t hurting anyone and he was clearly confused. If they had rolled him on his side when the first officer said to, my son’s father might still be here.”
Julia Sherwin, an attorney for Mario Gonzalez and his son, says, “The independent autopsy confirms what we all saw with our own eyes. Meth didn’t kill Mario, the officers did. They killed him by restraining him in a prone position, with three officers’ weight on him, for over five minutes. And for more than three and a half of those minutes, Mario’s hands were handcuffed behind his back. It is shameful that District Attorney Nancy O’Malley did not have the courage to bring criminal charges for this homicide. Little Mario will hold the officers who killed his Papi accountable in federal court, and we will fight for reforms so no other family will suffer the way Mario’s family has suffered from this completely preventable and senseless death.”
To interview attorneys Julia Sherwin or Michael Haddad of Haddad & Sherwin LLP, please call or email them as listed below. A copy of the independent autopsy report is available here.
A Go Fund Me account has been established to support little Mario. Click here if you wish to contribute: https://gofund.me/a964dc8d
ABOUT HADDAD & SHERWIN LLP. Founded in 1998 by Michael Haddad and Julia Sherwin, Haddad & Sherwin LLP is an Oakland law firm representing people in serious civil rights, police and jail misconduct, and wrongful death cases. For more information, visit https://haddadandsherwin.com/.
Contact:
Julia Sherwin or Michael Haddad
(office) (510) 452-5500
michael.julia@haddadsherwin.com
Tim Johnson
UPRAISE Marketing + PR for Haddad & Sherwin LLP
(cell) (415) 385-9537
Haddad-sherwin@upraisepr.com
