Jurors have ruled that a California meth addict was 80 percent responsible for his own death during a confrontation with police, but still awarded the man’s sister $1.5 million in damages.
The lawsuit stems from the July 2019 death of 34-year-old Kevin Niedzialek in Temecula, and led to a trial that began March 28 before U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal.
Niedzialek’s surviving sister, Tracey Alves, 49, filed the wrongful death lawsuit in federal court alleging officers violated Niedzialek’s constitutional rights leading up to his death.
Before officers arrived, bystanders in the SoCal city, about an hour’s drive from LA, called 911 because they saw Niedzialek behaving “unpredictably and threateningly,” the Riverside County sheriff said at the time.
A struggle ensued, culminating in the recovering addict being incapacitated twice by a deputy sheriff’s stun gun – and dying soon after. On Friday, a jury of five men and three women found Niedzialek “largely” guilty of his own death — with enough reasonable doubt to award Alves the $1.5 million.
The lawsuit stems from the death of 34-year-old Kevin Niedzialek in July 2019 — seen here with a child who was not his — and prompted a four-day federal trial that began March 28.
The four-day federal trial was presided over by U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal (pictured) and saw the recovering addict — who relapsed before his death — found largely responsible for his death
In reality, the jury awarded Alves $7.5 million but deducted $6 million from the full award due to Niedzialek is said to be ’80 percent’ guilty.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday praised the jurors’ decision, in which the jurors agreed that the officers involved had been negligent but had not used excessive or unreasonable force.
“Today, the jury determined that our Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies did not violate the constitutional rights of the late Kevin Niedzialek,” Bianco said in comments relayed by the department’s Media Information Bureau.
“They also found that our department’s training on prone positioning and positional asphyxia was lawful and had no role in this tragic death from methamphetamine.”
In statements to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, deputies working under Bianco said they saw Niedzialek – whose family said he was recovering – “shouting incoherently and exhibiting aggressive behavior.”
Suspecting that Niedzialek was under the influence of an illegal substance, the officers tried to approach him – only to find the man uncooperative, shouting and aggressive and belligerent.
A Taser was then deployed and fired twice at Niedzialek, in dart mode, causing him to writhe to the ground as officers tried to subdue him.
After finally holding Niedzialek in a prone position and handcuffing his wrists, the officers finally realized that the alleged addict was no longer resisting. They then moved him from a prone position to a supine position where he became unresponsive.
Paramedics were called to evaluate Niedzialek and found he was in cardiac arrest.
Immediate measures were taken to save the man’s life. including CPR and intubation, which returned Niedzialek’s pulse – although the man did not respond.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday praised the juror’s decision, in which the jurors agreed that the officers involved had been negligent but had not used excessive or unreasonable force.
Niedzialek was rushed to Inland Valley Medical Center in nearby Riverside for emergency treatment received a blood transfusion.
He was then transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he became unresponsive – showing signs of irreversible neurological brain damage.
He survived until the next day, after doctors decided to forgo further life support measures when they realized his condition was irreversible.
A coroner attributed his cause of death to acute methamphetamine toxicity – citing toxicology reports showing the man had relapsed – with “other important conditions for the use of coercion.”
Alves immediately objected to the assessment, arguing that officers mishandled the situation and that her brother only stopped breathing after a deputy knelt on his back as he lay face down on the ground.
She promptly sued Riverside County in January 2021, to make way for the recently concluded trial in March.
Jurors on Friday agreed with Alves’ lawyers’ assessment that the officers involved in the incident had been negligent, but stopped short of claiming that they used excessive or unreasonable force.
They also inexplicably agreed that Niedzialek had also been negligent during the altercation, saying that the above officers’ carelessness led directly to the addict’s death.
Bianco said of the decision, “While … the jury found two of our deputies negligent to Mr. Niedzialek after he was handcuffed, the jury also found Mr. Niedzialek liable for 80 percent of the damages awarded by them.”
“While our condolences go out to the family of the deceased for their loss, the Sheriff’s Department is pleased that the jury correctly understood that there was no excessive force or lack of training here.”
One of Alves’ lawyers, Dale K. Galipo, shortly afterwards criticized the sheriff’s response as “misleading.”
He argued that jurors never decided whether the two officers’ training was inadequate, citing that related questions appeared on the jurors’ verdict form.
“Further… the jury correctly found, based on the evidence and the law, that the officers’ negligent conduct was a cause of death,” Galipo told Mercury News.
“That’s why the plaintiff won the lawsuit and that’s why the county is responsible for $1.5 million. Because the jury found no constitutional violation, they never decided whether or not Bianco should be held personally responsible.”
Alves will have the chance to appeal, but first the case must be heard by the US Supreme Court. Her lawyers on Friday expressed no such plans.