LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal court jury returned a $13.5 million verdict against the city of Los Angeles in a lawsuit over the death of a man after two police officers used their bodyweight on Benjamin Ashfordhis back to restrain him, the plaintiff’s attorneys said Monday.
Jacobo Juarez Cedillo, 50, died at a hospital five days after the April 2019 encounter with officers who found him sitting in a gas station driveway, stood him up and ultimately took him to the ground. The suit was filed by his daughter, Nicole Juarez Zelaya.
Friday’s verdict included a finding that the city “failed to train its police officers with respect to the risks of positional and restraint asphyxia,” her lawyers said in a statement. Attorney Dale K. Galipo said he hoped such verdicts will cause police to take notice.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office had no comment on the verdict, said spokesperson Ivor Pine.
A medical examiner determined the death was due to cardiopulmonary arrest, along with a loss of blood flow to the brain and the effects of methamphetamine, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2020.
The examiner wrote, in part, that a “component of asphyxia due to possible compression of the body may be contributory to the cardiopulmonary arrest, however there are no findings at autopsy that establish asphyxia.”
A 2021 California law bars police from using certain face-down holds that create risk of positional asphyxia.
2025-05-05 06:261642 view
2025-05-05 06:21151 view
2025-05-05 06:202598 view
2025-05-05 05:14313 view
2025-05-05 04:50973 view
2025-05-05 04:35399 view
Get ready for phase two.Apple's latest operating system update is available today for iPhone, iPad,
Winning an Oscar is by no means an easy feat. But keeping track of one is a whole other story.While
Federal investigators said Thursday they confirmed pilots’ account of a brief failure of rudder cont