Family Seeks Damages in Jailed Man’s Death : Justice: Officials didn’t call a doctor despite the bizarre behavior of a man injured during his arrest.

Jail officials failed to summon a doctor to examine a North Hollywood man who died in jail although he was behaving bizarrely, had face and arm injuries, bruises on his back and stomach and dried blood in his ear, according to evidence introduced at a civil trial Monday.

Stanley Malinovitz, 38, did not know where he was, a nurse wrote when Malinovitz arrived at the Men’s Central Jail on Jan. 24, 1984. He was unable to give the date, laughed for no apparent reason, and was uncooperative when nurses tried to take his temperature and blood pressure, the record said.

Despite Malinovitz’s injuries and strange behavior, jail staff members did not summon a doctor to examine him, but strapped him to a cot until they took him to court the next morning, according to jail medical records read in San Fernando Superior Court on Monday.

Malinovitz died from a blood clot in his lung four days after he arrived in jail. His wife and children are suing Los Angeles County for unspecified damages. They claim that the county never provided Malinovitz with medical care, despite obvious symptoms that something was wrong.

Deputy County Counsel Philip S. Miller said last week that Malinovitz’s confusion stemmed from a mental illness and was not a symptom of the blood clot that killed him. Malinovitz’s physical injuries were inflicted by the arresting officers who beat him with a baton and gripped him in a chokehold to subdue him, Miller said.

Malinovitz, who had no previous criminal record, was arrested for pushing an elderly woman to the ground in a shopping mall for no apparent reason.

Dr. Arthur Golding, a vascular surgeon testifying Monday for the Malinovitz family, said a doctor should have examined Malinovitz to determine whether his behavior was related to his injuries, and to rule out other physical problems that can cause confusion, such as diabetes or a skull fracture.

“It was critical that they make an examination to determine the underlying cause of the behavior,” Golding said. “There is no question that a man in this situation needs immediate medical care.”

On his first night in jail, Malinovitz vomited on himself in bed, medical records show.

Two days before Malinovitz’s death, a judge ordered sheriff’s deputies to take Malinovitz to County-USC Medical Center, but deputies returned him to jail. County lawyers have said that the judge’s order was misplaced by a court clerk, and that deputies were not to blame.

Even if Malinovitz had been taken to the hospital, Miller said last week, doctors could not have prevented his death because he had no symptoms of the embolism that killed him.

But Golding testified that doctors could have found and treated the clotting, preventing the fatal embolism, if they had had an opportunity to take Malinovitz’s history and examine him. Malinovitz had a history of blood clots.

“If he had been transferred to a medical facility, a history would have been taken and doctors would have alerted to the possibility of deep venous thrombosis,” Golding said.

Asked if Malinovitz would still be alive if he had been taken to a hospital, Golding replied, “I believe that he would be.”

On cross-examination, Golding, who was brought in as an expert witness, said he has been paid $8,000 to testify in depositions and court proceedings in this case.