Officers’ Use of Force Played Role in Man’s Death, Coroner Says : Inquiry: Ruling finds that John Bernard Wiley Jr. also had severely blocked arteries. He died after struggling with deputies in County-USC jail ward.

A 41-year-old former construction worker who died in the County-USC Medical Center jail ward after struggling with deputies in March succumbed to a combination of the officers’ use of restraint maneuvers and severe heart disease, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Thursday.

After months of delay as medical examiners conducted specialized forensics tests in the sensitive case, the coroner’s office ruled that John Bernard Wiley Jr.’s death was a homicide. The coroner identified neck compression as one of the restraint tactics causing the death.

Underlying factors listed were a fatty liver, the effects of alcohol and multiple traumatic injuries, including a broken rib, a broken nose and a head laceration.

Wiley’s death is one of three recent incidents involving either acknowledged or alleged use of force against inmates in the hospital jail ward that are under review by federal or local authorities. So far, no deputies have been disciplined or formally accused of wrongdoing in the cases.

The Wiley case, which remains under investigation by the FBI and the district attorney’s office, made headlines after county nurses who work in the jail ward wrote the County Board of Supervisors asking for a formal inquiry.

Two nurses who said they witnessed the March 4 incident--Johnnie Blue and William Strachan--said deputies used unnecessary force and contributed to Wiley’s death. They contended that Wiley was taunted by deputies and shoved off a gurney, landing head-first on the floor. They also said Wiley was restrained with a chokehold and covered at the face with a prison smock.

The Sheriff’s Department says only that Wiley became combative after his handcuffs were removed in the jail ward and that he stopped breathing as deputies and a Los Angeles police officer tried to restrain him.

On Thursday, Sgt. Larry Lincoln, a department spokesman, said the results of the autopsy and the department’s own three-month investigation have been forwarded to the district attorney’s office.

Eric Ferrer, an attorney for Wiley’s relatives, said the findings “indicate everything we thought about how he died. These deputies should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Ferrer said family members will file a wrongful death claim and assert that jail ward inmates often are abused. “This finding confirms, in our opinion, a pattern of excessive force.”

Department officials disputed that. Noting that the recent cases are all still under review, Lt. Taylor Moorehead said: “If they all are legitimate cases, it would be terrible to make an assumption (about a pattern of misconduct). If there is some guilt there, we’ll deal with it.”

Wiley was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on suspicion of assault on a police officer during a domestic dispute. Wiley injured his head falling down a flight of stairs during the arrest, officials said, and was taken to the hospital jail ward.

Once there, Wiley became violent, according to the Sheriff’s Department. As deputies, who provide security at the jail ward, and the city officer struggled with Wiley, he stopped breathing and was pronounced dead a short time later, officials said.

The two nurses, Blue and Strachan, said Thursday that they were pleased with the autopsy findings.

“I’m very glad we brought it forward. I think what they are saying does support what we were saying,” Strachan said.

Blue added: “I feel relieved that is wasn’t covered up.”

Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the coroner’s office, cautioned that Wiley’s case was complex, involving struggles at different times and places with both Los Angeles police officers and sheriff’s deputies. He said it is unclear how the various injuries occurred or whether the neck compression injuries were the result of a chokehold by deputies.

“This man had very severe blockage of the vessels of his heart” and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.2%, more than twice the legal limit for drivers, Carrier said.

Hospital workers said they were particularly sensitive to the Wiley incident because it came on the heels of another, similar death three months earlier.

In that case, which remains under review by the district attorney’s office and the LAPD, a 43-year-old transient, Jose Martinez, became violent after arriving at the jail ward, according to official accounts.

Martinez was arrested by Los Angeles police on suspicion of burglary and being under the influence of drugs. After he became combative, deputies struggled to restrain him and he stopped breathing, officials said. Martinez never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead a week later.

Martinez’s death was ruled accidental, caused by lack of oxygen to the brain and heart failure. Different deputies were involved in the Wiley and Martinez incidents, Lincoln said.

Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating a case involving an 18-year-old mentally ill man who relatives say was beaten last September in the jail ward. Laurence Jones, who was arrested on charges of assaulting a Baldwin Park officer, says he was beaten a few days after arriving in the hospital jail ward, according to his mother, Barbara.

One of the deputies her son says was involved is Gary Gerlach, Barbara Jones said. Nurses Blue and Strachan said Gerlach was one of the deputies involved in the struggle with Wiley the night he died.

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment, but have confirmed that Gerlach was on duty the night of Wiley’s death. Gerlach, who has previously declined to be interviewed, could not be reached.