Families Plan to Sue Police in Deaths of 3

The families of three Oxnard men who died while in police custody this year intend to file civil rights lawsuits against the Oxnard Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The families of Luther Thomas Allen, Fernando Herrera Jr. and Raul Madera recently sent letters to the county and the city of Oxnard asking that the Police and Sheriff’s departments preserve all evidence related to the cases. On Wednesday, the families will file their claims against the departments and announce in front of City Hall at 11 a.m. their intent to sue if the city and county do not respond, according to their attorneys.

Madera died in July from complications related to tonsillitis while in Sheriff’s Department custody, Herrera died later that month after he was restrained by six Oxnard police officers, and Allen died shortly after an Oct. 1 drunk-driving arrest by Oxnard police.

“None of these people should have died,” said Los Angeles lawyer Samuel Paz, one of three attorneys who plan to file federal lawsuits maintaining that the men’s civil rights had been violated.

Internal sheriff and police investigations concluded that the agencies were not to blame in the three deaths.

Paz is working with attorneys Sonia Mercado, also of Los Angeles, and Samuel Heredia of Oxnard. The attorneys, who first have to file claims against the city and county, said they plan to file their lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles early next year if the claims are rejected.

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In June, the family of another Oxnard man, 40-year-old Ray Lee Carter--who died shortly after being repeatedly sprayed with pepper spray and restrained by officers--filed a $1.3-million wrongful death claim against the city. Because the city did not respond to the claim, a lawsuit was filed. Ventura attorney Ernest Bell is representing Carter’s family in that case and is now waiting for a trial date to be set.

Citing the Carter case and those of his clients, Paz said the fact that all the men who died in custody were minorities was not a coincidence.

“It seems extraordinary to me, and it seems that it’s a problem that should raise concern to anyone who lives in the community,” he said. “This could very well be anyone’s son or father.”

Paz has handled several hundred police brutality cases, mostly against Southern California law enforcement agencies. He was nominated two years ago by President Clinton for a federal judgeship, but the nomination was later withdrawn because of opposition from police groups.

Much like the Carter case, 25-year-old Fernando Herrera died while being held on the ground by several police officers during an arrest July 18. Herrera was suspected of having just broken into an Oxnard home and was resisting arrest, police officials said.

Herrera had a cardiac arrest while lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back and officers holding him down, said Ventura County Coroner Ronald L. O’Halloran.

“There was a mix of things that contributed to his death,” O’Halloran said.

An autopsy determined that Herrera had cocaine in his blood. He also had an elevated body temperature, and his struggle against the police hold also contributed to his death, O’Halloran said.

“Mr. Herrera was asphyxiated because six cops were sitting on him,” said attorney Sonia Mercado.

In the case of 55-year-old Luther Thomas Allen, who died Oct. 1 after falling unconscious in an Oxnard police holding cell, the coroner concluded that Allen died of internal injuries suffered in an earlier traffic accident.

Allen was arrested after the accident on suspicion of driving under the influence. He had refused medical treatment by paramedics and did not show any external signs of injuries, police officials said.

But Allen became unconscious about two hours after his arrest and never regained consciousness.

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Allen’s wife, Ada Allen, refused to comment on her case against the department.

Oxnard police officials said that, as with all in-custody deaths, they conducted an internal investigation of Allen’s and Herrera’s deaths and concluded that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the department or its officers.

Raul Madera, 23, was being held at the Ventura County Jail when he fell ill July 9. Madera died from septic shock due to tonsillitis shortly after being taken from the jail to the Ventura County Medical Center, said the coroner.

“In this day and age, nobody should die of tonsillitis,” attorney Paz said.

Madera, who was serving a 390-day sentence for drug possession, had been treated over several weeks at both the medical center and by a doctor and other medical personnel employed by the jail, said Cmdr. Joe Harwell, who oversees the jail.

As required, officials reported the incident to the state attorney general’s office. The officials also investigated the case and concluded that officers did everything appropriately, Harwell said.

There have been five in-custody deaths at the Ventura County Jail this year, Harwell said. Two of the deaths were suicides and the rest were from natural causes, he said.