Court Rejects Appeal in Man’s Death at Party

A federal court has rejected an appeal by the parents of a 21-year-old Cal State Northridge student who was killed at a party in Meiners Oaks in 1997.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded there was no basis for reversing a jury finding that Ventura County deputies did not use excessive force in subduing Nicholas Dowey, who had apparently been struck on the head before the deputies arrived and was disoriented.

Dowey died from extensive head injuries. Although testimony indicated he was struck with a bat before deputies arrived, more than a dozen witnesses also testified they saw deputies wrestling with Dowey before putting him in a headlock, trying to douse him with pepper spray and hitting him as many as three times with a flashlight.

County lawyers argued that only one deputy hit the student, and just once with a 1-ounce pepper spray can. No one has been charged in the slaying.