A California meth addict killed by a cops’ stun gun three years ago has been ruled 80 percent to blame for his own death – following a two-year-long federal lawsuit waged by his sister that saw her awarded $1.5million.
The suit stems from the July 2019 death of 34-year-old Kevin Niedzialek in Temecula, and spurred a trial that began on March 28 before U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal.
Filed by Niedzialek’s surviving sister, 49-year-old Tracey Alves, the wrongful death lawsuit was filed in federal court due to it alleging that officers violated Niedzialek’s constitutional rights in the buildup to his death.
Prior to the arrival of officers, bystanders in the SoCal city roughly an hour’s drive from LA called 911 because they witnessed Niedzialek behaving in ‘an erratic and threatening manner,’ Riverside County sheriff’s said at the time.
A struggle then ensued, culminating with the recovering addict being twice incapacitated by a deputy’s stun gun – and dying soon after. On Friday, a five-man, three-woman jury deemed that Niedzialek was ‘mostly’ at fault for his own death – with enough reasonable doubt to award Alves the $1.5 million.
The suit stems from the July 2019 death of 34-year-old Kevin Niedzialek – seen here with a child who was not his – and spurred a four-day federal trial that began on March 28
The four-day federal trial was presided over by US District Judge Jesus Bernal, and saw the recovering addict – who relapsed before his death – deemed mostly responsible for his death
In actuality, the jury awarded Alves $7.5 million, but deducted $6million from the full award due to Niedzialek supposedly being ’80 percent’ at fault.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday praised the juror’s decision, which saw jurors agree that the officers involved had been negligent, but had not used excessive or unreasonable force.
‘Today, the jury found that our Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies did not violate the constitutional rights of decedent Kevin Niedzialek,’ Bianco said in comments passed along by the department’s Media Information Bureau.
He added: ‘They also found that our department’s training on prone restraint and positional asphyxia was lawful and played no role in this tragic, methamphetamine death.’
In statements provided to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, deputies employed under Bianco said they found Niedzialek – whose family said he was in recovery – ‘shouting incoherently and exhibiting aggressive behavior’.
Suspecting Niedzialekwas under the influence of an illicit substance, the officers attempted to approach him – but found the man to be uncooperative, yelling, and aggressive and combative with the lawmen.
A Taser conductive energy device was subsequently deployed and discharged twice on Niedzialek, in dart mode, sending him writhing to the floor as officers tried to subdue him.
Eventually restraining Niedzialek in the prone position and handcuffing his wrists from, the officers eventually realized the alleged addict was no longer resists. They then moved him from a prone to a supine position, and noticed he was unresponsive.
Paramedics were then called to evaluate Niedzialek – and found him to be in cardiac arrest.
Measures to save the man’s life were immediately initiated, including CPR and intubation, leading Niedzialek’s pulse to return – though the man remained unresponsive.
Sheriff Chad Bianco on Friday praised the juror’s decision, which saw jurors agree that the officers involved had been negligent, but had not used excessive or unreasonable force.
He was subsequently transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in nearby Riverside to receive emergency treatment, and received a blood transfusion.
He was then transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he remained unresponsive – all while showing evidence of irreversible neurologic brain damage.
He survived until the next day, after doctors decided to forgo any further life support measures upon realizing the irreversible nature of his condition.
In an ensuing autopsy, a coroner attributed the cause of death to acute methamphetamine toxicity – citing toxicology reports that showed the man had relapsed – with ‘other significant conditions of application of restraint maneuvers.’
Aleves immediately took issue with the assessment, arguing that officers mishandled the situation, and that Niedzialek only stopped breathing after a deputy knelt on his back as he lay face-down on the ground.
She promptly sued Riverside County in January 2021, giving way to the recently wrapped March trial.
Jurors on Friday agreed with Alves’ attorneys’ assessment that the officers involved with the incident had been negligent, but stopped short of asserting that they used excessive or unreasonable force.
The also inexplicably agreed that Niedzialek had been negligent as well during the altercation, while saying the aforementioned officers’ carelessness directly led to the addict’s death.
Bianco said of the decision: ‘While … the jury found that two of our deputies were negligent toward Mr. Niedzialek after he was handcuffed, the jury also found that Mr. Niedzialek was liable for 80 percent of damages they awarded.
‘While our hearts go out to the decedent’s family for their loss, the Sheriff’s Department is gratified that the jury correctly understood that there was no excessive force or defective training here.’
One of Alves’ attorneys, Dale K. Galipo, shortly after criticized the sheriff’s response as ‘misleading.”
He argued jurors never decided whether the two officers’ training was inadequate, citing how related questions did appear on jurors’ verdict form.
‘Further … the jury correctly found under the evidence and the law that the officers’ negligent conduct was a cause of death,’ Galipo told Mercury News.
‘That’s why the plaintiff won the trial and that’s why the county is responsible for $1.5 million. Because the jury did not find a constitutional violation, they never decided whether or not Bianco should be held personally responsible.’
Alves will have the opportunity to appeal – though first the case will need to be heard by the US Supreme Court. Her lawyers on Friday did not express any such plans.
