The family of a man who died in a San Diego County jail more than 10 years ago was awarded nearly $2 million by a federal jury that faulted Sheriff’s Department nurses for failing to prevent this fatal overdose.
Ronnie Sandoval was sweating profusely throughout his registration process, but prison medical staff failed to properly respond to his condition, a San Diego federal jury found in a verdict released late last week .
The $1.8 million reward is the latest setback for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff’s Department, which have struggled to protect people in their custody.
This is also in addition to the more than $60 million already awarded in legal settlements and damages against the Sheriff’s Department over the past five years. This money comes from the general fund, which is typically spent on roads, libraries and other basic government services.
More than 150 people have died in San Diego County jails since Sandoval died hours after his arrest in February 2014. The county jail system has long had one of the highest death rates in California, and outside experts have repeatedly suggested better training and stricter practices. to protect people in detention.
The county and its sheriff’s department still face numerous pending lawsuits filed by family members of people who died in jail.
(Courtesy of the Sandoval family)
Attorney Danielle Pena represented Anna Sandoval, the deceased’s widow. She said prison nurses should have done more to care for her husband after he showed serious symptoms during the booking process.
“This has been a battle and a journey for this family, but ultimately we appreciate that the jury was able to see the facts and establish that Mr. Sandoval deserved better medical care,” Pena said in an interview telephone.
“We can only hope that a verdict like this sends a strong signal to the county that it must prioritize the health and safety of its inmates,” she said.
The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to questions about the jury’s latest award.
Previously, the ministry said it was working to reduce deaths in custody by raising standards of care for men and women in custody. Among other changes, Kelly Martinez, who was sworn in as sheriff in 2023, said she has beefed up medical staff, upgraded facilities and adopted practices to better protect those in her custody.
But the sheriff’s department nevertheless struggled to provide adequate medical care to those detained.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in March that sheriff’s officials had serious and recurring problems with the company they fund to provide health care services to men and women in the San Diego County Jail .
Ronnie Paul Sandoval, 46, was arrested on February 22, 2014 at a home in Spring Valley on suspicion of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Unbeknownst to the arresting deputies, Sandoval had swallowed a bag of methamphetamine in an apparent attempt to avoid arrest on more serious charges.
During the detention process at the central prison, officers noticed that Sandoval was shaking and sweating profusely.
“Deputy 1 observed Ronnie Sandoval’s eyes roll back into his head and saw him fall to the ground, hitting his head, before suffering a seizure,” a report from the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board states.
The civilian oversight board ruled that deputies were not responsible for Sandoval’s overdose because they referred him to prison nursing staff.
But once Sandoval was transferred to the prison’s medical observation unit, nurses failed to monitor him properly and he remained unattended for about eight hours, according to court records.
He died early in the morning of February 23, just 15 hours after his arrest. The case was ruled an accidental overdose.
But the family was convinced Sandoval could have survived with proper medical care and sued the county in federal court in San Diego. The case was initially dismissed by a district court judge, but revived by the 9th United States Court of Appeals in 2021.
Anna Sandoval said she was grateful to her attorneys and the jury.
“It took a long time to get there, but we finally got there,” she said. “My husband died without any medical care and the county needed to be notified. My lawyers and I were determined.
The jury estimated damages at $3.6 million – $2.75 million for the death and $850,000 for the mental, physical and emotional pain Sandoval felt just before his death.
But jurors cut the $3.6 million in damages in half, based on what they said was shared responsibility for his death.
Sandoval, they said, was partly responsible for his death because he failed to tell sheriff’s deputies or medical personnel that he had deliberately ingested methamphetamine at the time of his arrest.
The jury also ruled against awarding punitive damages, finding there was no basis to punish the county for the actions of its employees.
San Diego County spokesman Michael Workman said that despite the $1.8 million settlement, jurors did not find that the Sheriff’s Department was solely responsible for Sandoval’s death.
“The jury found that county policies or customs related to the care provided to Sandoval during his incarceration did not cause his death,” Workman said by email. “The jury found that the two nurses did not do enough to care for Mr. Sandoval, but declined to award punitive damages.”
Joseph McMullen, who co-represented the Sandoval family, disputed the county’s claim.
“The jury’s verdict is very clear: There can be no finding of liability unless the jury finds that defendant county employees caused Mr. Sandoval’s death,” he said. “That’s exactly what they found.”
The $1.8 million in damages awarded to the Sandoval family is a fraction of what San Diego County has paid in recent years to resolve the lawsuits, records show.
Between 2019 and 2023, San Diego County paid $125.9 million to resolve lawsuits, according to county records. A little more than half of that amount was due to allegations of misconduct or negligence by Sheriff’s Department employees.
The Sandoval payment has not yet been made.
The judge in the case ordered each side to file briefs addressing the legal and evidentiary sufficiency of the jury’s findings.
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