Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Denver Inmate's Death At Hands Of Deputies Ruled A Homicide

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-marshall-homicide_569002c0e4b0c8beacf6d9db?section=politics

On Nov. 11, 2015, deputies at the Denver jail forcibly restrained a man who was experiencing a psychotic episode. When the man became unresponsive, he was sent to a nearby hospital, where he was put on life support and died nine days later.

The man, 50-year-old Michael Marshall, was originally arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and trespassing at a motel where he had been staying.

Now, nearly two months after the fact, Marshall's death has been ruled a homicide.

A report released Friday by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner concludes that Marshall died from "complications of positional asphyxia to include aspiration pneumonia due to being physically restrained by law enforcement during an acute psychotic episode."

In other words, Marshall vomited during the incident, and law enforcement officers restrained him in such a manner that he choked on it, going without oxygen for 10 to 15 minutes, his family members told ABC7. Marshall also went into cardiac arrest.