Knee-on-neck death among largest civil rights settlements in state history

Excessive Force

Luis A. Carrillo, Michael S. Carillo and J. Miguel Flores, The Carrillo Law Firm

The ominous phrase "I can't breathe," gasped by a man pinned to the ground in a CHP maintenance yard in Altadena in March 2020 as officers forcefully took a blood sample, came months before George Floyd uttered the same phrase as Minneapolis, Minn., police knelt on his neck.

Both cases resulted in the death of the restrained men.

But while the public reaction to Floyd's killing was immediate and massive, it took two years for the 16-minute video of Edward Bronstein's final moments, shot by a CHP sergeant, to come to public attention.

"CHP counsel put up so many hurdles," said Luis A. Carrillo, the attorney for Bronstein's surviving family members, who obtained a $24 million settlement with the CHP after the incriminating tape was eventually made public by order of a federal judge.

It was the largest civil rights settlement in state history, Carrillo said. Several of the officers involved were charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault.

The video showed that Bronstein initially refused but then agreed to have a blood sample drawn after officers stopped him on the I-5 freeway for suspected DUI. When Bronstein said, "I'll take the test," a CHP officer replied, "Too late" and seven officers placed him in a prone position and pressed their knees into his back as he repeated "I can't breathe" more than 14 times.

Carrillo, the founder of Pasadena's Carrillo Law Firm LLP, tried the case with son Michael S. Carrillo and J. Miguel Flores. "I call him 'Good Eyes' Flores because he's so good at spotting precedents," Luis Carrillo said.

Michael Carrillo said that officials at first withheld details of Bronstein's death until lawyers spotted a coroner's report mentioning a "horrific" video of the incident. There followed a prolonged battle for its public release.

"They denied our public records request, so we sued to get the video. Then they stalled and stalled," Luis Carrillo said. "They were afraid to have the public see it, of course. They tried to stifle it. So, then we filed our federal suit." I.M., a minor, by and through her Guardian ad Litem, Edward Tapia, et al., v. Doe CHP Officer 1-10, 2:20-cv-11174 (C.D. Cal., filed Dec. 9, 2020).

"Once they produced the tape in discovery, we had to file a separate motion to strike the confidential protective order regarding the video," Michael Carrillo said. "First, they refused and, ironically, cited our Public Records Act suit as a reason. Finally, the judge agreed to the release, but they immediately appealed to the 9th Circuit."

That appeal failed and U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin of Los Angeles ruled the public had a right to view the video. The settlement soon followed. "The release forced their hand," Michael Carrillo said -- but it still took a mediation session to force a deal to its conclusion.

Lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General argued that it was a legal blood draw and there was no evidentiary connection between the officers' actions and Bronstein's death.

"We pushed and the mediator pushed and they settled," Luis Carrillo said.

--John Roemer