Was it Unfornuate Drugging or Perhaps Tainted Medicine
Since you're medical records have been outsourced or your pharmacists
records vanished?
You may recall the sad story of Brandon Marshall, which I wrote about
last September: The 43-year-old quality assurance engineer, who had a
history of mental illness, was fatally shot in December 2013 by a
sheriff’s deputy outside his workplace at Roku,the
set-top device maker.
In the litigation that followed, the chronology did not look good for
Santa Clara County. Marshall, who had furiously ingested pills that
morning and was described as acting “manic,” was negotiating with a
paramedic to get help when deputies arrived at
the Saratoga site.
The deputies say he swung a key fob, or “kubaton,” at them before
Deputy Aldo Groba fired a shot at the engineer’s stomach. His family’s
attorneys contend that the deputies had no reason to confront
Marshall, who posed no significant threat: He was simply
waving his keys in his agitation.
Among the heartbreaking details was that Marshall’s father, Steven
Marshall, was on the telephone with the paramedic when he heard his
son cry out from the shot. Brandon Marshall died several hours later
at Valley Medical Center despite desperate attempts
to save him.
Now, from filings by the family’s attorney, James McManis, several
more details have emerged about the case. And little of it strengthens
the county’s position. Here are a few key points:
A) None of the four deputies who responded to the scene had CIT
(crisis intervention training), which teaches authorities how to deal
with the mentally ill. Like many departments, the sheriff’s office
offers such training but does not make it mandatory.
B) Brandon Marshall showed signs of delusion that morning. He insisted
that unknown gunmen were training guns on him from above. He referred
repeatedly to the Secret Service and told bystanders that he needed
help.
C) When the first deputy on the scene, Kristen Anderson, approached
Marshall, he became more agitated. His family’s attorneys say he was
fidgeting with his keys, which were attached to a thin, rounded
aluminum rod. When Anderson asked if it was a weapon,
Marshall said it was and put it away at her request.
D) Groba initially had been standing some distance away when Anderson
— according to the family’s filing — looked over at him. Groba then
approached with a gun drawn, prompting Marshall to back up and say,
“No, no, no” or “whoa, whoa, whoa,” witnesses
said. As Marshall swung his key chain at deputies, Groba fired a
single shot.
E) After he fell from the gunshot, the deputies put the injured
Marshall’s hands behind him and knelt on his back, causing more pain
to the engineer. The deputies refused a request from the paramedic to
treat Marshall until they had restrained him.
It’s important to understand that the bulk of this, although based on
police reports and interviews, represents one side of the case. The
county says it does not expect to file its detailed response until
August. County Counsel Orry Korb told me by email
that the county does not comment on pending litigation.
But it is clear that the defense wants to portray the key fob as a
weapon. “It is undisputed that Marshall attacked Groba” with a
kubaton, said one filing by the county. “Groba fired a single shot
from his service weapon in response to the attack.”
Just exactly how Brandon held that key fob — and how it was shaped —
are crucial elements in this case. So, too, is the testimony of the
paramedic who was negotiating with Marshall’s father to get the
troubled engineer a ride to the hospital.
“This guy had a key chain,” said family attorney McManis. “They’re
trying to turn it into a weapon. But the fact of the matter is that
the only thing he did was hold on to the business end of the fob and
wave his keys around. And they gun him down. To
me, it’s appalling.”
