San Diego City Beat reports on a lawsuit filed by the family of Ramel Henderson, who died in police custody May 29, 2007:
Prior to 1998, it was widely held that prone restraint significantly compromised a person’s ability to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, based on studies by King County (Seattle) Medical Examiner Donald Raey. Raey was an expert witness in a 1997 lawsuit against San Diego County, filed by the family of Daniel Price, who died after being hogtied and left on his stomach by Sheriff’s deputies. To refute Raey’s testimony, the county hired a team of UCSD researchers to study oxygen intake in people who were hogtied. The team concluded that while their study subjects found breathing more difficult, they were still able to take in enough oxygen. On the witness stand, Raey agreed that the study was valid; largely for that reason, the court ruled in favor of the defendants. On Jan. 14, 1998, the county issued a press release: “LEGAL VICTORY LIKELY TO HAVE NATIONAL IMPACT: ‘Positional Asphyxia’ Not Linked to Use of Hogtie to Restrain Suspect.”
There was one problem: The study didn’t—and couldn’t—replicate real-world conditions. Participants were all healthy males of normal weight who had no pre-existing medical conditions. The people most likely to die while being restrained tend to be—like Price and Henderson—overweight (Henderson was 5-foot-6, 199 pounds), under the influence of drugs and have a pre-existing heart condition.
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