Torts/Personal Injury
Apr. 16, 2024
Paramedic and deputies found not liable for death of man suffocating on gurney
The ruling comes amid increased scrutiny of the role paramedics sometimes play in police encounters.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a paramedic and sheriff's deputies are not liable for the death of a man who suffocated while being strapped to a gurney. The court ruled that the paramedic was acting with a "medical purpose."
In 2017, the Fresno County Sheriff's Department received a call about a man acting erratically. After several officers and an ambulance arrived on the scene, paramedic Morgan Anderson instructed the deputies to hold Joseph ...