Sheriff of the San Bernardino County County, who is not culpably culpably in the death of the schizophrenic inmate, judicial rules – Orange County Register

A federal judge has found that the MEPs of the Sheriff of San Bernardino County were not culpable when they suffocated in the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

In a judgment on November 25, which was announced last week by the Sheriff Department, the US district court Jesus G. Bernal released an illegal death action with prejudices, which was submitted in Riverside in Riverside by the father of 24-year-old Chino Hills, Cassandra Pastora.

Bernal came to the conclusion that the MP Ariel Szulc and Christina Dominguez in the right procedure for maintaining and monitoring Pastora, which was adequately removed from a ventilation device from a ventilation device from the emperor from a ventilation device on March 22, 2021 in the Emperor Permanent Medical Center.

Dominguez discovered Pastora at 10:37 a.m. on March 15, 2021, her fist in her mouth, with whom Pastora tried to suffocate herself, according to Bernal, at 10:37 a.m., her fist in her mouth. A prison sister managed to revive pastora and get a pulse, and she was brought to Kaiser Fontana, where she died a week later.

The Sheriff department of the San Bernardino County announced on April 30th Bernal of Bernal that it was satisfied with the court's decision and insisted that in this case it was “immediately traded, she pursued specified protocols and immediate access to medical and psychological health services”.

“The loss of a life is always devastating, regardless of the circumstances. However, I believe that it is important that we keep the public up to date on the result of these complaints so that the original one-sided story, which was presented by some media, does not always contain all the facts,” said Sheriff district Shannon Dicus, the district of Sheriff, San Bernardino County, Friday.

“It seems that only the complaints that are lost by the department are published and rarely do those who are reported. It is my priority to minimize taxpayer funds for complaints that have no misconduct on behalf of the department.”

Pastora's father, Saeed “Sam” Toghraie, claimed in his lawsuit against civil rights violations, including the insufficient conditions for the restriction and refusal of the necessary medical care for his pregnant daughter. He appointed the former sheriff John McMahon, Dicus and captain Victor Moreno as the main accused. According to Bernal's decision, Dominguez and Szulc were also referred to as defendants.

Pastora was arrested in the Whistler Court house, which she shared with her father and booked to prison on March 13, 2021 after her father called 911 that his daughter had attacked him and a neighbor. Toghraie claims that his daughter had suffered a psychotic episode after having stopped taking her medication to treat her schizophrenia because she was concerned that she would harm her unborn child.

According to her father, Pastora was 14 weeks pregnant when she was arrested and lost her child in prison due to her self -inflicted injuries.

During the three days of Pastora, she was brought to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton in Colton on March 14th because she hung up a self -inflicted head injury on her cell door window. She later returned to prison that day and was observed the next morning by Dominguez, Szulc and Medical and Mental Health Personal in prison and made them believe that Pastora vomit. Dominguez suspected that, according to Bernal's decision, it was morning illness.

Prison officers also tried to carry out a rape kit and carry out a psychiatric evaluation in pastora, but said they were unsuccessful because they seemed to vomit. At 10:24 a.m. Szulc Pastora Food offered it, but refused. Thirteen minutes later she was discovered as she was lying down on her mattress with her face.

Her cause of death was listed as anoxic encephalopathy, since Pastora, according to Bernal's decision, disabled her respiratory tract with her hand.

“Assuming that there was a duty to protect Pastora with her own fist from suffocation, it does not seem that a defendant violated this obligation,” said Bernal. “The individual defendants noticed something with pastora, but Pastora received medical reviews, and even the medical civil servants rated pastora as vomiting and did not believe that she tried to suffocate with her fist.”

Bernal's discharge of the case was strike three for Toghraie. His lawsuit was first dismissed in December 2021 – four months after his submission. In March 2022 he submitted a changed lawsuit that was released about three months later. He then appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, which lifted the dismissal of some of the alleged actions and allowed Toghrraie to submit a third amended complaint on May 15, 2024, about which Bernal decided in November.

Toghraie, who now lives in Barcelona, ​​Spain, has been reaching by phone, but visits his mother in Southern California several times a year, said he was dissatisfied with Bernal's decision, but now it is time to continue.

“I was extremely disappointed with the verdict,” said Toghraie. “I fought this for four years. It takes a tribute to you. In a way, you just want to keep going and continue with your life. It is just so physically and emotionally exhausting. I just want my daughter to rest in peace, but I hate the result.”

He said that if there is something that can illustrate his case, it is the failures of the criminal justice and the carcinar system to ensure and protect mentally ill inmates.

“A problem with mental health does not mean that you shouldn't take care of you,” said Toghraie. “This country has a long way to take care of its mentally ill people.”

Originally published: May 4, 2025 at 7:00 a.m. PDT