The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday it was making video and audio recordings, as well as other evidence, available to the public as part of a recently filed summary judgment request in the wrongful death lawsuit of a Ukiah man brought against the county by his brother. Steven Kellog Neuroth died from cardiac arrest on June 11, 2014 after being taken to Mendocino County jail following an arrest by a Willits Police officer on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Sheriff Tom Allman said Friday this is the first chance for county officials to tell a U.S. District Court exactly what happened, adding that a federal judge stated county law enforcement must agree to publicly release the evidence before he could review the materials. On June 1, federal court Judge Richard Seeborg denied both county and City of Willits motions to seal off certain evidence. The previously confidential documents include a death report, a toxicology report, the autopsy report and expert witness reports and combined audio and video footage of the incident recorded by the Willits Police Department and the county.

A review of the incident was conducted by District Attorney David Eyster in August 2015 in which he found Willits Police and the sheriff’s correctional officers were not to blame for Neuroth’s in-custody death.

“While physical force was necessary to overcome Mr. Neuroth’s resistance, my review of the available evidence leads me to conclude that only that force necessary to reasonably overcome the inmates’s resistance was employed,” Eyster wrote in a letter dated July 27, 2015 addressed to Allman.

Allman said he was concerned about potentially tainting the jury pool, if the case goes to trial.

“I certainly have been concerned about releasing the CAV (combined audio-video file) based on the ruling from the court,” he said.

The Sheriff also made the case that jail staff and law enforcement officials had acted properly and followed training and protocols to handle the situation, including initiating a suicide prevention protocol when Neuroth made a statement referencing the possibility of taking his own life as he pulled away from deputies yelling and ranting nonsense.

“Jail staff can’t just walk away from a combative inmate,” said Allman as he went into great detail regarding Neuroth’s arrest, the actions of the jail staff during the night in question and Neuroth’s subsequent death, which he said occurred on his way to Ukiah Valley Medical Center.

According to Allman’s retelling of the forensic pathologist’s findings, Dr. Jay Chapman concluded that Neuroth’s death was due to a huge amount of methamphetamine in his system, a lethal dose of approximately 1,100 nanograms.

Allman said although the plaintiff is arguing sheriff’s deputies pressed their own weight while trying to restrain the agitated inmate, the coroner found that did not play a part in his death.

In his declaration given to the court, dated Aug. 2, 2018, Chapman stated as part of his investigation process, he also reviewed records and reports provided by the coroner’s office, including but not limited to Neuroth’s medical history files, his jail medical files, and the jail surveillance videos.

“Based on my review, the manner in which Mr. Neuroth was restrained should not be expected to cause asphyxia, especially given the physical size of Mr. Neuroth and body positions of the deputies,” he said.

In regards to accusations that the county was insensitive to Neuroth’s mental health, in a 26 day period before his death, the county had evaluated him three times according to Allman, to see if he qualified for a 5150 hold.

A 5150 refers to the state Welfare and Institutions code for a when a person, as a result of mental health disorder, is considered a danger to himself or herself or others.

Allman said county workers clearly determined his conduct was not due to mental health but because he was high on meth. He added jail staff did what they could to control a meth induced and highly unpredictable inmate while trying to remove his restraints and clothes as he was being taken to a holding cell.

He added that new procedures since the incident have been put in place including new written policies, the implementation of system for quicker assessment of inmates, and a requirement for a contracted registered nurse to be at the jail 24/7.