Marshall Miles’ family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging the deputies who subdued the Sacramento man inside the county’s jail last October ignored his cries that he could not breathe, suffocated Miles until he lost consciousness then left him to lay face down and alone in his cell before seeking help.
Three days later, on Nov. 1, Miles was pronounced dead at a Sacramento hospital. He was 36.
The hours that led to Miles’ death days after his arrest on vandalism and intoxication charges after a bizarre episode October in the parking lot of a North Highlands gas station are at the heart of the family’s legal action against Sacramento County and Sheriff Scott Jones.
As Miles’ family and their legal counsel gathered at Sacramento County Main Jail on Tuesday for a news conference to detail their claims, the 18-page civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit filed late Monday in Sacramento federal court brought the allegations into focus: a “course of conduct” by law enforcement that led to Miles’ sudden death.