Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 10/23/2009

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Terry Menshek - (707) 565-3098 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

NO CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN JAIL DEATH

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that the legal review of the death of jail inmate Ryan Kelsey George, 25, has been completed. The cause of death was determined to be sickle cell anemia. Mr. George’s death was not caused by criminal negligence and no criminal charges will be filed in this matter.

On July 9, 2007, at approximately 6:02 a.m., jail staff found Inmate George unresponsive in his cell. Immediate emergency resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and Mr. George was pronounced dead at 6:17 a.m. The Sheriff’s Office invoked the Sonoma County Law Enforcement Employee-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office designated as the lead investigative agency. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office also responded. The District Attorney’s role in these investigations is to determine whether there is any criminal liability involved in the fatality. After a careful review of the evidence and the totality of the circumstances, this office has concluded there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any person, including staff from the Sheriff’s Department, the California Forensic Medical Group, or Sutter Hospital Medical, was criminally negligent in their care for Mr. George.

District Attorney Passalacqua stated, “Ryan George suffered from a serious and debilitating disease at the time of his death. While his death is a sad and unfortunate event, it was not the result of criminal negligence on the part of jail staff or medical personnel. Our hearts go out to his surviving family members.”

Mr. George had begun serving a ten month jail sentence on May 31, 2007, resulting from his felony conviction for domestic battery. On June 28th, George reported that he had sickle cell anemia. The next day he was seen by a doctor, who placed him on medication and gave directions for his care and observation to staff. On the morning of July 1st, George was transported by ambulance to Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa where he remained and was treated until July 3, 2007. On July 3, 2007, George was discharged from Sutter. Before George’s discharge, the attending physician spoke to the jail doctor, informing him that an extensive work up had been performed and they could find nothing wrong with the decedent. Decedent was returned to the jail that same day. During the following days, jail and medical staff continued close monitoring, evaluation and care of Mr. George. On the morning of July 9th, a registered nurse and a corrections officer, who were bringing Mr. George’s medication, found him unresponsive. Emergency efforts failed to resuscitate him.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Ikechi O. Ogan, M.D., performed the autopsy. He determined decedent’s cause of death to be acute sickle cell anemia vaso-occlusive and hemolytic “crisis” and attributed this condition to complications of sickle cell thalassemia disease. He further found that a significant contributing factor was severe dehydration. Dr. Ogan noted that decedent’s gastrointestinal system was virtually empty and decedent was severely anemic. Dr. Ogan stated: “it is likely that early diagnosis of this relatively common disease, with rapid therapy (including vigorous re-hydration, adequate analgesia and blood transfusions) may have prevented this death.”

Based on the complexity of the medical issues involved in this case, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office researched, sought out and retained Dr. R. Ward Hagar, Director of the Adult Sickle Cell Program at Children’s Hospital and Research Center at Oakland in July of 2008, to assist in evaluating the medical evidence.

In this case, the question was whether any person was criminally negligent in their care of the decedent and whether any such negligence caused decedent’s death. A person is criminally negligent when acting so recklessly as to create a high risk of death or great bodily injury and a reasonable ordinary person would have known acting that way would create such a risk. Doctors are held to a higher standard, requiring they exercise a reasonable degree of knowledge and skill ordinarily exercised by other members of their profession in similar circumstances. Criminal charges are filed when prosecutors believe there is sufficient admissible evidence that would allow a reasonably objective jury to find the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, even considering all reasonable defenses.

In making our determination that no person was criminally negligent, we relied on the expert opinion of the independent expert, Dr. Hagar, who thoroughly reviewed all the reports and medical records in this matter. Evidence showed that jail staff continuously checked on the decedent in his cell, attempted to provide food and water, and assisted Mr. George in his movements, showers, and daily living. Evidence further showed that in the medical handling of decedent by California Forensic Medical Group from the time of decedent’s return from Sutter to the time of his death, the staff checked decedent’s condition, including his vital signs. They communicated with him, encouraged him to eat and drink, gave him periodic showers, and obtained a doctor’s evaluation. They relied heavily on the full evaluation by Sutter Medical Center and determined that nothing at the jail triggered an immediate need for re-evaluation. Under all the circumstances, the conduct and reliance upon the prior evaluation was objectively reasonable. Finally, the medical reports documenting the doctors’ care, consultations, testing, and course of treatment at Sutter Medical Center were carefully reviewed. According to the independent expert retained, those evaluations done at Sutter were thorough and objectively reasonable under the professional standard of care provided for under the law.