The City of Sacramento is paying $4.35 million to the family of an unarmed Black man who died after police officers restrained him, handcuffed and face down, in his parents’ living room with no suspicion of any crime. This matter was previously reported on in our last issue of FOCUS. Since then Walkup litigators Khaldoun Baghdadi and Joseph Nicholson brought the matter to conclusion on behalf of the family of Reginald “Reggie” Payne achieving what is believed to be the largest settlement for a death-in-custody case that Sacramento has ever paid.
Mr. Payne’s mother had called 911 because her son was experiencing a medical emergency due to low blood sugar. Five firefighters responded to the house and called for police assistance. The responding officers spent less than one minute attempting to communicate with Mr. Payne before initiating a “take down” that put him face down in the prone position with his legs in a figure four leg lock. Though no crime was suspected, Mr. Payne was handcuffed in this position creating the risk of sudden and unexpected death due to positional asphyxia.
Within a minute of being restrained, Reggie Payne can be heard on the police body-worn camera video shouting, “I can’t breathe!” In all, he was restrained prone for about seven minutes, sufficient time for the position to be lethal.
In addition to the individual officers and firefighters, the Payne lawsuit named the City of Sacramento as a defendant for its lack of policies and failure to train for medical-only calls.
This case reflects the growing national awareness of police violence, particularly against Black Americans and the dangers of prone restraints. The risk of positional asphyxia has been well documented and understood within police departments for decades but some departments, including several within California, refuse to train officers on the risks. It is hoped that this settlement which brought local, regional, and national attention to the Payne case will help establish a consensus that national restraint policies are needed.
