Wrongful death suit filed for man who died after being detained by Chula Vista police

The family of a man who died after being detained by Chula Vista police officers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, saying the officers’ use of force directly led to his death.

Oral Nunis, a 56-year-old Jamaican immigrant who owned a small trucking business near Stockton, died March 13 while visiting his daughter in Chula Vista.

During that visit, Nunis’ daughter called 911 for medical assistance because her father was acting strangely and threatened to harm himself. When officers arrived, they tried to place Nunis in handcuffs, but he was uncooperative. Officers then placed him in a WRAP restraining device. At some point Nunis became unresponsive in an ambulance. Paramedics tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Nunis family and Chula Vista police agree with that general description of events, based on the family’s complaint and public statements previously made by the city. However, both sides have told conflicting stories about exactly when Nunis became unresponsive.

Earlier this year, the Police Department issued a statement saying Nunis was, “alert and conscious when he was transferred to the paramedics.”

During a news conference Tuesday, Carl Douglas, the family’s lawyer, said Nunis became unresponsive right after officers pinned the 5-foot-4, 145-pound man to the ground.

“Is there really then any wonder that moments later, Oral Nunis Sr. was laying in the street and nonresponsive while his daughter was screaming in horror,” Douglas said.

During the same news conference, Douglas said the Police Department has not released details about what happened March 13. Part of the reason for filing the lawsuit is to force the city and department to share evidence, Douglas added. The suit was filed Tuesday.

The department sealed the Medical Examiner’s report. No body camera footage has been released to Douglas or the family, and the names of the officers involved have never been made public.

This lack of information has been especially hard on Nunis’ surviving wife and seven children.

“We are just asking for some types of answers in any way shape or form to understand what is going on,” said his wife, Roxie Nunis. “We just don’t understand.”

In response to questions about Tuesday’s news conference and the wrongful death lawsuit, Chula Vista issued the following statement:

“The City of Chula Vista understands and shares the public’s and the family’s desire to have all of their questions answered about this incident. However, it is premature and inappropriate to come to any conclusions at this time. The investigation is ongoing, and the true cause of death has not been determined by the Medical Examiner. Because of this, and now the threat of litigation, the City and the Police Department must refrain from commenting further beyond the statements already made. The City and Police Department continue to express our deepest condolences to the family and all of those touched by Mr. Nunis’ tragic passing.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune cannot independently verify whether the Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause and manner of death for an incident that occurred more than eight months ago.

Because the Police Department has sealed the case, the Medical Examiner’s Office can’t release any information about the autopsy, even its status, a spokeswoman said. The department has previously told the U-T that sealing autopsy reports is a standard practice that ensures the integrity of an investigation and maintains impartiality of witnesses.

Douglas made a name for himself as a lawyer in the 1990s by being part of O.J. Simpson’s legal team. He predominantly takes on police misconduct cases. He referred to Chula Vista’s police officers as, “trained killers,” multiple times during Tuesday’s news conference.

According to the lawsuit, officers failed to follow their training to deal with a person in mental distress. Instead of talking to the man, they used force, and that choice contributed to Nunis’ death.

“This lawsuit concerns the outrageous, careless, and unlawful use of deadly force by city officers, as well as their malicious effort to distort the true facts of their own misconduct,” the complaint states. “In addition, this case raises questions concerning the proper use of the ‘wrap,’ the latest in a line of law enforcement weaponry that directly led to Mr. Nunis’ death.”

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that officers, “negligently, carelessly, and mistakenly attempted to detain Mr. Nunis by pushing his small-framed body against the asphalt using their collective body weight.”

“The collective weight of the Defendants on Mr. Nunis’ chest and upper body was a substantial factor causing his heart to begin beating frantically as Mr. Nunis struggled to breathe. The Defendants’ collective weight pressing on Mr. Nunis’ body was a substantial factor causing his death,” the lawsuit states.

Douglas also said he believes there is a racial element to the case, which happened during a time of nationwide civil unrest prompted by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The lawsuit points out that Nunis was Black while all of the responding officers were non-Black. Douglas argues that because of the officers’ implicit bias, they assumed Nunis “presented a serious threat to someone’s safety, and then assaulted, battered and detained him.”

Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy has previously said her officers undergo rigorous training and, after the Floyd’s death, she had long conversations with many of them.

“In each and every case, I have been impressed by their unanimous condemnation of the offensive actions that took place in Minneapolis,” she wrote in a statement earlier this year.

“Neither the Chula Vista Police Department nor its officers tolerate unnecessary, inappropriate, or excessive force. My officers are trained and expected to intervene to prevent unprofessional acts, and are required to report misconduct immediately.”