Cities Sued Over Death of Man in Custody

The 9-year-old daughter of an Oxnard man who died while in police custody has filed a $13-million federal civil-rights lawsuit against the cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

The suit filed by attorneys for Latonya Carter claims that on May 6 police from both cities deprived her father, Ray Lee Carter, 41, of his civil rights and of necessary medical treatment, all under the color of their authority.

The girl, who lives in Washington state with her mother, Kathleen Howard, is seeking $10.5 million in punitive damages, and $2.5 million in compensatory damages, according to her attorney, Earnest Bell of Ventura. “Our position is that Mr. Carter was arrested, and while being arrested he was Maced, he was handcuffed, he had a heart attack, and the police did not give any medical attention for eight minutes,” Bell said.

According to Ventura County Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran, Carter’s death was caused by “arrhythmia/asphyxia while restrained due to cocaine toxicity.” Arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rate, the physician said, while asphyxia is a loss of consciousness as a result of too little oxygen in the blood.

“Mr. Carter had a toxic level of cocaine in his system,” O’Halloran said.

Bell concedes that medical attention might not have saved Carter; however, “our basic question is: Why did it take so long to get him medical attention?” he said.

In addition to the police chief in each city, the lawsuit names six police officers as defendants.

Alan Wisotsky, the attorney representing Oxnard and Port Hueneme, defended the officers’ actions.

“The time frame from when Wilcox was encountered until the time he was found to be not breathing was probably not more than five minutes,” Wisotsky said. “He expired and it just happened to be while he was in temporary custody of the police.”