George v. County of Sonoma, et al.

Case Name: George v. County of Sonoma, et al.

Case Type: Public Interest Litigation

Filed in: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Case No.: 3:08-cv-02675-EDL

In May 2008, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of Ryan George, an inmate at the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility. The Complaint alleged that Mr. George died in custody after jail and county medical personnel failed to give him the urgent medical attention he needed during a sickle cell anemia “crisis.” Plaintiffs sought compensatory and punitive damages for violations of the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

The Complaint alleged that while the jail was aware that Mr. George suffered from sickle cell anemia via a pre-booking health screening, jail and county medical officials demonstrated an egregious lack of care for Mr. George’s well-being during an 11-day period between the onset of his crisis and his death, continuing to treat him primarily for an “altered mental status” after his admission to a county hospital, instead of for the severe sickle cell crisis at the root of his symptoms. According to the Complaint, Mr. George’s family was prevented from communicating with him during his medical crisis, and he was returned to the Detention Center, where he died alone and unattended in his jail cell. 

The case was resolved in 2011.