On April 28, 2010, plaintiff’s decedent Clifford Detty, 46, a diagnosed schizophrenic who was homeless, was contacted by the Santa Maria Police Department. It had been reported that Detty was disturbing the public by being aggressive and yelling at people at a number of businesses in Santa Maria. As a result, Officers arrived in the Ross Dress for Less parking lot and contacted Detty, who was known to many officers from numerous contacts over the years. Based on the circumstances and Detty’s actions, the officers suspected that Detty was experiencing a mental health problem, and requested that Crisis and Recovery Emergency Services respond to the scene and evaluate Detty. At about 2:50 p.m., CARES personnel responded to the scene, evaluated Detty, and noted that he appeared highly agitated and confrontational. It was noted that Detty took off his shirt and shoes, his speech was disorganized, he reported hearing voices, he urinated and he spoke of “jerking off”. Upon the completion of the CARES evaluation, Detty was detained for a 5150 Welfare and Institutions evaluation. An ambulance was requested to respond to the scene for transport of Detty to Marian Medical Center for a medical clearance prior to Detty being placed in Psychiatric Health Facility, which was owned by the county and operated by the Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services. It was determined that the safest way to transport Detty was with him restrained in a four-point restraint system in the ambulance. Detty was un-cuffed and cooperated while the wrist restraints were put on, but as the foot restraints were being put on, he started kicking and he continued to yell and make derogatory remarks. However, Detty was successfully placed into the restraint system. During the ambulance ride to the emergency room at Marian Medical Center, Detty thrashed around as much as the restraint would allow and the ambulance workers advised the emergency room personnel of Detty’s combativeness. Once they arrived at the emergency room and were greeted by E.R. staff and a security officer, Detty’s vital signs were taken by Marian Medical Center staff. After he was admitted to the E.R., Detty was released from the restraints and transferred to the hospital restraint system, during which Detty cooperated with the hospital staff, but continued yelling and screaming. During the E.R. staff’s evaluation of Detty, the patient was noted to be profoundly agitated to the point of being combative, yelling and physically requiring restraints. It was also reported that Detty was claiming to be hearing voices. Detty had a previous medical history at the E.R. for paranoid schizophrenia, agitation and drug abuse. He was also known to be non-compliant with medications. Thus, upon evaluation by the E.R. staff, Detty was found to be agitated, suffering from acute psychosis, with a history of paranoid schizophrenia. Detty was then transported by ambulance from Marian Medical Center to Psychiatric Health Facility, during which his vital signs were taken three more times during the one-hour ambulance ride. When he arrived at Psychiatric Health Facility during the night shift, present were a licensed psychiatric technician, Erma Gomes, a registered nurse and unit supervisor, Moira O’Connor, a licensed vocational nurse, Alex Romano, and a registered nurse, Reyante Enrigquez Bugay. One of the nurses assigned to Detty’s admission to Psychiatric Health Facility reviewed Marian Medical Center’s records, which noted Detty’s medication administration while at the medical center, and the nurse noted that Detty was very agitated, delusional and aggressive upon admission. Detty was also noted as testing positive for amphetamines and negative for other substances, including alcohol. Detty was then officially admitted to Psychiatric Health Facility at about 9:45 p.m. Noting Detty’s aggressiveness, one of the nurses contacted the on-call physician for Psychiatric Health Facility, Charles Nicholson, M.D., who telephonically ordered seclusion and restraint, one-to-one continuous monitoring by audio and video, and an intramuscular injection of 10-milligrams of Zyprexa. Detty was then placed in a seclusion room and restrained with soft leather restraints. After approximately two hours, the nurse contacted Nicholson again, noting that the Zyprexa seemed to have no effect on Detty, and Nicholson ordered another intramuscular injection of 10-milligrams of Zyprexa and 2-milligrams of Ativan. After the second dose of medication, Detty began a cycle of pulling against the restraints and screaming for five minutes, and then he would relax and “snore” for about 30 seconds. After the relax-period, Detty would resume yelling and pulling against the restraints. At 1:00 a.m., one of the facility’s staff noted on the observation log that Detty was on the bed, pulling on the restraints. At 1:13 a.m. a staff member monitoring the video system noticed that Detty had stopped pulling against the restraints and that Detty could no longer be heard snoring. As a result, staff members went to Detty and noted that he was unresponsive and not breathing. They then notified deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department that Detty had been at Psychiatric Health Facility for about three hours and that he had tested positive for amphetamines during the medical clearance examination. Detty was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m. on April 29, 2010, while in the Psychiatric Health Facility unit at 315 Camino del Remedio in Santa Barbara. The cause of death listed by the county coroner’s office was acute methamphetamine intoxication. The decedent’s father, Richard Detty, sued the county of Santa Barbara; Psychiatric Health Facility; Dr. Nicholson; nurses O’Connor, Romano and Bugay; licensed psychiatric technicians Gomes and Carol Smith; the director of the Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services, Ann Detrick; and the medical director of the Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services, Edwin Feliciano. The decedent’s father alleged that the defendants negligently restrained his son in violation of his son’s civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. He also alleged that the health personnel failed to appropriately monitor his son while he was under the control of the county and Psychiatric Health Facility, resulting in his son’s wrongful death. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Nicholson failed to first conduct a proper review of the decedent’s chart. Counsel also contended that Nicholson and the Psychiatric Health Facility staff ignored the fact that the lab results from Marian Medical Center revealed that the decedent tested positive for methamphetamine, thereby placing him at a high risk while being placed in restraints on his wrists, ankles and chest. Counsel further contended that the defendants failed to continually monitor the decedent, visually, through the closed-circuit television and through audio monitoring. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel contended that the defendants failed to physically check on Detty. Defense counsel contended that the Psychiatric Health Facility staff based their care decisions on accepted medical judgment, practice and/or standards. Counsel also contended that the staff at Psychiatric Health Facility did not cause the decedent’s death. Thus, defense counsel contended that the staff were not negligent and did not violate the decedent’s, or his father’s, Fourteenth Amendment rights., Clifford Detty died at 1:45 a.m., on April 29, 2010. The cause of death was listed as acute methamphetamine intoxication. He was 46 years old. The decedent’s father sought recovery of damages for the alleged violations of his son’s civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. He also sought recovery of wrongful death damages.