On June 23, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Daniel Sisson, 21, appeared before a Vista Superior Court judge and was then taken to the Vista Detention Facility. Sisson, who had a history of drug possession convictions, was booked into custody at the Vista jail after 4 p.m. on June 23, 2011. At intake, he denied using street drugs, but had a history of detoxing in the jail. By 6 a.m. the following morning, he had vomited once, admitted he was detoxing, but appeared otherwise to not be in any distress. However, Sisson began to exhibit heroin withdrawal symptoms overnight and was treated for his symptoms by the jail medical staff at 6:31 a.m. on June 24. Sisson’s cellmate later reported that Sisson was throwing up all day long and not eating. Although Sisson allegedly said that he did not want to take Vistaril, which is commonly prescribed for heroin withdrawal, he was provided the medication. Vista medical staff also prescribed Tigan (an anti-nausea drug) and an albuterol “rescue” inhaler for asthma. Sisson then remained in his cell the rest of June 24, 2011. On the morning of June 25, 2011, Sisson had a medical appointment, but he declined the appointment via intercom. Under the county’s policy, the staff was not required to bring Sisson a form to fill out or check him out in order to assess him. At around 10 a.m., he presented to receive his medicine and was seen on the video wrapped in a blanket. A nurse did not take his vitals and allowed him to return to his cell. Sisson was found dead several hours later, in full rigor and cold. Both the San Diego County Deputy Medical Examiner and the plaintiff’s forensic pathology expert opined that Sisson died of an asthma attack between 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The decedent’s parents, Shaunda Brummett and Greg Sisson, sued the county of San Diego, Sheriff William Gore, and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department in regard to the actions of five of its employees. The decedent’s parents alleged that there was a deliberate indifference to the decedent’s medical needs by the jail’s staff and that their actions constituted violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. They also alleged that the defendants were negligent for failing to summon medical care, and in the supervision, training, hiring, and/or retention of the jail’s staff. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Daniel Sisson died from a mix of heroin withdrawal and asthma and that the county’s jail personnel should have attended to Sisson before he died, as they failed to follow their own policies when he declined his medical appointment. Thus, counsel argued that the county should have prevented Daniel Sisson’s wrongful death, which was caused by a condition pre-existing his incarceration. The plaintiff’s cardiopulmonology and asthma expert opined that it would take two to three hours for an individual to pass away from untreated asthma. Thus, the expert opined that the staff could have saved Sisson when they did hourly checks. A nurse testified that she did not specifically remember her encounter with Sisson when he presented to receive his medicine at around 10 a.m. on the morning of June 25, 2011, but that her customary practice was to ask every inmate provided prescribed medications how they were feeling and if they had any complaints, which would then be reported to the registered nursing staff for follow-up. A former inmate also testified that he saw Sisson alive in his cell at 4 p.m. Thus, defense counsel argued that Sisson died suddenly and unexpectedly of natural causes and that Sisson’s death was neither foreseeable nor caused by the acts, omissions or deliberate indifference of the county’s jail employees or official county policies, customs or practices., Daniel Sisson died from asthma asphyxiation. He was 21 years old. The decedent was survived by plaintiffs his parents, Shaunda Brummett and Greg Sisson, who sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of their son.