The City of Dallas has filed an appeal in a court ruling against four Dallas police officers who allegedly caused the death of Tony Timpa, a man with schizophrenia and died while in police custody.
Fox 4 News reports the appeal comes as the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on December 15 that the officers did violate Timpa’s Constitutional rights and can stand trial for his death. An earlier ruling in July 2020 said the officers would be protected by qualified immunity.
Kevin Mansell, Danny Vasquez, Dustin Dillard, and Raymond Dominguez all face charges in the 2016 death of Timpa, who called 911 to report he needed help and that he was off his schizophrenia medications and under the influence of cocaine.
The police, who were responding to a Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) situation at the time of the incident, restrained Timpa with handcuffs and a zip tie around his ankles. One officer knelt on Timpa’s back for fourteen minutes, even though he became non-resistant after nine minutes.
The autopsy report said Timpa died of physiological stress exacerbated by the toxic effects of cocaine and physical restraint.
The Dallas Morning News reports attorneys for the city of Dallas say within their appeal that the case “involves matters of exceptional importance.” It cites the changes the department has made in policy and procedures pertaining to prone restraints. They also argue that the officers’ actions weren’t unconstitutional, and previous rulings have called for the officers to have qualified immunity.
Three of the officers, Mansell, Vasquez, and Dillard, were indicted on misdemeanor deadly conduct charges; however, the charges were later dropped by District Attorney John Creuzot.
It’s uncertain when a decision on the appeal will be made.
