The family of Edward Bronstein, who died as seven California Highway Patrol officers piled on top of him as a paramedic drew his blood during a stop at their Altadena station in March 2020, secured the largest civil rights settlement in state history this week, with California agreeing to pay them $24 million.
Attorneys for Bronstein’s father, his partner of 20 years and his five children said the record-setting amount was second only to the settlement the state of Minnesota agreed to in the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man whose violent death at the hands of police led to worldwide protests.
The settlement amount in the Bronstein case would send a message to police and state officials that there are consequences for the deaths of people in their custody, the lawyers said.
What the money won’t do, family members said, is bring Bronstein, 38, of Burbank, back to life.
The settlement will not mean his five children ever get to see their father again. And that pain will stay with them forever, family said Wednesday.
“They just want to feel normal,” said Bronstein’s partner, Aundrea, outside the U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles this week. “They’ll never feel normal again.”
Two of Bronstein’s children are adults. Aundrea — who declined to give her last name, saying she wanted to give her kids as much privacy as possible — takes care of the younger three.
She said Bronstein’s absence in their lives ensures they continue to struggle.
Her 17-year-old daughter, who recently passed her driver’s test and is now licensed to drive, continues to be terrified of being pulled over, she said.
“I tell her over and over, ‘It’s going to be OK,’” Aundrea said. “But she has trauma from this.”
She said she’s worried about her 16-year-old son, who is in high school now. He no longer has a male presence in his life to guide him, she said.
“The kids struggle,” Aundrea aid. “They struggle with school, they struggle with life.”
Aundrea, her face nearly hidden between her blonde hair and large sunglasses, spoke briefly and quietly into the microphones arrayed before her. She appeared visibly uncomfortable with the spotlight. But she was clear about what she wanted to see happen to the CHP officers accused of killing her partner.
“Justice will be served,” she said, barely audible over the sounds of mid-morning downtown traffic, “…when the people responsible for taking his life are held accountable for what they did.”
Earlier this year, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón charged the seven officers and the registered nurse who took Bronstein’s blood with one count each of involuntary manslaughter. Each officer was also charged with one count each of assault by an officer.
The stop began when CHP officers pulled Bronstein over on the 5 freeway for a suspected DUI. The officers found he was not over the legal limit for alcohol to drive, so they took him back to the Altadena station, where they sat him down on a mat in the parking lot.
Surrounded by officers, Bronstein at first would not consent to having his blood drawn to detect whether there were any drugs in his system.
But he did eventually consent to the blood test, Gascón’s office said.
Video of the stop, taken by a CHP supervisor, shows what happened.
“I’m not fighting it at all,” said Bronstein as he was being held down on the mat.
“Then have a seat and provide your arm,” an officer said. “This is your last opportunity. Otherwise you’re going face down on the mat, and we’re gonna keep on going.”
“I just need a minute, OK? Please?” Bronstein, out of breath, said.
With those words, the officers flipped Bronstein over and more piled on top of him as he shrieked and squirmed. Amid the tumult, Bronstein can be heard shrieking: “I’ll do it willingly!”
Eric Dubin, an attorney for the family, said the video of the incident directly led to the massive settlement amount.
“The video speaks for itself,” Dubin said. “It’s horrific — he was passive, he wasn’t violent. He wasn’t resisting.”
Dubin repeatedly drew comparisons to the killing of Floyd. Bronstein died just two months before Floyd did. They spoke the same words, Dubin said: “I can’t breathe.”
He said the family’s legal team argued Bronstein died from “positional asphyxia.” In other words, he could not breathe adequately as the officers laid on top of him.
Annee Della Donna, another family attorney, estimated Bronstein had at least 1,200 pounds of pressure weighing down on him from the officers. She said officers should recognize that dogpiling someone or restricting their airflow can kill.
“When they put their badge on, they take an oath to protect life,” she said. “When you hear someone say, ‘I can’t breathe,’ get your knee off their neck.”
In 2020, responding to the killing of Floyd, the California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 1196, which bans police from using “a carotid restraint or a choke hold” while attempting to restrain people.
Della Donna said she did not know whether the CHP has changed their training to reflect that bill. The CHP did not respond to a request for comment about how the agency is complying with A.B. 1196.
The CHP “continues to respect the judicial process, and we are unable to provide further comment due to the ongoing criminal proceedings,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
After the press conference, Audrea said she is still struggling to believe the position her family has been thrust into since the death of her longtime partner.
“I have to stop and look around and think, ‘this is really happening,’” she said. “This is really happening to us.”
Source: Orange County Register
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