A federal judge has determined that two San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies were not culpable in the death of a suicidal schizophrenic woman who died after she suffocated herself at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.
In a ruling Nov. 25 that was disclosed last week by the Sheriff’s Department, U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal dismissed, with prejudice, a wrongful death lawsuit filed initially in August 2021 in Riverside by the father of 24-year-old Chino Hills resident Cassandra Pastora.
Bernal concluded that Deputies Ariel Szulc and Christina Dominguez adhered to proper procedures in the care and monitoring of Pastora, who was declared brain dead and removed from a ventilator on March 22, 2021, at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana.
Dominguez discovered Pastora lying face-down on her mattress in her cell at 10:37 a.m. on March 15, 2021, her fist in her mouth, which Pastora used to try to suffocate herself, according to Bernal’s ruling. A jail nurse managed to resuscitate Pastora and get a pulse, and she was taken to Kaiser Fontana, where she died a week later.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Bernal’s ruling on April 30, saying it was satisfied with the court’s decision and insisted that, in this case, it “acted promptly, followed established protocols, and provided immediate access to medical and mental health services.”
“The loss of a life is always devastating, no matter the circumstances. However, I feel it is important that we keep the public informed of the outcome of these lawsuits so they know the original one-sided story presented by some media outlets doesn’t always include all the facts,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a statement Friday.
“It seems only the lawsuits that are lost by the department are the ones publicized and rarely do the ones that are won get reported on. It is my priority to minimize any taxpayer funds being spent on lawsuits that have no basis of wrongdoing on behalf of the department.”
Pastora’s father, Saeed “Sam” Toghraie, alleged in his lawsuit civil rights violations, including inadequate conditions of confinement and denial of needed medical care for his daughter, who was pregnant. He named former Sheriff John McMahon, Dicus and Capt. Victor Moreno as the main defendants. Dominguez and Szulc also were named as defendants, according to Bernal’s ruling.
Pastora was arrested at the Whistler Court home she shared with her father and booked into the jail on March 13, 2021, after her father called 911 reporting his daughter had attacked him and a neighbor. Toghraie claims his daughter suffered a psychotic episode after she stopped taking her medication to treat her schizophrenia because she was concerned it would harm her unborn child.
Pastora, according to her father, was 14 weeks’ pregnant when she was arrested, and lost her child due to her self-inflicted injuries while at the jail.
During the three days Pastora was at the jail, she was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton on March 14 due to a self-inflicted head injury from banging her head on her cell door window. She returned to the jail later that day, and the following morning was observed by Dominguez, Szulc, and medical and mental health staff at the jail making sounds that led them to believe Pastora was vomiting. Dominguez suspected it was morning sickness, according to Bernal’s ruling.
Jail officials also tried doing a rape kit and conducting a psychiatric assessment on Pastora, but said they were unsuccessful because she appeared to be vomiting. At 10:24 a.m., Szulc offered Pastora food, but she refused it. Thirteen minutes later, she was discovered lying face down on her mattress.
Her cause of death was listed as anoxic encephalopathy due to Pastora obstructing her airway with her hand, according to Bernal’s ruling.
“Assuming there was a duty to protect Pastora against suffocating herself with her own fist, it does not appear that any defendant breached that duty,” Bernal said. “The individual defendants noticed something off with Pastora, but Pastora received medical assessments and even the medical officials assessed Pastora as vomiting and did not think she was attempting to suffocate herself with her fist.”
Bernal’s dismissal of the case was strike three for Toghraie. His lawsuit was first dismissed in December 2021 — four months after he filed it. He filed an amended lawsuit in March 2022, which was dismissed about three months later. He then appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, which reversed the dismissal on some of the alleged actions, allowing Toghraie to file a third amended complaint on May 15, 2024, which Bernal ruled on in November.
Reached by telephone Friday, Toghraie, who now resides in Barcelona, Spain, but visits his mother in Southern California several times a year, said he was unhappy with Bernal’s decision, but said it is now time to move on.
“I was extremely disappointed in the ruling,” Toghraie said. “I fought this for four years. It takes such a toll on you. In some ways, you just want to move on and get on with your life. It’s just so physically and emotionally draining. I just want my daughter to rest in peace, but I hate the outcome.”
He said if there is anything his case can illustrate, it is the failures of the criminal justice and carceral systems to care for and protect mentally ill inmates.
“Having a mental health issue does not mean they shouldn’t take care of you,” Toghraie said. “This country has a long way to go as to taking care of its mentally ill people.”
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