Blue Earth County prosecutors will not pursue charges against the officers involved in a confrontation with a man who was found unconscious in the entryway of the downtown Mankato Hy-Vee and later died.
Documentation for that decision was included in an investigative report released this week by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which had been investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of 26-year-old Andrew Layton of North Mankato.
The report provides hundreds of pages of witness accounts, most of which describe a brutal encounter between several police officers and a man who refused to comply with repeated demands that he cooperate. The report also includes a toxicology report that shows Layton -- contrary to one witness' allegation -- did not have methamphetamine in his system. His blood, however, did measure at .143, nearly twice the legal limit to drive.
Layton was found passed out in the entryway of the Hy-Vee supermarket in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. When police arrived, he became combative. It ultimately took several officers, two stun-gun shots and leg restraints to subdue him. He was taken by ambulance to the Blue Earth County Jail where he was determined to be unresponsive and without a pulse. After resuscitation, he was hospitalized and died several days later.
"I have reviewed the video and audio materials, photographs and reports that you have submitted regarding the matter," Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Pat McDermott writes. "In my opinion, probable cause does not exist to justify criminal prosecution. ... A review of the investigative materials reveals that the use of force as defined by law was not unreasonable under the circumstances."
In the days that followed Layton's death, his family questioned why their loved one died after an encounter with police. The investigative report shows police struggled mightily with Layton. At one point a Hy-Vee manager and a cab driver were enlisted to help subdue him until more help arrived.
One witness suggested Layton may have been using methamphetamine the night of the incident. But Butch Huston, a medical examiner with Ramsey County, said nothing in any testing they did showed the presence of illicit drugs.
Instead, the actual cause of death is listed as "acute pneumonia due to probable excited delirium." Huston said this condition -- characterized by hallucinations, agitation, speech disturbances and disorientation -- is typically associated with illicit drug use. But that is inconsistent with what lab results found.
A drug screen at the hospital tested positive for amphetamine, which is not the same as methamphetamine. Huston said that substance could show up in a person's blood because of certain prescription drugs, but he said there is no way to tell exactly what prompted the positive result in that initial test. He said it is possible, although unlikely, that previous methamphetamine use resulted in the drug breaking down in his system to amphetamine.
On the night of the incident, a host of officers responded, including one who used her Tazer on Layton twice to no effect, and then retrieved so-called "hobble straps" from her squad and used them on Layton. A cab driver, who made the original 911 call, as well as the on-duty manager at Hy-Vee were enlisted to sit on Layton's legs until more police help arrived. When more officers arrived, the cab driver and grocery manager stepped aside.
Layton's combativeness prompted police to summon an ambulance for transport to the jail. Because he was extremely agitated, the commander on duty, Craig Frericks, directed an officer to ask the Gold Cross Ambulance crew if they thought Layton should be taken to the hospital for evaluation. But the Gold Cross crew reportedly said Layton was too combative for the hospital and that it would be better to take him to the jail.
Police and paramedics strapped him to a gurney for the ride to the jail. Along the way, police said, Layton's pulse registered normal. He also had a pulse when they pulled into the jail complex. But when they wheeled him into the jail, Layton appeared to not be breathing. They checked his pulse again and found his heart had stopped.
Parademics and police administered CPR for 15-20 minutes and managed to get his heart going. At that point, he was transported to the hospital. He died three days later.
Copyright 2013 - The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
