Bakersfield Californian 2013/05/23: Sheriff sees only perfection in Silva case

Great opinion piece by the Bakersfield Californian's writers ...

I can't do this justice by quoting a few lines. Please go to their site & read the entire editorial.

Bakersfield Californian (5/23/2013): Sheriff sees only perfection in Silva case

As accidental deaths go, David Sal Silva's is one of the most unusual you'll ever hear about. Hog-tied, beaten with batons and held down by as many as nine sheriff's deputies and CHP officers, Silva, in a startling coincidence of tragic timing, died suddenly of chronic hypertension.​

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That's right: Silva's May 8 death has officially been classified as accidental.​

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As stunning a revelation as that might be, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, speaking at a Thursday afternoon news conference about the in-custody death that made national headlines, delivered a statement that truly takes us aback:​

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The Silva case is the clearest example yet of why the Sheriff's Office does not need an incident review panel that includes ordinary citizens. ​

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Everyone was at fault here except law enforcement ... In other words, Youngblood gave no ground. Criticisms of his department were completely and utterly without merit. News conference adjourned ​

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... surely a review panel with two or three citizen members would see it, too -- and the public would be at least somewhat more comfortable with a case that has so many red flags it looks like a Soviet May Day parade. ​

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