• The short answer is yes. The problem with holding and restraining someone on their stomach for an extended period of time is that it restricts their ability to breathe, especially if the person is deemed overweight and additional weight is pressed on their back. When this happens, the person’s oxygen saturation can rapidly decompensate and they will asphyxiate due their bodies’ inability to take in enough oxygen. To add insult to injury, frequently when a person dies after being held for long period of time in a prone position or after being in a chokehold, the county coroner will rarely attribute the primary cause of death to the officers. Often times, the officers/deputies involved in the use of force are employed by the same agency county as the medical examiners, and hence, you can see the clear conflict of interest between the County’s interest and the medical examiner who took a medical oath to truthfully investigate his findings. That is why it is crucial to take the deposition of the county medical examiner, once a lawsuit is filed, to elicit testimony that can even the playing field and demonstrate how much of a contributory factor were the officers’ use of force in causing a loved one’s death.