Bakersfield Californian 2013/05/23: Attorneys rebut sheriff's findings, criticisms

Bakersfield Californian (5/23/2013): Attorneys rebut sheriff's findings, criticisms

Attorneys for the family of David Sal Silva and for the witnesses to his violent encounter with sheriff's deputies reacted with incredulity and outrage to the sheriff's statements Thursday ... "They're trying to say he died of natural causes," Cohn said. "Who would believe that?" Cohn said he is sending a copy of the autopsy to an out-of-state expert, someone who can comb through it and come back with an independent analysis.​

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Bakersfield attorney Daniel Rodriguez, who is representing several people who witnessed the confrontation between deputies and Silva -- including two whose cell phones were confiscated May 8 -- said the sheriff's opinion of whether any witnesses like or dislike, trust or distrust, law enforcement is irrelevant ... "The sheriff's department still doesn't get it," Rodriguez said. "Do deputies have the right to take our private property, to hold us hostage in our homes without a warrant? The answer is no."​