OAKLAND — Alameda County’s top prosecutor on Thursday dropped charges against six current and former Alameda County sheriff’s deputies and two medical clinicians in the death of Maurice Monk, who died in his Santa Rita Jail cell in 2021.
District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson decided to drop the charges nine months after her predecessor — former civil rights attorney Pamela Price — filed the case in a bombshell announcement just days after the November 2024 election, during which Price was recalled from office.
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Speaking in court Thursday, prosecutor Mark Bennett said that charges against most of the people charged by Price “cannot be supported by the evidence.” He added that the announcement was not meant to signal that people involved in his death were “free from fault or mistake,” but said his office couldn’t prove the cases against them in court.
Bennett added that Jones Dickson’s office would continue to “vigorously pursue justice” in Monk’s death.
As Bennett spoke in court, a man yelled out “jail those killer cops.” The man — who had spent the morning protesting the expected decision outside the courthouse, beside others who held a sign reading “Justice for Maurice Monk” — was swiftly thrown out of the courtroom.
Those whose cases were dropped Thursday included Alameda County sheriff’s deputies Ross Burruel, Andre Gaston, Syear Osmani, Mateusz Laszuk and Christopher Haendel, as well as former deputy Troy White, WellPath nurse David E. Donoho and Alameda County Behavioral Health clinician Dr. Neal Edwards.
Still charged are Alameda County sheriff’s deputies Donall Rowe and Robinderpal Hayer, as well as former deputy Thomas Mowrer.
All of the defendants faced a single felony count of elder or dependent adult abuse. White, Osmani and Hayer also were charged with one felony count of falsifying documents.
After the hearing, Monk’s sister said she felt “disgusted,” both by the decision, as well as the number of other sheriff’s deputies who appeared in court to support the deputies who had been charged. Among the people in attendance Thursday was sheriff’s Capt. Ray Kelly, who oversees Santa Rita Jail operations.
“For them to only go after three people, and to watch them in court today, is really disgusting,” Elvira Monk said. “I wish there would have been more done. I’m blessed there are three people being charged, but I wish there was more.”
An attorney for Haendel hailed the move by Jones Dickson’s office as “the right decision” — framing the original charges as a poorly contrived attempt by Price to score points with police critics in Alameda County.
“Pamela Price chose to ignore very important evidence,” said the attorney, Michael Rains. “She did so, so she could obtain a great publicity splash. That’s not the duty of the district attorney.”
Attorneys for Rose, Mowrer and Hayer declined to comment immediately after Thursday’s hearing.
Monk, 45, was declared dead on Nov. 15, 2021, after languishing for days while he lay facedown in his Dublin jail cell, a pool of brown liquid oozing from beneath his body. His family later sued Alameda County and received a $7 million settlement along with assurances that the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office would implement new training for its deputies.
Monk had been held in Santa Rita Jail on $2,500 bail on a misdemeanor charge of threatening a bus driver after an argument over whether Monk should wear a face mask on the bus, court records show.
Throughout his month-long stay — and particularly over the last several days of his life — jail security footage and records showed deputies and jail staff doing little to care for Monk, such as checking on his vital signs or ensuring he received needed medications, according to his family’s lawsuit. Deputies repeatedly walked by him in the days before he was declared dead, with some wondering aloud “is (Monk) awake? Is he alive?,” the lawsuit claimed.
Barely a week after the November 2024 election — in the span between when voters cast their ballots to recall Price, and her last official day in early December — Price made the bombshell announcement that she would charge 11 people in Monk’s death.
Reached Thursday morning, Price decried her successor’s decision, saying “Welcome to Trump’s America.”
“Alameda County no longer has police accountability,” Price said, adding that the decision was to be expected after several police unions contributed to political campaigns to recall her. “The police unions prevailed … Now they have the DA that they want.”