Judge tosses wrongful death suit from parents of police recruit who died in training

A federal magistrate judge dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against San Francisco brought by the parents of Jon-Marques Psalms, a 30-year-old police recruit who collapsed and died after a high-intensity training exercise last year. Judge Laurel Beeler said qualified immunity and pleading deficiencies doomed the current complaint, but gave the parents until September 17 to amend it.

The parents alleged supervisors failed to monitor recruits' vital signs, ensure hydration, or use electronic monitoring during the so-called red man drill, in which a recruit fights an instructor in a padded suit. The judge found the complaint described omissions rather than the affirmative government conduct required to sustain the claims, and that the parents hadn't shown officials knew Psalms was at risk.

The court also found it lacks jurisdiction over the accompanying state negligence and battery claims. Neither party immediately commented on the ruling.

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