Raul Pinet, Jr.
/ file photo
SYRACUSE --
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick announced the findings of the grand jury report on the death of Raul Pinet, Jr.
Fitzpatrick says no deputies were indicted in the case, but the grand jury report did suggest changes on how deputies handle inmates in jail.
The Onondaga County Sheriff's Department has been blamed for the death of Pinet, 31, who died at the Onondaga County Justice Center on August 6, 2010.
In April, the state Commission of Correction determined that officers knelt on Raul Pinet Jr.'s neck and chest and improperly fit him with a mask to control his spitting, causing him to suffocate. The commission also found authorities failed to act quickly enough to provide treatment.
Earlier, the Onondaga County medical examiner ruled that Pinet died of a syndrome called "excited delirium" brought on by cocaine use. Pinet was being held on an attempted burglary charge when he started fighting with deputies.
The grand jury concluded the officers acted "reasonably."
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
