Briana's Law

Briana Amaryllis Ojeda was a young girl of Puerto Rican descent born in 1998 in Brooklyn, New York, to Michael Angelo and Carmen Ojeda.[4] Ojeda was raised there and received her primary education in the Boerum Hill Historic District section of that borough. She was about to enter the sixth grade at St. Francis Xavier School. when on August 27, 2010, she suffered an asthma attack while playing in a Carroll Gardens playground. Her mother, Carmen, panicked when she realized that the asthma attack was severe. She rushed to take her daughter to the Long Island College Hospital which was the closest hospital to them in Brooklyn. While driving her car, she mistakenly made a wrong turn on a one way street .[5][1][2][3]

Officer Alfonso Mendez, a five-year veteran in the New York Police Department, spotted Mrs. Ojeda's car going in the wrong direction. He told her to pull over and to stop her car. Mrs. Ojeda did as she was told and told the police officer that her daughter was not breathing and needed CPR immediately.[5][1][2][3]

According to the testimony of witness Eria Domenech:[5]

The New York Police Department does train its officers in CPR, but they were not obligated by law to perform it. Officer Mendez later testified in a deposition that the only training in CPR that he received was that out of a textbook and that he had never practiced it on anyone.[5][1][2][3]

Officer Mendez proceeded to give Mrs. Ojeda a ticket which delayed her from continuing on to the hospital. Finally, he allowed Mrs. Ojeda to continue driving to the Long Island College Hospital; however, instead of calling 9-1-1 for help and leading Mrs. Ojedas' car to the hospital with his squad-car, thereby allowing her to pass through the heavy traffic, he followed her with his car.[6] When they finally arrived at the hospital emergency room, it was too late. Ojeda was pronounced dead about an hour later.[7][5][1][2][3]

Briana Ojeda's funeral was held at St. Francis Xavier Church, the Park Slope church. Her casket was carried along 6th Avenue and placed on a horse-drawn carriage. The carriage then took the casket to the cemetery where she was buried. The event was covered by the news media, including CBS 2's Pablo Guzman. Briana was survived by her parents Michael Angelo and Carmen Ojeda, her brother Michael Angelo Jr. and by her grandmother Maria.[7][5][1][2][3]

According to the New York Daily News, Police Commissioner Raymond "Ray" Kelly told reporters at a press briefing that not enough information is known to determine whether the person being blamed in the death of Briana Ojeda was in fact an NYPD officer. Kelly also said that the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau was expanding its search to neighboring commands. He speculated the mystery officer could have been a police officer from outside of the 76th Precinct visiting a courthouse in nearby downtown Brooklyn. The commissioner said it's also possible the officer could have been an NYPD traffic agent, auxiliary cop or even someone from a different law enforcement agency or a private security company.[8]

Officer Mendez, who was assigned to the 84th Precinct in downtown Brooklyn, failed to turn himself in. The NYPD's Internal Affairs at the time spent several days trying to identify the officer who allegedly failed to help Mrs. Ojeda. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was upset because it took four days to locate Officer Mendez. After Mendez turned himself in, he was suspended without pay for thirty days by the NYPD. The reason behind the suspension was that he failed to report his involvement in the incident. However, no criminal charges were filed against him.[9][5][1][2][3]

In November, the Ojeda family hired attorney Bonita Zelman and sued the city and Officer Mendez. The family was demanding $10 million to compensate for the loss of their daughter. In addition they also sued the city and Mendez for $7 million for their alleged negligence.[9] According to attorney Zelman, "The city failed to properly train and supervise Mendez".[9]

An investigation by the NYPD reported that Officer Mendez had confronted Mrs. Ojeda, after she allegedly had sideswiped a car near Kane and Henry streets while driving the wrong way down a one-way street in a mad dash to get her choking daughter to Long Island College Hospital on Hicks Street. After the mother told Mendez about the situation with her daughter, he claimed that he didn't know CPR – even though all NYPD officers are trained in the life-saving technique at the Police Academy. Then Officer Mendez proceeded to give Mrs. Ojeda a ticket for the car accident as her daughter gasped for air.[9][5][1][2][3]

In July 2016, the case regarding the lawsuit was presented before Kings County Supreme Court Justice Dawn M. Jimenez-Salta, a Brooklyn judge.[10]

According to the New York Daily News, Officer Mendez had testified in a deposition that he had only received CPR training out of a textbook and had never practiced on a dummy. "I didn't feel safe putting my hands on someone without actually knowing what I'm doing," Mendez testified.[10]

Neither Mrs. Ojeda nor the witnesses of the incident were asked to testify. After hearing the arguments from the accused, the judge dismissed the lawsuit in favor of the city and Officer Mendez. According to Judge Jimenez-Salta, her decision in regard to Officer Mendez was based on the fact that the Police Department does not require officers "to know and be willing and able" to perform the life-saving resuscitation. An exception would be if the person in need of aid is under arrest.[10]

The judge also dismissed the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress because she did not find Mendez's failure to perform CPR "extreme and outrageous" due to his lack of knowledge.[10]

Lawyers for the city moved to dismiss the wrongful death suit, arguing that there is no constitutional or state right to the government providing emergency medical assistance. Therefore, the judge decided that the brief traffic stop "did not trigger a constitutional duty to provide medical assistance."[10]

Mrs. Ojeda later said that she had felt a sense of relief when she first encountered Officer Mendez, believing that he would help her by applying CPR to her daughter. She also stated that police officers should be made to help a person because they are the first ones on the scene.[10]

The Ojedas were frustrated with the judge's decision and hired a new lawyer, Jason Leventhal, to review the decision. However, the decision prevailed, and the Ojedas then took it upon themselves to promote the establishment of a law which would require every NYPD officer to get CPR training.[2][5]

External audio
Cuomo Signs 'Briana's Law,' Requiring CPR Training For NYPD Officers, State Troopers Video on YouTube

Every year the Ojeda family would travel to Albany, New York, and fight for a mandatory CPR law before the New York State Senate. In 2013, New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced a bill called "Briana's Law". It passed the Assembly but did not get voted on in the Senate. New York State Senators Velmanette Montgomery, who is steering the bill through the Senate and Jesse Hamilton introduced the bill known as Bill S3165B to the State Senate and on January 20, 2017, it was passed by the Senate legislature with the sponsorship and the backing of Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix W. Ortiz, Councilman Stephen Levin and the American Red Cross Metro N.Y. North and American Heart Association of New York City.[2]

On August 27, 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed "Briana's Law" requiring all police officers to get CPR training and be re-certified every 2 years. The following is a copy of the law signed by the governor:[2]

New York State Senator Jesse Hamilton made the following statement after the Governor signed the Bill converting it into Briana's Law:[2]

The Ojeda family opened Angel's Gourmet Deli & Nuna's Juice Bar in Brooklyn in remembrance of their daughter, Briana Ojeda. The Ojeda family made a request to the Brooklyn Community Board 2 to rename Bergen Street between Hoyt and Bond streets in honor of their daughter. Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted in favor and sent the petition to the New York City Council for approval. The street was named "Briana Ojeda Way" in Brooklyn, NY 11217.[4][11]

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