Antioch man inspires first in the nation law to ban term "excited delirium" as cause of death
ANTIOCH — California has become the first state in the nation to ban the use of "excited delirium" as a cause of death on coroners' or autopsy reports after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 360 into law.
The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, is in honor of Angelo Quinto, 30, who died in December 2020 after Antioch police responded to reports of a mental health emergency.
"Angelo Quinto is the reason why I'm in this space. It's because a United States Navy man who had a mental health issue and police were called," Gipson said. "The Antioch police laid on his neck and he died, and they put on the death certificate that he died from excited delirium, which is not correct. It causes us to raise questions."
Quinto's family said hearing the bill was signed into law was an even more emotional moment because it came during the 21st birthday celebrations for his sister, Bella.
"It felt like he was trying to give us a birthday present," Bella said.
Quinto's stepfather described the moment they learned the news as bittersweet.
"You're happy because you've worked for it for so long. It means that Angelo's death was not in vain in some way," stepfather Robert Collins said. "You're trying to look at something that resembles justice, but he's dead and it reminds you of why he's pushing for that."
Quinto died in 2020 after his family said officers knelt on his neck for five minutes. His cause of death was ruled an accident with the coroner saying he died of excited delirium, a term rejected as a legitimate cause by the American Medical Association even before the bill passed.
"It forces, now, the medical examiner's office to actually conclude scientifically how a person died," Gipson said. "We want to make sure that bad officers are no longer in these kinds of positions to hurt people. If people make a mistake, then let's call it what it is, but don't make something up just to cover up, and that's all we're saying."
Excited delirium can no longer be used as a valid medical diagnosis used on a death certificate or an autopsy report. The term is described by the National Institutes of Health as:
excited (or agitated) delirium is characterized by agitation, aggression, acute distress, and sudden death, often in the pre-hospital care setting.
"Even if you were to consider excited delirium a legitimate medical diagnosis, my brother did not exhibit any of the symptoms commonly associated with it," Bella Quinto said. "It has been really easy for law enforcement, sheriffs and coroners for so long to rely upon that diagnosis to absolve any officers of wrongdoing."
Collins said it's an opportunity to bring accountability and transparency to the process.
"This is about a system of trying to evade accountability and that we're trying to dismantle because having accountability is necessary to having legitimacy, and anyone who argues that accountability is not necessary for the police department is not pro-police," Collins said.
The family is proud and thankful for the near bipartisan support the bill saw before making it to the governor's desk.
"It's something so rare in politics today when we have so much division," Collins said. "And a chance to see if there are common ways in which we can bring accountability, transparency back to policing."
Angelo Quinto's family has sued the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department for their use of excited delirium cause of death, and they want the case opened and reexamined. They say they are also fighting for other families who have experienced something similar.