There will be no criminal charges in the death of 50-year-old Michael Marshall, the Denver District Attorney's Office said Thursday. Marshall died in November 2015 after being restrained by Denver sheriff's deputies in jail.
And, facing public pressure, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced that Marshall's family now has surveillance video from the jail that shows the incident. The video will be released to the public within 24 hours, according to the mayor.
Denver's Black Lives Matter 5280 interrupted the city's Martin Luther King Day rally with calls to release the tapes.
Marshall's death was ruled a homicide by the Denver Medical Examiner's Office almost two weeks ago. The medical examiner's report said that he died of "complications of positional asphyxia to include aspiration pneumonia due to being physically restrained by law enforcement during an acute psychotic episode."
"I want to emphasize that criminal charges are appropriately used only to respond to criminal acts that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," said District Attorney Mitch Morrissey in a statement. "Absent that certainty of proof, criminal charges are not appropriate and are not justice."
