The Contra Costa County coroner has confirmed the sheriff's department is not responsible for the death of a Martinez Jail inmate.  Defendant Donald McCullough was taken into custody late last fall and was charged with burglary.  Deputies said they needed to use a Tazer to subdue the defendant after he arrived at the jail.   McCullough died several hours later.  It had been speculated that the use of the Tazer may have led to his death.

The incident unfolded the day before Halloween.  It was that time that deputies were in the process of arresting two other men who were believed to be tied to a rash of local burglaries.  During their investigation they searched that man's vehicle and found McCullough sleeping in the passenger seat.  The vehicle contained burglary tools, a stolen gun and police scanner.   McCullough was also handcuffed and taken into custody.

At the time he was booked into the Martinez Jail it was learned the defendant had an extensive criminal history.  He was also on probation for a previous DUI arrest.   Approximately five hours after the defendant was brought to the jail he was brought out of his cell for a DNA test.  It was at that time that McCullough became argumentative and agitated.   He began to protest physically and deputies told him that if he kept resisting that he would be Tased.  The defendant ignored the warnings was subdued using the tasing device.  He died approximately five hours later.

Martinez Jail officials have since been told the device did not cause the defendant's death. Doctors reportedly said the official cause of death was Excited Delirium Syndrome, a condition that typically leads to a very sudden death.  The deputies involved, they said, were not at fault.