County to pay $2 million to settle fatal shooting
Deputy was cleared in death of tech worker wielding small weapon
SARATOGA — Santa Clara County has reached a $2 million settlement with the family of a despondent Sunnyvale man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy outside Roku headquarters in 2013, after he allegedly attacked another deputy with a small weapon. The settlement signed in October resolves, with no admission of guilt, a wrongful-death suit brought by the survivors of 43-year-old Brandon Marshall that alleged deputies were overly aggressive and missed opportunities to de-escalate the confrontation.
On Dec. 10, 2013, Marshall was seen by colleagues at the tech firm off Saratoga Avenue ingesting a handful of prescription pills, spurring a staffer to call 911 out of concern that he was trying to overdose. Moments earlier, he was overheard calling his father to pick him up from work.
Witnesses said Marshall then ran outside to the parking lot and ran into arriving paramedics. Two deputies, including veteran Aldo Groba, also went to the scene. As they were talking to Marshall, the Sheriff’s Office contends Marshall pulled out a kubotan, a roughly six-inch keychain-affixed hard club or spike, and swung it at Groba’s partner, Deputy Kristin Ander-
son. Groba fired one shot, hitting Marshall in the torso.
Family attorney Jim McManis said that even with the kubotan, Marshall wasn’t the threat perceived by the deputies.
“In our view, he wasn’t using it in attack mode,” McManis said.
Marshall’s father, Steven, has said he was on the telephone with paramedics when he heard his son cry out from the shot. The wounded man was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
County Executive Jeff Smith noted that while the shooting was deemed justified by an investigation, the settlement was reached to protect the county from legal costs that could have doubled the amount paid out.
“No law enforcement officer wants to use their firearm in the line of duty, however, to protect himself, his fellow Deputy and emergency medical personnel at the scene, Deputy Aldo Groba was forced to act after being attacked by Mr. Marshall with a kubotan,” Smith said in a statement. “While we stand firmly behind the actions of Deputy Groba, we recognize the tragic loss Mr. Marshall’s family suffered and they have our deepest sympathies.”
The family argued Marshall was in crisis. He reportedly showed signs of delusion that morning, and four days before he died, he made a handwritten will. The family also asserted he backed away from deputies after spotting Groba’s drawn firearm. Among the settlement terms is a pledge from the sheriff’s office to continue Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for deputies, specialized instruction in de-escalating conflicts with subjects having mentalhealth crises. McManis said that “really meant a lot” to Marshall’s family.
At the time of the encounter with deputies, Marshall was one of a handful of plaintiffs in a landmark class-action lawsuit that accused tech giants Apple, Intel, Google and Adobe — the latter two being Marshall’s former employers — of colluding to not hire away each others’ workers, limiting their career options and earning power. About six months after Marshall died, the companies agreed to settle the suit.