Sarah Musumeci devotes her work at Iredale & Yoo to jail abuse, police misconduct, and wrongful death cases. She specializes in police abuse and has lectured on litigating excessive force cases.
Sarah represented the family of Michael Wilson who collapsed and died after San Diego County jail staff failed to provide him with his heart medication. Iredale & Yoo obtained a $4.95 million settlement in the case. Sarah also:
- Won $800,000 settlement on behalf of the family of Jose Alfredo Castro Gutierrez—who called 911 when Gutierrez was acting paranoid. Responding to the call, San Diego Police Department shot and killed Gutierrez when he ran from the house holding a curtain rod and yelling “Help me” in Spanish.
- Helped represent Navy Corpsman Devon Rideout in a combined $10 million settlement with the United States and the State of California. Rideout was shot and killed by his neighbor, Eduardo Arriola, a former US Marine—with a gun that Arriola should never have been able to obtain, had the Department of Defense reported his felony conviction and history of mental illness as part of the instant criminal background check for firearm purchases.
Before joining Iredale & Yoo, Sarah worked with the California Innocence Project and the Innocence Network in the United Kingdom to pursue the exoneration of wrongfully convicted people. She has provided pro bono legal assistance to victims, investigated unjust judgments, researched unreliable investigation techniques among other causes of wrongful convictions, and led a team in their inquiries into claims of innocence.
Sarah is originally from Portsmouth, England, and enjoys spending time with her family and occasional stunt-flying.
Education
- J.D., Cum Laude, California Western School of Law
- M.Sc., Criminology and Criminal Psychology, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
- B.Sc. with Honors, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom