Carson City deputies exonerated in death of 78-year-old

RENO - It took a Reno federal court jury just one hour to exonerate two former Carson Sheriff's deputies in the death Phillip Maita.

Maita died 15 days after he was injured in July 1996 as deputies forcibly entered his home seeking his grandson Duke. His stepson Mark Mattoon filed the civil rights suit accusing deputies Dan Holub and Paul Martino of using excessive force against the elder Maita as they entered the Carson City home. The lawsuit said Maita was knocked down, broke his arm and was unconscious five days afterward. It also charged that the deputies refused to call for medical help for nearly 30 minutes after the incident.

Carson Deputy City Attorney Mark Forsberg said the civil jury of seven women and one man found that neither Holub nor Martino used excessive force.

"One of the jurors said afterward they were pretty much in agreement from the start," said Forsberg. "Basically, I think they just concluded there wasn't any evidence to support the plaintiff's claims."

Mattoon's lawyer James Andre Boles told the jury at the start of the case Tuesday he would prove the allegations of excessive force with testimony from other deputies who were in the raid.

Forsberg said after the 1:20 p.m. Friday verdict he wasn't able to do that and, in fact, the evidence clearly showed neither deputy used excessive force. He argued that, in fact, Maita was in the final stages of leukemia at the time and died of respiratory distress syndrome, not from any injuries he suffered that night.

As for the argument that Holub in particular shoved the old man, he said the evidence showed Holub just pushed him out of the way as the elder Maita came down the hallway of the home cursing and yelling at deputies.

Forsberg said the jury's verdict also supports the city's claim that the deputies conducted themselves the way they were trained to handle that type of potentially dangerous operation.

"The claims made in this case at the beginning were so outrageous that the plaintiff's attorney was claiming the cops killed this gentleman," said Forsberg. "That's all been proven absolutely untrue."

In that 1996 raid, deputies found both the drugs and a weapon belonging to Duke Maita which they were looking for and charged him with the crimes.

Neither Martino nor Holub is with the Carson Sheriff's Department any more. Holub is in real estate and Martino works for the Nevada Department of Investigations.