Ivory LaMarr wrote:



 As we have said from the beginning, Mr. Ruiz was far more than a collection of prior court records. While aspects of his past are matters of public record, they do not answer the central question in this case: whether the actions taken by law enforcement on the day Mr. Ruiz lost his life were lawful, reasonable, and consistent with constitutional standards.

 Like every member of our community, Mr. Ruiz was entitled to due process and to be treated with dignity, regardless of his history. His family deserves a full, fair, and transparent examination of the facts surrounding his death.

 Because this remains an active legal matter, we will not comment on individual allegations or attempt to litigate the case through the media. Our focus remains on ensuring that all the evidence is gathered and evaluated so that the truth, not selective portions of Mr. Ruiz's past, determines the public's understanding of what occurred.

 While aspects of his past are matters of public record, they do not answer the central question in this case: Whether the actions taken by law enforcement on the day Mr. Ruiz lost his life were lawful, reasonable and consistent with constitutional standards. 

Competency concerns

Dig deeper:

Another Ruiz family lawyer, Ben Crump, said last week Ruiz may have had challenges with mental health.

In 2022, Ruiz was charged with battery after getting into a fight in the Dane County Jail. In that case, his attorney raised competency concerns, saying Ruiz could not remember why he was in jail and would only give one-word answers to his questions. However, there is nothing in the public record that suggests he was ever found not competent. Ruiz was ultimately convicted in that case.

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In a 2021 sentencing, Ruiz himself told the judge he had issues with his mental capacity that caused him to seek out drugs to  mummify all the bad memories  of things he had been through. There is no indication of any specific mental health diagnosis or treatment.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6's Bryan Polcyn and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.