City Government

Sanjiv Handa Died of Acute Diabetes Complications

Published

10 years ago

April 16, 2014

Now more than two years after the sudden death of independent journalist Sanjiv Handa, many Oakland residents are still wondering what took the life of the 55-year-old journalist, who was found dead at a friend’s residence on Dec. 27, 2011.

A well-known fixture at public meetings, Handa irritated some officials but endeared himself to many residents as a tireless crusader for transparent government. He covered virtually every council meeting, including committee hearings, since 1991. He was the sole proprietor of the East Bay News Service, an email newsletter.

According to the coroner’s report, Handa died of “acute diabetic ketoacidosis,” a potentially life threatening complication that affects patients with diabetes.

DKAoccurs predominantly in those with type 1 diabetes, but it can occur in those with type 2. DKA results from a shortage of insulin. In response, the body switches to burning fatty acids and producing acidic ketone bodies that cause most of the symptoms and complications.

DKA may be the first symptom of previously undiagnosed diabetes, but it may also occur in people known to have diabetes. Vomiting, dehydration, deep gasping breathing, confusion and occasionally coma are typical symptoms. It can also be smelled on a person’s breath, due to acetone. It is often described as smelling like nail polish remover.

Without treatment, DKA can lead to death.

Shortly before his death, Handa had been “feeling weak…and had been coughing a lot,” according to the Coroner Investigator’s Report. Handa had gone to see his doctor, who sent him for blood work, but he never got the results. “There were no signs of trauma or foul play to the body,” and there was no drugs or alcohol in his blood, the report said.

The report concluded that the evidence was “consistent with a natural death.” The case was reviewed and officially closed on April 21, 2013.

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Lawmakers Incensed by ‘Watering Down’ of Language in Child Sex Solicitation Bill

After an emotional hearing on July 2, the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted to advance Senate Bill (SB) 1414 with an 8-0 vote. The legislation is an anti-sex-trafficking measure designed to increase penalties for those who purchase sex from children, SB 1414, co- authored by Senators Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), will be reviewed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the Legislature break ends on Aug. 5.

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1 week ago

July 19, 2024

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Dr. Stephany Powell, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer and current expert on human trafficking survivors, speaks with the media about a bill that would help lock up individuals who buy sex from trafficked children. On Powell's right is Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who co-authored SB 1414 with (not pictured) Sens. Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Susan Rubio. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio Ray Harvey

California Black Media

After an emotional hearing on July 2, the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted to advance Senate Bill (SB) 1414 with an 8-0 vote. The legislation is an anti-sex-trafficking measure designed to increase penalties for those who purchase sex from children,

SB 1414, co- authored by Senators Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), will be reviewed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the Legislature break ends on Aug. 5.

The legislation has received bipartisan support. However, “critical amendments” were removed, Grove said. She is not satisfied with the language currently in the bill and is pressing members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee to allow key provisions to be restored.

“I am disappointed that they didn’t accept the amendments for all minors to be protected under felony convictions,” Grove said after the committee’s vote.

“I am not going to give up fighting for those 16- and 17-year-olds – and all minors,” Grove stated. “Now, the district attorneys would have to prove two crimes: that they were bought and sold in order to go back to the perpetrator (trafficker) who initiated the whole process.”

SB 1414 made it off the Senate floor with a 36-0 bipartisan vote on May 23. Before the floor vote in the Senate, the Senate Public Safety Committee amended SB 1414, weakening protections for children ages 16 and 17, Grove said.

The committee’s amendments included charging violators who purchase children 15 and under for sex as ‘wobblers’ (crimes that can be punished as a felony or misdemeanor). According to the current language of the bill, solicitation of a 16- and 17-year-old child is only punishable as a misdemeanor. The second amendment to the bill calls for the felony charge to only carry possible jail time — not time in prison.

Grove and her supporters’ other concern is that a third amendment to SB 1414 states that only perpetrators with a previous conviction of buying sex from a child 15 or under, on the second offense and with over a 10-year age gap of the victim, must register as a Tier 1 sex offender.

Dr. Stephany Powell, a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who has over 30 years of sexual exploitation and trafficking experience gained through law enforcement, testified in front of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

“First of all, there’s no way in the world that (these amendments) are protecting a 16- or 17-year-old,” said Powell, who now assists victims of human trafficking. “Just by the age alone, they are considered to be a victim of human trafficking. That’s your proof right there.”

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), told Grove that he supports SB 1414 and commended her efforts to bring “more accountability to the sex trade.”

McCarty said he is willing to make SB 1414 “stronger,” but he is not willing to allow Grove to buck the rules of the Legislature to push her amendments through.

“That’s not on the table. As the rules, you know, we can’t go change that,” McCarty said of Grove’s amendments request.

On June 2, Anne Irwin, the founder and director of Smart Justice California, emailed California Black Media (CBM) a statement responding to SB 1414. Smart Justice sides with the amendments made by the Democrats in the Senate and the Assembly.

“With the recently adopted amendments, SB 1414 now represents a smart policy solution that prioritizes the safety and well-being of all minors,” Irwin stated. “By allowing felony prosecutions for solicitation of 16- and 17-year-olds when there is evidence of human trafficking, lawmakers have further improved the bill – which was originally overly broad and would have had harmful unintended consequences.”